So today I'm on my lunch break. I leave AutoZone, go grab some food, then just go riding around. I'm just ridin around, enjoying being lowered, time to go back to work. Pull off on a side street and just as I begin to turn around, the entire passenger side dives and I hear a loud popping noise. I stop, then try to drive forward and hear a scraping sound.

I get out to investigate and the tire is almost parallel with the pavement. I look behind it and the entire A arm is laying on the ground. At first it looks like the stud coming out of the lower ball joint has snapped. I make a call to work to tell them I'm gonna be late and to ask a coworker if his brother will bring the rollback to pick me up. I start poking around some more and realize the crown nut that goes on top of the ball joint is missing.

The *&$&#&^ cotter pin sheared off, and the *(*&)*^& nut wrung itself off the stud, the ball joint fell, taking the entire A arm with it.

The guy came with the rollback and took it to their shop, another coworker came and picked me up and took me back to work. I'm supposed to call tomorrow and get the verdict.

As far as I can tell, I just need a new nut and cotter pin. It's possible the stud's stripped on the ball joint and I'll have to replace the ball joint. That's about the extent of the damage that I could see. I'll let the mechanics get it on the lift and see what's really going on.

I don't have a question, I just thought I'd relate this story because I'm in an ill *** mood. A coworker offered to buy the Blazer because he needs parts for his '85, I'm almost tempted to sell it to him, it's been nothing but problems. I really want to keep it, but damn this thing's gonna give me an ulcer!

Ok, I'll stop typing now...

 

Damn man. That sucks. I know that the ball joints were the weak link in the suspensions of the s10 based vehicles. That was the first thing that got replaced (replaced all 4) when I purchased my Bravada. I think that I am going to be doing yearly, intensive ball joint inspections and replace as necessary from now on. I grease them once a month during my monthly maintenance and would recommend EVERYONE stick to a maintenance routine. For the amount of time that it takes, it is well worth it. I caught a leaking lower intake manifold gasket on my Bonneville long before it could caused any real damage. And that was caught by a visual inspection of the motor. It didn't even show low in the coolant bottle.

My monthly maintenance schedule consists of tire pressure, check/top-off fluid levels (oil, coolant, tranny, differential, and washer), grease all fittings, and a visual inspection of all suspension, undercarriage, brakes (lines, caplipers, & pads), radiator/condenser, engine, transmission, and tires/rims. To do all of this on both my Bonneville and Bravada, it takes less than 2 hours. I document everything. You wouldn't believe the peace of mind a potential buyer has in the event that you sell the vehicle when you have a documented inspection schedule. I was able to get $800 more than book on my '94 Intrepid ES with 167k miles on it when I sold it a year and a half ago because I had full documentation of everything that I had ever done to it plus the monthly inspections that I had done. I also keep a little calendar book in each one of my vehicles to write down when I get fuel, etc. You'd be surprised at what you can learn about the well-being of your engine when you record the mileage & fuel used everytime you fill up and compare it week to week. I normally make notes on how I was driving that week as well (highway, city, and whether I was impatient or not). This probably seems a bit over the top to most of you, but records go along way when it's time to sell a vehicle. You can tell someone all you want about the care you took of a vehicle, but if you have records to prove it, they'll be much more inclined to pay you more.

 

Yeah I'm gonna do that with all my vehicles from now on.

I talked to the mechanic that's doing the work for me and he had to put a new lower ball joint on it because when it dropped, it stripped the stud on the old one. I'm gonna keep them greased and I'm gonna check the tightness of all nuts from now on.

I could have done this repair myself, but due to the status of the truck, it would have been a lot harder without a lift, so I'm having him do it.

 

damn lolo that sucks. I need to check mine soon too.

 

Ok so the ball joint had to be replaced because the threads on the stud were messed up. My coworker called this morning and said he had gotten the ball joint in, but now it wouldn't start. Upon further investigation, he noticed he couldn't hear the fuel pump running. [:@]

It's either the relay or the pump itself.

He did, however, fix my blown taillight and brakelight problem. Turns out one of the bulbs had gotten hot and the filaments inside had crossed and were shorting it out. Who woulda thunkit?

 

Man, that thing sounds as bad as my saturn. . . since the day i punted a deer 40 feet in the air off the side of the road, the car was a driving disaster. . . idler pulley needed to be replaced, needed to heli coil the upper motor mount, fan wouldnt' turn on w/o a/c on, wheel bearings needed replacing, tranny felt like it was going to drop out of the car every day i drove it. . . and on top of everything else, a F**KING deer ran into the SIDE of the car one day while driving 60 mph down the road. . . I suggest it's time to move on to something else like i did. . . now I drive a 2000 Blazer, not a bad upgrade, huh?

 

man i cant begin to tell ya how many times my blaze has ****ed me over and I was like f it im selling it. but you know bro that just goes along with the territory of having an older lowered ride. stick with it and finish it!! i feel your pain lmao. you got to stay on top of all your suspension and steering parts with that lowrider!! i just replaced all my steering parts and then took it in to have all the ball joints done and an alignment, man the ride quality is unbelievable now.

 

Yesterday I had a TERRIFYING experience. I was driving on I-95 outside of DC (in the fast lane, I might add), when my left upper ball joint blew!!! I had read on here before that it usually has warning signs, but I had none of them before this happened.

Something went POP, and then SKKKIIIIIIIIIIDDDDD. It took all my strength to keep the vehicle from swerving or hitting the jersey wall. When it finally came to rest, there were INCHES left before the emergency lane ended. When I looked behind me, the skid mark was around 250-300 feet, so thats how long it took for me to come to a complete stop. It is nothing short of a miracle that the truck didnt flip, I didnt hit anybody, and nobody hit me. It was almost like the hand of God was holding the truck straight. Whats also weird is that I was supposed to be going to my family re in NJ this weekend, but it was cancelled. Thank God I wasnt further away from home when it happened.

So I got AAA to tow it 30 miles home, and then this morning I took off the wheel to survey the damage. It looks like the upper joint needs to be replaced (Im doing all of them), as well as one of the brake lines, which was almost severed. But miraculously nothing else was damaged. I think the oversize tires actually helped to cushion the impact.

I will emphasize again and again what Kyle posted above. This is a problem that can be fatal to you or your truck if you are not proactive in replacing them before they die. I had told myself just the other day that I should probably check my suspension because of the mileage, but I hadnt gotten around to it. I almost paid with my life.

EDIT: 7/7/2008

So anyway, I ordered a set of Moog ball joints from RockAuto.com. The question is whether I will install them myself or pay somebody else to do it for me. Its not a question of whether I think I can, but whether I want to waste a day of my weekend doing it. If I do it, Im getting air tools, but I searched and searched and couldnt find the how-to. Does anybody have a link to the how-to on replacing ball joints? Also, what exact tools do I need to do it? Thanks.

 

I forgot to post upon reading this, about 2 weeks I read this, your story scared the crap out of me, and I decided to replace my ball joints which were bad and were also originals. This is after I've been driving on them for at least 3 weeks knowing they were bad.

 

Damn, this an old post, oh well. Talk about horror stories... I just replaced both of my lower bj's on my '93 olds bravada with some moogs (blue dust boot). The passenger side bj was totally f#@$'d up, i'm suprised I went as long as I did without incident. Now I'm wondering if I cut corners by not replacing the upper bj's, but I think they'll be all right for a while, given I keep everything lubed up.
But my concern is the moog bj's I replaced the worn out ones with. They cost me only $24/piece at the local carquest. The guy at the counter informed of a higher quality bj for $75/piece. I always thought that moog was a bullet proof brand, but does anyone have anything to say about these bj's that I have (blue dust cover). Thanks