Hi all...

I am about to embark on a huge project (for me anyway). Can anyone provide advise, or what to expect when replacing the idler, pitman, tie rods, and lower ball joints? I have 99 S10 Blazer 4x4 and I took it to Firestone for an alignment and walked out with a quote of over $1300 to replace the above mentioned parts. I have been able to procure the parts for about $70 and am going to give it a go on my own. I plan on doing this all in my driveway, and have some tools, but am looking for feedback from those who have done these repairs. I have watched many videos on this, and want a personal perspective from you guys and gals, the forum experts if you are willing to help a Blazer noob!!

Thanks in advance.

 

Id check out the front end / have it checked by somewhere else to make sure you really do need all that replaced.

If so...

Buy quality parts the first time... moog, proforged, etc. Otherwise you'll be doing the job again.

I could cook a duralast idler arm in about 4 months of street driving... or one trip offroad (I did have larger tires and the torsion bars cranked). The lower ball joints would last about a year, and the pitman was gone about the same time. After i swapped everything out under warranty and then did it all over again i finally bought moog stuff the 3rd time.

Tips for the actual job...

1. Remove the steering box and change the pitman arm out of the truck... They can be a pita. Dont forget to buy power steering fluid and bleed the system before driving it. Also, mark the steering shaft/box so your get it back on the correct spline the first time when reassembling.

2. Use a quality pitman arm puller and pickle fork / air tools to disassemble the idler and pitman if you have them available. It takes some serious force with a 3lb hammer to get the tapers to separate.

3. Use a torque wrench... Most importantly on the wheel bearing center hub nut(s) and pitman arm nut. The hub nut sets the preload on your wheel bearings and if not torqued properly will destroy them in short order. The pitman arm nut is self explanatory... you want that good n tight.

4. Inspect brakes, cv axles / seals, control arm bushings, bumpstops, etc... pretty much everything thats going to be easy to replace while you have it apart and change it before re assembly.

Have fun!

 

k,for the parts,its going to be more like 60 each unless you like redoing them every 6 months. you have to pull the steering box to do the pittmann,you will loose a socket,and maybe a extension in the frame doing the idler arm and you'll be cussing yourself during the balljoint installation. lol...

 

Wow, thanks for the awesome write up. Getting my tools together now and will give it a go!

 

I love challenges!! Thanks!!

 

OK,

I dove in today and tried my hand at these repairs.

I "borrowed" the following from AutoZone: Torque wrench, pitman arm puller, 35mm hub socket, and 1/2 breaker bar. No air tools though.

I spent 8 hours and barely got the lower ball joint and inner tie rod off ONLY ON ONE SIDE.I was able to get the new ball joint in place, but when tightening the nuts, I think I stripped 3 of them. Am I missing something? The nuts turn on the studs, but do not tighten! Which way is the bolt supposed to go to hold the ball joint in? Bottom up? What side for the lock washer? OMG why are they stripping?

Took me forever cause the old one was riveted on OEM and I could not get them sheared off. Finally drilled them out with a drill and bit.

If you have advise on installing the lower ball joint that would be cool. Any tips on the tie rod going in too?

 

Last set of cheap balljoints i used i stripped the bolts too. they are junk,but if you wanna use them then take a bolt to a hardware store and match them up with some new grade 8 bolts. Tie rod just screws off the pinch fitting. Count the threads before you pull it so you can get it back on close to where it was then take it for alignment.

 

Penetrating oil, heat,Penetrating oil, heat,and beat. Did both uppers and lowers on both sides of mine in 6 hrs. I found that getting things above normal temperatures (not necessarily cherry red) helps.

 

Go to the hardware store and buy some grade 8 hardware... Shouldn't really matter but I Install them with bolt thru the top / nut and lock washer on the bottom.

 

i dont know if you can do it with hand tools, but i never had to remove the steering box from the truck totally to get the pitman arm off. we usually just unbolt it from the frame, leave all the lines and shaft hook up then you can spin it to the side a bit and get in there with a impact, way better then messing with those lines cause theres always a risk of breaking them

one tip is if you cant separate the pitman and/or idler from the drag link with a tie rod spliter or anything, since you are replacing them and the tie rods, if worst comes to worst you can just cut the pitman and idler with a cut off wheel or sawzall then hammer them out in a vise. ive had to do that on some stubborn rotten trucks