so i gotta replace the lower ball joints (and later the uppers) on my 2000 Blazer 4x4. any tips you can give me? ive watched it done on 2wd vehicles, but never a 4wd. especially one with torsion bars.

i have a Chiltons manual for the Blazer, but it says to disconnect the relay rod and loosen the torsion bar bolt, etc. is there an easier way to do it without pullin this stuff apart? i really just wanna get in there and change the ball joint without havin to disconnect too much stuff

 

Search

https://blazerforum.com/forum/tech-a...acement-27627/

 

i searched "ball joint(s)" and didnt find this! thanks! that looks ALOT easier than the way the Chiltons manual says to do it

 

only real pain is if they are stock they are a total B!TCH to get out.

 

thats one thing i havent checked yet. it just goes to show how stupid GM was to RIVET the damn ball joints in. you dont rivet parts to the chassis that will need to be replaced. thats like weldin in a wheel bearing. stupidity........

 

lowers or uppers for that matter are not really bad, its just finding a method that works, i personally like the method of dinpling the rivit with a punch then drilling the rivit out, i start with an 1/8" bit and work up to a
1/2" bit then use a punch to punch the rivit through, i also did not remove the torsion bars or any of that, i did of course seperate the upper control arm from the lower, and had a jack under the lower control arm, there is still a lot of pressure on the lower control arm

 

Just be ready to cuss,n fuss and throw tools at it. stock ones suck. have i done em? nope,but watching others do it is enough bs for me to pay someone else to do it.

 

i lose my temper real easy, but didnt this time. really suprised me! mostly cause i got to use air tools instead of just hand tools. went ahead and did both uppers and lowers, found out i need a new idler arm too.

with the rivets- i drilled as far as i could with the 1/8" then went to a 5/16" that took the rivet heads off. had the luxury of usin an air chisel to punch em out.

the whole procedure (all 4 ball joints and 4 shocks) took about 10 hours.

 

so heres how i went at it-

1) took the tire off
2) took caliper and rotor off
3) pulled the cotter pins and nuts off of the ball joints and tie rod end
4) drilled out the top joint and slid the CV spline shaft back alittle (after removin the hub nut)
5) disconnected tie rod end from steerin knuckle and pulled it off the bottom joint
6) drilled out the bottom joint
7) through everythin back together

the last picture shows how i used a broken wrench to prop up the flap to get the top shock bolt out. just thought it was alittle creative