TruWrecks
Banned
The situation:
I put my Corvette in storage for the winter, so I'm driving my truck as a daily driver. I drove up to the mountains Saturday to play in to snow. I noticed my steering was a bit loose, but manageable. On the way back I almost wrecked my truck because I wasn't feeling any feedback from the tires. I have gotten 161,000 miles out of it, but the steering is getting really sloppy, and I can wiggle the right front tire with my hands (Unsafe to drive now). Yesterday I started changing the ball joints and tie rods in my truck. Both sides need to be done.
The ranting:
Last night I got the left upper ball joint replaced. This is the first time they've been changed, so I have to drill out all the rivets to replace the ball joints. I drilled out the riviets in the lower, and I got the ball joint seperated from the hub. Several hours into this ordeal now, but I can't get the lower one out of the hub. There isn't enough room to get it out.
I called my dealer to verify a horrible though, and I was right. I have to remove the driveshaft from the hub, and drop the whole hub, to get enough room so I can remove the old ball joint.
Today I needed to get a 36mm impact socket so I can remove the hub from the driveshaft. I also had to find the mounting bolts for the passenger side upper. I spent several hours today tracking down the socket and bolts. I get back to my house to continue and I grabbed the wrong socket drive size. I noticed that the CV boot on the driver side is torn, so I need one of those too! Now that I have the correct socket I can remove the driveshaft, but I can get enough leverage on the axel nut without applying the brakes. What a PITA!
Now I have to wait until my wife gets home from work to finish removing the hub, but she works late tonight. I need the truck for tomorrow, so it's going to be a very late night!
I put my Corvette in storage for the winter, so I'm driving my truck as a daily driver. I drove up to the mountains Saturday to play in to snow. I noticed my steering was a bit loose, but manageable. On the way back I almost wrecked my truck because I wasn't feeling any feedback from the tires. I have gotten 161,000 miles out of it, but the steering is getting really sloppy, and I can wiggle the right front tire with my hands (Unsafe to drive now). Yesterday I started changing the ball joints and tie rods in my truck. Both sides need to be done.
The ranting:
Last night I got the left upper ball joint replaced. This is the first time they've been changed, so I have to drill out all the rivets to replace the ball joints. I drilled out the riviets in the lower, and I got the ball joint seperated from the hub. Several hours into this ordeal now, but I can't get the lower one out of the hub. There isn't enough room to get it out.
I called my dealer to verify a horrible though, and I was right. I have to remove the driveshaft from the hub, and drop the whole hub, to get enough room so I can remove the old ball joint.
Today I needed to get a 36mm impact socket so I can remove the hub from the driveshaft. I also had to find the mounting bolts for the passenger side upper. I spent several hours today tracking down the socket and bolts. I get back to my house to continue and I grabbed the wrong socket drive size. I noticed that the CV boot on the driver side is torn, so I need one of those too! Now that I have the correct socket I can remove the driveshaft, but I can get enough leverage on the axel nut without applying the brakes. What a PITA!
Now I have to wait until my wife gets home from work to finish removing the hub, but she works late tonight. I need the truck for tomorrow, so it's going to be a very late night!
