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Ok guys i have never done this and i dont have a book but need to get this done tomorrow. Has anyone else replaced their ball joints and wheel bearings? I can look at the stuff and see how it comes apart I just need to know do i need to do anything with suspension parts before i start unscrewing stuff. Also any points tips you guys can give me would be great. Thx!

if your going to be disasembling the front end (balll joints) you should put the front of the frame on jack stands and loosen the torsion bars. you don't want
the front end sproinging apart when you start taking bolts off.

remember how many turns each bar had to be loosened also cause if u don't the ride height will be affected and you'le need an alignment when your done

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so loosen the torsions all the way and put the front end of frame on jackstands...loosening meaning lowering the front end?

It has been a long time since I did it, but I recall just blocking the frame and then blocking under the lower control arm so it wouldn't go far. I'm probably lucky I kept all my fingers and toes, but it did work out ok. Whatever you do, this is one of those deals where you should spent a lot of time on safety and make sure you know where your hands/arms/legs are while you work on it. There is a lot of stored energy in the front suspension not to mention the truck up on jackstands. Its not that hard to do the work, but it is also not hard to have a hand in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ok so i tore into my truck today...harder then I thot! That nut on the upper ball joint is really fun to get off...riiiite. Finally got it off...just curious, but how did everyone else whos done this get it off? Ok ya and you guys could have told me to take off hubs and stuff first too! I started out by taking the ball joints off then had to put it back together to get it all the way off. Finally got the new ball joints on but ran into a problem with the bearings. On the inner bearing there seems to be a retainer that holds the bearing seal on top of the bearing. Ok well i thot that thing WAS the bearing seal and I bent the shit out of it getting it out. Now i need a new retainer What do i do!?! After getting to the bearings I got them out but it seems the part the bearings touch well the new ones come with the outer part and do you need some kind of puller to get the outer part of the bearing out? I was told they're called races? The part that the bearings actually run on. Also I need to replace the cv boots on the left side and I have no idea how to do that.....can u guys tell me how? Thanx bunches!!!!.......................oh and one other thing...how did u tighten the new nut down on the upper ball joint...im assuming it needs to be torqued down pretty hard? And how are u sposed to get plenty of grease all up in them bearings? just start shovin it in with ur fingers or wut?

That retainer thing should be the seal itself. You should get new ones when you install or service the bearings. They dont cost much but you may need to order them. The bearing races can be removed with a punch. There's 2 reccesed spots inside the hub to set the punch to. You may need to clean the grease out of the hub to see them. Drive them out evenly from one side to the other and it will come out. Then flip the hub over and do the other race. As for greasing the bearings, it's best to get a grease gun and a bearing packer. Thats a tool that you put the bearing in and inject grease in to the brearing. This will insure that grease will get in between the individual bearings. If you elect ot do it by hand, you'll need to shove grease in to one side of the bearing unit you see grease come out the other side. It's a mess to do it by hand and i would recommend that you get a packer and a grease gun. A packer doesn't cost much and a grease gun is too important not to have

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Ok thanx a bunch for the input! Thing is...the retainer thing im talking about is actually something SEPERATE from the bearing seals which i did buy new ones. It is something that press fits in on top of the inner wheel bearing seal. Does anybody have a book they could look at and see this? I just dont get it...guys at checker/autozone also are baffled...maybe i dont need to put it back in? I dont think that would be a good idea tho...apparently it was there for a reason...

well...i just came from doin some driving around...to EVERY auto parts store in town and the chevy DEALERSHIP...none of which could get me the inner bearing retainer. So, what should i do now? Try and straighten out the old retainer. Put it together without the retainer and see what happens. or...find a yota axle with 4.10s and go for a new setup? And forget about all the money i would be blowing on unused front end parts...300+ dollars...

can u post a pic of the thing?

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I was looking at the parts breakdown of the front brakes and it shows a spacer (G.M.#94021319). As many times as i've gone thru the front end on my truck i haven't ever dealt with such a thing. Im assuming that if i have such spacers, they are press fitted to the spindle itself and seem to be part of the assy. You might try to fit the seal to the spindle and see if the lip of the seal fits tightly to the spindle and then check if the inner bearing will bottom out on the spindle somehow.If it doesn't look correct, the only thing i can suggest is to hit the wrecking yards and find a set.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

ok well i bent the piece back to close to its original shape and im hopeing it will work ok. But thanx for the input everyone. I do have another question tho. How do you get the cv boots off and new ones on?

you need to pull the cv and install whole boots,you can get a split boot to install but i don't personaly trust em very much....

it all depends on how meticulous you're going to be about it.I guess if you really do it right a split boot would last.

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excellent! I have to remove the cv...now how do i do that?

ok i finished the job and man did it take me a long time....well at least i can get an alignment now. I didnt get cv boots on tho, can someone tell me how to do that? my boots are so messed up im gettin lots of dirt in there...thx a bunch...

You best get new cv boots on before you end up changing the joints. Like the Fram commercial, pay a little now or a lot later.

hey thanx for remindin me buddy...i know i need to get some boots on there...joints are already wearing but knowbody can seem to help me figure out how its done....[/code]

You're going to have to pull the whole shaft on each side. Never done it myself. I know the locking hubs come off and then the rotor assembly. I paid to have it done. These old arthritic hands don't like those long knuckle bustin' jobs.

Duck Tape the Boots! That is what I haveta do until I get all my tools. The wifey don't like it, but...

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