I think its time to replace my lower ball joints on my envoy...driving over small bumps or consecutive cracks in the road surface I can here subtle clunking from the front end and I can also feel it in the steering wheel.
I lifted the front end one side at a time by putting the floor jack under the lower control arm. I then slid a 2x4 under the raised wheel and moved the 2x4 upwards with a jerking motion. I could see the wheel moving up and down ever so slightly. I reached my other hand through the rim and grasped the lower ball joint as I was moving the 2x4 and I could feel a small amount of play in the joint as I moved the piece of wood.
This leads me to believe that the lower ball joints are in need of replacing.
I don't want to press them out because my understanding is that this is a big pain. I figured I would replace the entire lower control arm and bracket to take advantage of new bushings and pre-loaded ball joint. Easier to remove and install too...
Truck has 97,000 miles on it.
Rock Auto carries LCA from MOOG, part number: RK620310 and RK620309, they also have Mevotech part number: CMS50154 and CMS50155.
Any recommendations on which ones to go with? Its about a $10 price difference..
I wish I knew about this 3 months ago because I replaced the front shocks and top shock mounts (Bilstein shocks and KYB mounts),
outer tie rod ends (moog), wheel hub/bearings (Timken), sway bar end links (moog), driver side front diff seal. The top ball joints were nice and tight when I checked them and the bottoms seemed ok at that time.
I guess the bottoms decided to go after I did all that work, oh well!
I lifted the front end one side at a time by putting the floor jack under the lower control arm. I then slid a 2x4 under the raised wheel and moved the 2x4 upwards with a jerking motion. I could see the wheel moving up and down ever so slightly. I reached my other hand through the rim and grasped the lower ball joint as I was moving the 2x4 and I could feel a small amount of play in the joint as I moved the piece of wood.
This leads me to believe that the lower ball joints are in need of replacing.
I don't want to press them out because my understanding is that this is a big pain. I figured I would replace the entire lower control arm and bracket to take advantage of new bushings and pre-loaded ball joint. Easier to remove and install too...
Truck has 97,000 miles on it.
Rock Auto carries LCA from MOOG, part number: RK620310 and RK620309, they also have Mevotech part number: CMS50154 and CMS50155.
Any recommendations on which ones to go with? Its about a $10 price difference..
I wish I knew about this 3 months ago because I replaced the front shocks and top shock mounts (Bilstein shocks and KYB mounts),
outer tie rod ends (moog), wheel hub/bearings (Timken), sway bar end links (moog), driver side front diff seal. The top ball joints were nice and tight when I checked them and the bottoms seemed ok at that time.
I guess the bottoms decided to go after I did all that work, oh well!