Does anyone know what the axle nut size is ?

 

Well got the drivers side all tooken apart over the weekend while still making the pinewood derby, baseball/softball practice, 4h meeting and 4h bowling...was a busy weekend...

The upper ball joint that was riveted in was so easy i can't belive i was worried about it. lest then 10 min i had it out, on my gmc it took about a week. have to make a trip to pick up the tool to press out the lower(too bad you can remove it somehow without that tool, like a BFH!! ), but i did get the lip on them grounded off.

how can you tell if the tie rods are bad? the outer tie rod shaft moves a little bit but nothing close to the ball joints. and on a side note, the wheel hub is bad, with spindle off i turned the hub you could heard it making noise and it would move side to side in the casing

 

If you got the extra dollars change it.

 

I hope your talking about the lip on the rivets of the uppers?

Now the lowers have a large snap ring on the upper side that you take off (if present) and then they are pressed down for removal. The lip on the lower ball joint that is left does not need removal. It is smaller than the hole and will slip through. Look at the new ones for an example.

When installing them make sure the lubricating wells are in line when pressing the new ones back in so as they can be lubricated. Put some anti-freeze on the new ones before installing them. This way if you have to remove them again they are easy and also pressing them in will be easier.

Now if your husband shakes the wheels like turning the truck and you notice movement in the outer tie rods replace them.

Fire Stone sells a lifetime 4 wheel alignments for about $150 or lower if you catch them on sell. Then you can have it done anytime you want. Besides, they usually cost like $80 bucks for a one timer anyway!

Do all front end work before you have it aligned. When I get home I'll post the tuning procedure for height on the front end unless you have a Torsion Lift.

 

Here are some great links on this subject.
The links will explain alignments, How to read tire wear, Tips for optimum tire inflation pressure... All great info...

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

http://www.procarcare.com/includes/c...dtirewear.html

http://www.tire-information-world.co...-pressure.html

 

Here is our sticky for tire pressure.

Tire Pressure's ( 1 2 3 ... Last Page)

 

Got upper and lower ball joints all in last night. then i noticed something weird. when the dealership replace the drivers side wheel hub, they forgot to put 1 of the bolts in the damn thing, only has 2. should be 3... Anywhere besides the dealership to get one?

also what size are the cotter pins for the axle nuts. the ones that i took out were so rust and bad that they broke when i removed them.

thanks!! tomorrow alignment shop and hopefully sat new tires!!