2001 2wd Blazer with 205K miles. Bought with 180K miles on it. Overall good condition, clean body & no engine issues. I'm driving it pretty hard, delivering to homes and interstate driving. Passenger side was creaking over bumps, now pops at hard stops and sharp turns. Considering doing remove/replace on ball joints. Some control arm bushings look worn. Tight budget, so I'm trying to make the best economic decision and still make necessary repairs with one session. Any advice on determining whether to try ball joints only, +bushings, or go ahead and replace control arms & tie rod kit?

 

I lucked out and found some cheap brand upper control arms with ball joints and bushings installed, came up to about the same as the ball joint and bushings alone.

But as you stated that you drive fairly hard on it, I would look into a little better quality ball joints and bushings....

 

Thanks. I just talked to the guy at the local Advance Auto store. (He owns 2 Blazers, and 2 S10s.) He advised that the bushings in the upper control arms tend to wear out quicker than the lower control arms. He suggested just replacing the ball joints on the lower, and replacing whole control arm on uppers. It's been several weeks since I had the wheels off, need to inspect and might get a quote from garage/alignment shop before launching into it.

 

It's a lot easier then you think to do the control arms if your capable. Just remember on the way the bolts are put in for the camber offset, and get an alignment afterwards.

 

Just did this. Lower ball joints were a real peach to get to set right due to all the angles on the lower control arm. I found a cheap kit online with the complete steeling rack and upper control arms with ball joints and lower ball joints for what I considered a very cheap price. I went ahead and did wheel bearings while I was in there. For me it was a 2 day job. Probably should have been a day and a half but the florida heat didn't help any. PM me if you want a link to where I got my kit from.

 

Did a quick check on my passenger side on Saturday. Bushings on lower and upper control arm need replacing. Seems to have slop in idler arm or tie rods? hard to tell exactly. It has a 'knock' when I brake hard. Blazer guy at Advance Auto said it could be the lack of bushings on a control arm. But, I think it may be in another steering component. May take it to shop for estimate.

I expect I will try to replace all control arms as the bushings need to be replaced + ball joints? Any & all advice welcome. Thanks

If I do the job myself, is it a big advantage to get it up on lift/rack?

 

Up on a lift for me would have been a lot easier. When the lower arms drop just be careful with haw far they drop, I let mine go to fast/far and popped out the spring on the passenger side and it was a royal pain to get it back in again.

 

Thanks, good to know.

 

So, I decided to just let my mechanic put on 4 control arms to avoid headaches. He said he had trouble with one of the springs when he called to tell me it was about ready. I had planned on getting an alignment. But it seemed to track straight. He said he put the spacers back as they were.

But, when I went over a speed bump the passenger side seemed to give an extra bounce, as if there was another little speed bump. And, I started noticing more action and spring on that side on most significant bumps. After taking a closer look, the passenger side is about 1 1/8 inch higher than the driver's side at the fender above the hub. (Front end in general seems a little higher than before) Took it back over there this a.m. (Saturday) but he wasn't in the shop. Just thinking maybe he didn't get that spring fully seated correctly. Any ideas?

 

I posted the wrong info initially... was helpful for a 4x4. I didn't read your post thoroughly and overlooked that you have a 2wd. Not sure what the issue may be exactly, but I hope ya get it sorted out.