I have a 95 Tahoe that has a loose upper ball joint. How do the bushings wear on these vehicles? I don't see any signs, visually. I've replaced lower control arm bushings on a 73 Plymouth before. Jacking up on the lower arm bushing showed that it collapsed, this was the right side too. Do the Tahoe's wear the same? Upper bushings seem ok.
I rather replace everything in one shot.
Experiences, recommendation?
Thanks for the input.
Martin
No More grease monkeys left?
Cheers
There's a difference between the cause of upper control arm bushings wearing and deteriorating due to age, and the upper ball joint having excessive play. Upper ball joints generally last a long time, but they are typically neglected when lube time comes around. Many owners who do their own maintenance ignore them. Most lube shops do the same. I've had vehicles I've owned go over 200,000 and the uppers were still perfectly serviceable. I lube them twice a year and push in lube until I see a decent amount of old grease pushed out the boot lip. The lowers get the same treatment, as do all the other greasable knuckles, Pitman arm, etc. The upper ball joints don't take the beating and exposure the lowers do. The upper bushings (and all suspension bushings) always degrade over time, due to use, age and suspension flexing. Although the newer synthetics are much better than the older ones, eventually they need require replacing at some point no matter how well you maintain a vehicle. If you're pulling out the uppers to replace, I would replace all the bushings as a matter of course. Since you'll have the shocks out as well, it may be a good time to look at replacing the coils and the shocks as well if they are 13 years old and you're in this for the long haul with the vehicle.
No Coils here, Torsion bars. I plan on giving it a good look over, to see what needs to be done. Bushing replacement is secondary unless I find worn out bushings. I don?t have a press so that may be in the works too.
Thanks
Martin
A "trick" to long ball joint life even in severe duty is to use moly based grease not plain GM spec'ed lithium. Ford has long called for it as a chassis grease but GM does not. (likely for cost and simplicity because moly grease is not good for Ujoints and bearings and they want to prevent a mixup and use one grease for all) I have yet to wear out a front end on a plow truck using this stuff and I have been at it a lot of years too. ALso for max life, grease at least every oil change and more often is severe usage.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.