I have installed the UCA bushings and ball joint. That was pretty easy. LCA OTOH, have been a challenge. I saw on-line how to use the balljoint press in a different position to remove the bushings. I found my race installer had the perfect size diameters to push them out on the hole. I struggled to install them though. At one point I thought I had gotten the wrong parts because the new AC Delco ones "seemed" different than the ones I removed. Went to O'reilley and their store brand bushings were exactly like the Delcos, so went back and pressed them in. I bought some sillicone lubricant and that seemed to help. The old ones actually looked pretty good. I'm wondering if the PO had them replaced? Oh well.

Last item are the LCA ball joints. I pressed the old ones and trying to press the new the BJ wanted to go cockeyed. Trying to hold that heavy arm on the press with the 2 arms horizontal while keeping it at the right angle on the BJ is proving challenging. Tonight I'll get my oldest 11-year-old son to help me holding it.

 

Alright, got the LCA ball joints pressed in. Started them with BJ tool and finished them in the shop press. Got everything back together. I think I got the hang of it.

Will try to get an alignment ASAP.

 

Well Damnit! Last week I got the truck aligned at the local Pep Boys. It seemed to drive good, except my steering wheel was a little off. I called them when I got to work and they said bring it back when you get a chance, you got 90 day warranty.

Meanwhile this weekend I realized that popping sound is still there. I called my mechanic buddy and he suggested end link bushings. I reinstalled the original ones, but the rubber looked pretty good. I also ordered the stabilizer bar bushings. Yesterday I was going to swap them, but the old ones still look good. I tried swapping front shocks left to right, and no change. I'm running out of ideas and it's bugging me now.

Tonight it got worse: driving home the truck started vibrating violently. I was able to slow down and pull over. After a quick peek I saw the outer tie rod had separated completely from the knuckle! 🤬 I was able to limp home. I know I had installed the cotter pins when I installed the tie rods. I'm going to complain when I take it back to Pep Boys.

Now I need to find a replacement castle nut. I stopped by O'Reilly's and they said they don't sell just the nut, only the complete tie rods.🤦‍♂️

 

Just go to the hardware store.

Alignment shops are terrible. I took my truck to a local shop and got an alignment done then had to pull my trans out for a rebuild. Finally got my truck back together and took it back and they told me I had reinstalled all new parts and that the bolts holding the UCAs were backwards. Whole bunch of **** and I got in a huge argument with the guy. Afterwards it took three shops until someone wanted to align my lowered truck.

Also yeah that was an L. Always do new bushings.

 

Ok, thanks. Yeah, I was thinking going to the local Elliot's Hardware to look for a castle nut. I thought I still had the old tie rods to steal the nut, but I tossed them. I'll take the passenger tie rod nut to see if I can find a match. 🤞

 

Worst comes to worst get a large nut and cut slots in it

 

Fu#$@&CK X2! I went to the other tie rod to take the nut off to try to find a match for it and it was about to fall off as well. Maybe 2 threads engaged! 🤬 So much for the $110 professional alignment service!


Just ordered a real castle nut on line, as all I could find was a regular nut (castle nuts are taller) and cut a few slots for the cotter pin. It will do for now...😒

 

I'm tellin you, alignment shops are garbage. Only one I trust is Frank's in downtown Fort Worth.

 

Took it back to PepBoys on Friday and told them what happened. They said they'd fired a guy because he was doing sloppy work. They rechecked it under warranty. Seems good now.

Truck threw a big puff of smoke this morning. I went to the back it it seemed like it was "blue" and kinda smelled like oil. Drove it about 25 miles to Northern Tool to pick up a shop heater. When I got back to start it coming back, no smoke.

I was planning on replacing the spark plugs since I've put about 25k on it since I bought it and don't know when they had been changed...not sure what to think about smoke though.🤔

I'm starting a new job on Monday too. Last Wednesday was my last day at the old job. I gave my 2 weeks notice prior. All of the sudden everyone wants my opinion and was telling me how hard-working I am and how shocked they are, LOL. Even did an exit review. I was honest...😊 Whatever.

 

Congrats on the new job and the week and a half off

I'm going to ignore the blue smoke portion of that post.