So it is my second day of having my first blazer and i drove to home depot to get some things for work. I came out after getting what i needed and got in my truck. I backed out of my parking space and went to pull forward. The front of my truck dropped and slammed on the ground. I got out and my ball joint had ripped out of my lower control arm. I waited 45 min for my tow truck driver who towed it back home. I now need to replace my lower control arm, lower ball joint and who knows what else. I will be going to crazy rays for the lower control arm and putting a new ball joint on it. Not quite sure where to start i have not gotten under the truck yet. I was wondering if it is possible to change this out without having to remove the wheel hub being that i will be doing this job with all hand tools. I do not have any air tools and do not have the money for them :/

 

 

Whooaaaaaaaaa. that blows chunks. Be glad it happened there and not while your flying 70mph on the freeway.

look on rockauto.com you can get the WHOLE arm for like 65ish. no grinding etc.

you will indeed have to pop the hub/spindle loose,and carefully remove the tension from the spring.

 

would a 1/2 inch breaker bar with and extension on it work to break it loose?

 

no,pickup a balljoint fork. you use a big hammer on the end of it. dont use it as a pry bar.

 

Oh wow, bummer! It looks like my Blazer except all my wheels are on, so far. Most of the tools you can borrow from the national chain auto stores like AutoZone and O'Reilly's. Mostly you'll need a pickle fork ball joint separator and a DBH. A spring compressor would be a good idea (trust me on this, I have a friend with a crooked nose from a spring flying) along with a good pair of jack stands. You'll only need one for the job but they usually come in pairs.

Once you repair it, you'll need a front end alignment as everything will have been apart. I'd have them check the other ball joint too.

 

Thanks for the help everyone! And I have most of the tools I need as well as jack stands. I was wondering if the breaker bar would loosen the wheel hub. I am not new to working on vehicles as I am rebuilding my supra and have done many side jobs on them. I have just never had to take the wheel hub off. And thanks for the advice about the spring that could have been ugly!

 

a spring compressor for what???
its a 4x4. it has torsion bars.

 

You're absolutely right. I have several vehicles I'm working on in my driveway and for some reason I thought it had the same springs as a '55 Thunderbird. As Homer Simpson would say "D'oh!".