Figured I'd provide an update on the old GMC truck.
A few month ago I busted a lower ball joint while driving over some rough terrain with a load of dirt. It dropped pretty hard!
I used the loader on the tractor to scoop out the dirt, and then the forks to raise the front end.
The upper housing of the ball joint had just given way...
So I hauled it back to my house using a rigged system with my 3pt hitch. It worked fairly well until I had to slow down and kinda messed up the bumper and grille a little.
I was able to pop out the lower ball joint from the A-arm, but getting it out of the knuckle was just about impossible on the truck, so I removed the knuckle and upper A-arm. After working it for a while on a vise using a ball joint press, it finally popped. The upper ball joint came out pretty easy with a wedge fork.
Of course the upper ball joint was the original one that was riveted in. I tried removing one of the rivets with a grinder and hammer and punch with no luck.
Took it to the local service shop, and he had it off in a couple of minutes using an air hammer/chisel. Need to get me one of those!
Napa had the lower ball joints in stock, but they had to order the uppers. Should be here by the end of the week. Given the condition of the 43 year old original upper and lower ball joints on the passenger side, I'm going to do the driver side as well.
The inner joints (where the A-arms attach to the frame) are all solid. They don't make them like that anymore. Nowadays, those are all just rubber bushings, vs. large diameter solid pins. I'll grease them up real good after replacing the grease nibbles. Looks like it has been 10-20 years since they were greased last, but they are still nice and tight. Amazing.
