Pretty good thread for ball joint replacement on 4x4 s-series blazer- havent done it myself, but will be soon. Looks good, you be the judge.


http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=545573

 

please correct me if im wrong but his pictures show that he put the upper ball joint on top of the UCA and bolted it on. arent they supposed to be under the UCA and then bolted on?

 

right, if you read the disclaimer on his post, he dida mock up of the job to take pics after he already completed it. As to the proper mounting of the ball joint, you could be right IDK, I've never done the job before...I was trying to do some research for this weekend's activities. Probably the best info in the post is the replies by others with tricks to get the job done faster, better, easier.Anyways, hope it helps somebody including me! - Mike

 

I do believe that he has the upper on right... I can vaguely remember swapping out mine...

Here's a pic to confirm from Tim's (Hanr3) wheel bearing replacement thread:

 

damn then mine are on wrong! lol thanks guys. and to soundguy, its not a hard job just time consuming. and to break the balljoints loose from the knuckle i had to use a standard picklefork on top of a air hammer picklefork...made my day a whole lot easier lol

 

GREAT!!!! I thought this wouldn't bo TO hard!!!! LOL I just found out after doing my tierod ends last sunday (12 hours, pluse sway bar, and plugs new snail record!!) That I can't have an alignment done cause the lower ball joints are bad. (bell tire whanted like 380.00) So my weekend of relaxing just whent out the door. Can u use gear pullers instead of the for? And I need to knwo what size the hub nut is!!! Any help? I'm gonna need to barrow one from somone at work. Thanks for the thread to!! Alot quicker than the repiar book i bought said. They have me loosning the torsion bar. And outher stuff to.

 

Save yall a little time on this one, no need to remove brakes, just take the nuts loose off the balljoints, the big one on the axle and separate the balljoints from the outer knuckle. You have to twist it just right but it does work. Use a body grinder to knock off the rivet heads, punc out the old BJ's and bolt the new ones in. You can also get the BJ's to separate from the knuckle by hitting the knuckle with a ball peen hammer, several times and pretty good swings. Half day job for me!!!

 

But I would have to recomend having all the tools!! Even if you just to try some of the short cuts. Like using a hammer to nock it loose. I tryed that trick on my Tie rod ends, and it worked GREAT!!!! But NO go on the ball joints!! Had to make a quick run to Autozone. It was not a fun day!!