How bad? 1-10?

NateDG

Original poster
Member
Oct 30, 2014
216
Normal, Illinois
I don't know hardly anything about suspension-related issues. Just wondering how bad this condition is. Also would it be pointless to replace these without doing struts? These are obviously much cheaper. On a side note, I thought only the upper BJ'S had zerks, those sure look like zerks to me.






 

Wooluf1952

Member
Nov 20, 2011
2,663
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
IIRC, none of our suspensions had grease zerks in the OEM parts. So, those parts were all replaced. As far as being good or bad, there's no way to tell from the pictures. Most suspension parts that I've seen look like that from over greasing.
Is there a lot of play in them? Noisey when going over bumps?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mounce

Mounce

Member
Mar 29, 2014
13,667
Tuscaloosa, AL
Also can't tell for sure from pics but if the boots are torn like they look to me they're on their way out. Look pretty freshly torn though since there's still clean-ish grease on them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wooluf1952

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
I'd wipe down all the parts and get them totally cleaned up, then check for tears in the boots. They don't look that bad to me but with all the grease gunk it is hard to say.

As mentioned they have been replaced at some point. No OEM part had zerks, but most aftermarket joint parts (upper and lower ball joints and tie rod ends) do.

Are they loose? If not, just pumping fresh grease into them and cleaning up the outside may be all you need.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wooluf1952

NateDG

Original poster
Member
Oct 30, 2014
216
Normal, Illinois
The only noise I have is from (what I'm pretty sure is) the brakes. Other than that, if I'm taking a hard right with my foot on the brake, I get a groan from something in the passenger side that I can feel in my feet and a little in the wheel.

I haven't greased anything so those blown out boots aren't my doing. I sure wish I would have looked at this thing more thoroughly before signing away major organs and my first born.

Honestly, I just have allot of bounce, body sway and nose dive so I'm trying to attack everything little before I sell my other kidney to replace the struts.
 

gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Turn the wheel all the way to the right and have someone wiggle the steering back and forth, look for play in the drivers side tie rod, repeat for the other side but turn to the left. Since you don't know the condition, definitely check them out.

Jack each side up from the lower control arm and once the tire is off the ground, grab it at 12 and 6 and see if the upper ball joint has play, or use a pry bar. Also, when the tire is off the ground, take a prybar or something and try to raise the tire and watching the lower ball joint for up and down movement, this needs to be done with the lower control arm supported, don't let it hang down by lifting the frame.

These suspension pieces can take some abuse, but don't chance it. When a tie rod or ball joint gives out it's a bad scene.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NateDG

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
How many miles on the truck? Are they still factory shocks from what you can tell or do they look like they may have been done before?

Ball joints don't cause bounce though, that's going to be more a shock thing. If you were closer I'd help you with shock install. I actually have a stack of parts to do my coworker's shocks since she has an 07 TB with 220k miles on it and still running factory (!!!) shocks. Talk about bouncy. Just a matter of having the time in both of our schedules to do it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NateDG

NateDG

Original poster
Member
Oct 30, 2014
216
Normal, Illinois
Sparky said:
How many miles on the truck? Are they still factory shocks from what you can tell or do they look like they may have been done before?

Ball joints don't cause bounce though, that's going to be more a shock thing. If you were closer I'd help you with shock install. I actually have a stack of parts to do my coworker's shocks since she has an 07 TB with 220k miles on it and still running factory (!!!) shocks. Talk about bouncy. Just a matter of having the time in both of our schedules to do it.
It's at 165,xxx I believe. IMO they look like the factory struts & shocks. My front end fails the "bounce test" for sure.

It's hard to do any kind of real work because I don't have a garage and the parking lot of my apartment is uneven and horribly paved. I've got no air tools and my floor jack was made around the time Illinois became a state.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
NateDG said:
Idk why I don't get notifications of comments anymore, I just saw this reply.
Possibly you clicked "unfollow this thread" near the top, by mistake? Click the button to start following the thread again, and you'll be good to go.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NateDG

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Maybe in your settings, you removed the option to automatically follow threads you post to.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NateDG

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,273
Posts
637,484
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher