Hey folks. I've got some feedback for everyone.
I got married....
Came back and replaced all four front ball joints last weekend. This took all the 6 and 12 oclock movement out the wheel. The job took almost 12 hours... because I stink as a grease monkey.
I used the Ball Joint replacement in the "how to" on this site. It was invaluable to me. As I stated before, I'm no mechanic. I don't play one on TV.
The only diviation from his instructions was that I removed the spindle on the driver side as well. It was only one more nut.
I greased that crap out of the brake caliper pins as suggested as well and checked for loosness in the other suspension. I didn't find any.
The ball joints themselves were IMO totally shot. The bottom joint bolts were so loose I question whether they were ever torqued properly. The boots on three of four were popped but still held grease.
To recap everything I recently replaced on the front end; The rotors, pads, Hub assemblies, and all the ball joints. The truck drives like a dream and has shown a good increase in fuel efficiency.
I got a very, very slight pulse in the brake pedal when braking. I'm going to check the rear brakes maybe this weekend to see if they might be contributing to that. A set of new tires and an alignment and I think I'll be golden.
Thanks again guys. This site saved me a bundle!
