It was not easy and I'm now sore as hell. But I got my upper ball joints replaced. Wasn't easy. I ended up buying three 3/8" threaded rods. About a dozen washers and 8 nuts. I got the bushing bolts off and swong the upper control arm out. I started to work on it like that but decided to get it off at the uper ball joint. Once out the setup was this. 1 nut on the end with two washers. On the inside a 2" diameter pipe 3" long and the cross bar to a straight gear puller. with a dual nut lock on the inside. With a socket wrench and a 3' piece of pipe I was able to push the old bushings out. I broke the rods twice. One rod broke in half, the other broke of an inch off the end (from torquing). But getting the bushings out was harder than getting the new ones in.

Once done no more roll when going over bumps. And no more clunking when I brake hard. Of course make sure when you do this to put the offset bolts back in the right way. I could get them back in the same adjustment by the corrosion on the frame. But I had the back one in 180 degrees off which threw my camber way off. Had to take it back out and turn it around.

But it was obvious how bad the old bushings were. once I got the offset bolts out the control arm came right out, no futz. But I had to knock it back in with the new bushings. Saved myself a few $$$. of course now I ache all over from torqueing down to get those bushings in. that and being bent over working on it. Sorry, no pics.

 

Congrads. It feels good to accomplish something new. And the bonus of a better handling truck is all the better.

 

Yeah, it was needed. The wife started a new job and I needed it a little more stable. Some of these houston freeways are a mess. The Pierce Elevated is like a rollercoaster. Up down, up down. And with a sway thrown in it's a hell of a ride at 60.

 

Nice. A friend of mine and I just replaced my upper control arm bushings on my '92 s10 Blazer yesterday. What a job!

Suggestions for those doing this on their own in the future:

Don't even start without a ball joint separator (pickle fork). They're 10 bucks at Autozone.

Make sure you place a jack under the lower control arm before separating the spindle from the control arm.

Make careful note of the alignment shims that you see under the control arm bolts. Replace them the same way they came out.

While you're at it, pack the bearings.

 

Congrats