How much can I DIY?

[bmcutright]

Found that my front tires had unusually high wear on the insides of the treads. Took it to a mechanic that had good Google ratings, said the upper control arms and lower ball joints need replaced. $600 in parts, $600 in labor, $100 in taxes. I have seen many posts about guys on here doing it themselves, but I am relatively inexperienced. Any advice on how-to sites, places to buy parts/tools, things to check to see if they need replaced while I have it torn apart doing this? Thanks. BC

 

[The_Roadie]

Things like this are much more efficiently and safely handled by personal apprenticeship. Expecially work involving steering or brakes. We could write or you could find, a 100-step how-to article or Youtube video, and there could STILL be one critical missing step that costs you or a bystander their life. Forums and Googling are a poor substitute for a hands-on friend who knows you, your budget, attention span, caution level, etc.

If you're starting out to stock up on tools and experience, and didn't learn from your parents, or inherit any of their tools, I strongly recommend you find a local buddy or co-worker who's gone down this path before. And buy them plenty of beer and pizza. And start out on less risky projects like rear shocks.

For this one, I can see how you can get by with $450 for the parts without going to the really cheap Chinese crud you find on Ebay. But You'll be spending $300-500 at Harbor Freight for cheap tools, or more than that for high quality. And you need a suitable working environment, not an apartment parking lot so many members are saddled with.

 

[RayGumm]

You are AT the definitive 'how-to site', but frankly, if you have no experience working on cars, may I suggest buying the Haynes manual for our platform and read the section that covers what repairs you are looking to do. Make SURE you have all the tools you will need to complete the repair properly. Like your ball joints, I am not sure but they may need to nbe hydraulically pressed. Not something you can easily do if you do not hydraulic press.
Get a friend or co-worker that does have experience working on cars to help you.

As far as parts, I often use www.advanceautoparts.com - you can buy online and pickup in store, and the best part is that you can use coupon codes to get as much as 30% off. Only thing is that they do not carry a whole lot of OEM ACDelco parts. You can also check www.rockauto.com for parts. Try to get oem acdelco parts (or better) when you can.

As for tools, I am not sure. Try to get forged steel tools of a good quality. It pays not to go cheap on tools.

I am a relatively new GMT owner, so I don't know what to check when you have all that ripped out.

Good Luck!

 

[The_Roadie]

For easier DIY'ing, I'd recommend buying the LCA assemblies that come WITH new ball joints installed, and all the other bushings as well. If the UCA bushings are shot, then the mechanic probably should have mentioned the lowers as well. New entire LCA assemblies are going for around $150 each. I use rockauto.com

 

[MAY03LT]

For easier DIY'ing, I'd recommend buying the LCA assemblies that come WITH new ball joints installed, and all the other bushings as well.

Cosigned. LBJs by themselves can be a beeotch even if you've done them before and with all of the appropriate tools.

 

[bmcutright]

I have found the How To articles on this site, it seems a little bit over my head. I also bought the Haynes manual, but there's not as much detail as I would like. However, I did get a PM from another GMTN member here in the Tampa Bay area about meet ups, sounds like a good place to start developing friendships with guys who have the experience/tools required. I would love to make this a learning experience and save money on labor, so I can spend more on quality parts that need to be replaced (UCA/lower ball joints) or are about to need replaced (LCA/upper ball joints).

Thank you Roadie for your advice, everything you've posted to me on this thread and others I'm taking to heart.

I also didn't know Advance Auto rented out tools, that sounds like a good option to me.

 

[Sparky]

Agree. If I had to do LBJs again I'd do the whole darn lower arm. So much easier, not that much more expensive. And now I need lower bushings (at 198K on originals!) and I don't want to put the money into that...

 

[The_Roadie]

LBJs by themselves can be a beeotch even if you've done them before and with all of the appropriate tools.

Indeed. Here's the last place I changed one, 9 miles from pavement.

 

[bmcutright]

Checking out rockauto.com. Found Raybestos Front Left/Right Lower Control Arm with Ball Joint, ACDelco Front Left/Right Upper Control Arm, Moog Front Upper Ball Joints. Should I save myself work down the road and get the bushings now too? (164k miles)

 

[The_Roadie]

UCA and LCA all come with pre-installed bushings. Only reasonable DIY bushings you haven't mentioned yet are the ones that are used inthe brackets that hold the anti-sway bar to the frame. Unless you have clunking that you know comes from the anti-sway bar bushings, and not the more likely end links, you won't need to buy any bushings.

Hard to believe it's gone 164K miles on original end links.

Also, if I haven't asked yet, are you certain the transfer case is current on its mandatory 50K fluid change interval? And were the differentials done at 100K?

 

[Einst-Hawk]

I started fixing my own vehicles from the lack of funds (which I'm sure we all did) rather than the love of it.
It all started with the simple oil change. And that - my first oil change - turned out not to be so simple. My tool collection consisted of a small ratchet set, couple of screwdrivers and a hammer. That was all I had.

My friends told me it was the easiest job to do. Just unscrew the oil pan drain plug. Drain the oil. Replace the plug. Replace the filter and fill with oil and you're done. Easy, right? Wrong.

I got the oil draining part done ok. But the oil filter would not come off. No matter how much I tried, I could not make it budge. (remember - righty tighty, lefty loosey) And on the 93 Honda Accord I was working on there was not a lot of room to get any real leverage on anything. Went to the store to get one of those oil filter caps you stick on the end of a ratchet. (I'll have to interrupt myself here and say. It is always a good idea to have a second vehicle if at all possible at the ready.) That would surely work, right? Wrong. After 30 minutes of trying to get the filter to move, the little welded square on the end that the ratchet broke loose and I smashed my hand into a support. A lot of cussing ensued.The filter cap was now stuck on the end of the oil filter. Now what do I do? The oil filter still hasn't moved an inch.

At this point, I wanted to say the hell with it and just refill the engine with oil and leave the stuck filter. But no. This damn thing wasn't going to beat me. I called a friend and he suggested that I stab the filter with a screwdriver and use the ends of the screwdriver as a lever to turn the filter. So I did. And after geting oil all over me from the draining filter, I proceeded to try to turn it. Did that work? No. All it did was rip the oil filter in half. Kinda like tearing a Coke can in half. This really sucked. Now I have half of a filter with jagged metal edges sticking out. Effin great.

Now what? I am definitely at the point of no return. I am beyond any ideas of what to do next. So, I call my father-in-law. A welder by trade, he got it off somehow with pipe wrenches and a torch. Who would have thunk that would have worked?
It seems the previous owner or shop must have used an oil filter wrench to tighten the filter. Never, ever do this. Hand tighten a filter until it stops and then another 1/4 to 1/2 turn by hand. That is all you need.

It is great that you want to fix your TB. I actually love it myself. But no matter how easy it seems to be or how many how to videos you have watched about want you plan to do; Nothing ever, ever goes exactly like the book. A bolt won't turn, a part won't come off, a bolt hole is stripped, a spark plug breaks in half....

I have recently replaced all 4 ball joints on my TB. I have plenty of tools now and a garage to do it in. I would not advise a novice to ever try this. It was a hugh pita. There are way to many things 'to learn' and mistakes make.

The point of this post in not to discourage you. It is actually to encourage you to learn how to fix things. You will get stuck in the middle of a project. You will break parts. You won't have the right tool. You will bleed. You are just like the rest of us.

 

[Fire06]

Just finnished doing the front end tonight. Balljoints and bushings. Yes a lot of work but the whole front end is done, did the struts and links last year. Truck should be like new now.

 

[djthumper]

For easier DIY'ing, I'd recommend buying the LCA assemblies that come WITH new ball joints installed, and all the other bushings as well. If the UCA bushings are shot, then the mechanic probably should have mentioned the lowers as well. New entire LCA assemblies are going for around $150 each. I use rockauto.com

Cosigned. LBJs by themselves can be a beeotch even if you've done them before and with all of the appropriate tools.

I totally agree with these two.

You actually happen to be in a good area if you get to know them. There are several guys in the Tampa Bay area that are pretty active on the site.

 

[rmsg0040]

I believe we were all "inexperienced" at one point, but to get to the point where I am at I had to start at the very basic.

To tell you the truth as a backyard I am constantly learning new things.

The internet is a powerful tool. Research the job your planning to do and make sure you got the tools to do the job.

As you start doing things yourself and save money, invest in tools that will make your life easier and get the job done quicker.

I did the lower ball joints and if I didn't have the kind of tools I had, it would have been a very long and hard job.

 

[Fire06]

You do need the right tools and even then I had some issues.

 

[bmcutright]

Roadie, I was going to spend my budget on changing our all the fluids you had mentioned to me before, starting with the axles and transfer case, but I think I need to get this fixed before I drive it any now because of the poor condition of the tread on the front wheels.

Einst-Hawk, I understand completely where you're coming from, had the same problem with an oil filter on my first car, 89 Cutlass Calais Quad4 that was a total POS, 0-30mph in 60 seconds, not kidding.

I bought this one as a second car, keep the miles off my new one (lat new car had 180k miles after 5 years, current has 26k miles after 9 months) and do some offroading on the beach at my mom's place (St. Augustine FL). I should have inspected the tires closer when I bought it, there's no way that much wear happened in the 2k miles I've driven it. I like the satisfaction of working on my car myself, which I haven't gotten to do with my two previous cars (both bought new, maintained by dealership service for warranty and records).

Started out getting my elbows greasy with my dad and the collection of tools he built up over the years, since then I have moved out (10 years ago), and haven't bought more than a basic socket set cause I haven't needed much with the dealer service. When he and mom moved to FL, he left his tool collection with my uncle in Illinois. And yes, I'm one of those apartment dwellers with barely my own parking space, let alone anywhere to do a lot of disassembly. Cleaning my throttle body (impressed myself that I could do that much in so long) put the thought in my head that I could do more, but all the advice on here and from family and friends is that this is too much of a project for me at this point.

 

[bmcutright]

Now I'm thinking about wasting some money on a couple cheap used tires for the front so I can keep driving it until I can get this done.

Seriously pissed at myself for not looking closer at these tires, either that or if this much wear did come from my 2k miles I need to get this stuff fixed fast.

 

[bmcutright]

Here's a pic of my drivers side front tire, could this happen in 2k miles?

 

[The_Roadie]

Not even with my worst trail alignment should that happen.

 

[bmcutright]

So i must have bought it with a lot of wear already. It still drives fine, wheel is chocked a little to the left, occasionally I feel a loose swerve. Could I buy a couple cheap used tires to keep it going till I can afford to get the alignment/arms/joints fixed?

 

[Fire06]

Anything is possible but I would be looking at getting it fixed or at least the alignment looked into with maybe a quote to see what is really wrong

 

[Blckshdw]

I've got some PDFs I generated from a GM Service program, I'll send those to you so you can read through them.

It's one thing for people to tell you something is out of your league, but I prefer to make informed decisions after knowing exactly what all is involved first.

Edit: Just think how in the dark you'd be if you were still on Trailvoy looking for help...

 

[MAY03LT]

Could I buy a couple cheap used tires to keep it going till I can afford to get the alignment/arms/joints fixed?

Absolutely.

 

[Sparky]

Nah, what you do see is switch tires from one side to the other so they start wearing the other half of the tire

 

[The_Roadie]

Nah, what you do see is switch tires from one side to the other so they start wearing the other half of the tire

You mean flip them on the rims? I do that every 10K miles or so because with enough lift, it's almost impossible to get camber in spec and the tires HAVE to wear unevenly inside to outside.

 

[Sparky]

Yep.

I guess I should have used the sarcasm color because I wouldn't actually recommend doing that when the cords are showing like that!

 

[Fire06]