Quote:
|
Originally Posted by imnprsd
The ball joint boots are cracked. I think this means grease will not be protected from moisture. So I have a few questions:
1) Do all S-10 Blazers with 100K+ miles have bad ball joints... and how bad do they have to get before they really need replacing? I hear this is a common problem and not a safety concern. What do you think?
2) If I need to replace my ball joints, should I get the type which allows you to adjust camber?
3) My steering is sloppy... Can the ball joints contribute to this problem? ...Or is the problem in my gear box? ...And if the problem is in my gear box, how do I fix it. The sloppy stearin is driving me nuts when I take a road trip because the car drifts when going straight, and it gets a little worse at speeds over 70MPH.
|
1) Not all Blazers have bad ball joints unless they were ignored by not feeding them enough grease in a timely manner. But then, this is true with any vehicle. I grease mine at every oil change. My originals went to a little over 150K and the only reason I changed them was due to a little play. The new set lasted about 25K and the upper right became real loose so I changed them all out and used Moog joints.
2) Ball joints are not instrumental in camber adjustments. Camber is adjusted on the upper control arm.
3) If the ball joints have play, they can cause drifting. Remember, they are the pivot point to the movement of the tie rod. If the pivot point is loose, it will have an effect. Before I would do anything to the steering box, I would check all the steering components in the front end. Play in any of the joints will have a cumulative effect on the slop.