Steering/suspension delima

impulsive78 · #1 02-08-2005, 09:57 PM

On my 92 S10 Blazer, lately when i've been backing up turning to the left, it will make a loud knock that i can feel. I took it in to 2 shops here in town for different opinions of course and they both said that my idler and pitman arm are bad and all four ball joints need to be replaced. One of the shops added that my right side outer tie rod was bad too. The other shop saw that one of the lower control arm bushing bolts on the right side was loose(which he tightened)and said that would solve your noise when backing up. They both said that if i don't replace these things soon, i could loose a tire or control of when they go.
My question is....is this all possible without me really knowing it or feeling it when i've been driving it all these years. One shop quoted $899 while the other was almost $1200. I bought the S10 at 90,000 almost 8 years ago and it's about to hit 200,000. Oh....the noise did go away after he tightened the bolt.

BlazerLT · #2 02-09-2005, 02:36 AM

Where is the noise coming from?

Did you grease the 11 grease fitting on your front end?

movin2stereo · #3 02-09-2005, 06:27 PM

Whenever you figure this out let me know.Mine also makes a clunk sound that seems to be coming from the front when cuttin the wheels and turning in reverse.I've looked and looked.

BlazerLT · #4 02-09-2005, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by movin2stereo

Whenever you figure this out let me know.Mine also makes a clunk sound that seems to be coming from the front when cuttin the wheels and turning in reverse.I've looked and looked.

That noise is usually the hood washers.

impulsive78 · #5 02-09-2005, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

That noise is usually the hood washers.

The hood washers??????????????????????Can you explain?

BlazerLT · #6 02-09-2005, 10:56 PM

Do a search for clunk fix in the blazer section.

impulsive78 · #7 02-10-2005, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

Do a search for clunk fix in the blazer section.

Are you talking about the hood washers for for the hood of your truck/SUV? I really don't see how that could make a noise when backing up and turning a direction unless you were maybe hitting a bump while turning. Maybe i'm wrong though.At the end of my first post, i finished with the reply that the noise was fixed and the cause of the noise was a loose control arm bolt, which allowed the control arm to shift(ever so slightly) while turning making a very noticable knock or clunk noise. I think i would check that first movin2stereo.

BlazerLT · #8 02-10-2005, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by impulsive78

Are you talking about the hood washers for for the hood of your truck/SUV? I really don't see how that could make a noise when backing up and turning a direction unless you were maybe hitting a bump while turning. Maybe i'm wrong though.At the end of my first post, i finished with the reply that the noise was fixed and the cause of the noise was a loose control arm bolt, which allowed the control arm to shift(ever so slightly) while turning making a very noticable knock or clunk noise. I think i would check that first movin2stereo.

Actually, one of the tell tale signs of the hood washers is the clunk felt when reversing and turning out of the driveway causing the vehicle to flex a bit causing the hood bolts to knock a bit.

Was only trying to help.

vtmecheng · #9 02-10-2005, 03:04 PM

One thing to look for when turning the wheels fully is a "creak" or "clunk" noise up front. This is caused by the bump stop moving a small amount up and down, metal on metal. I had this happen, thought my front end had a really bad problem. Ends up all it needed was a little grease on the bump stops.

impulsive78 · #10 02-10-2005, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

Actually, one of the tell tale signs of the hood washers is the clunk felt when reversing and turning out of the driveway causing the vehicle to flex a bit causing the hood bolts to knock a bit.

Was only trying to help.

No.........i just had never heard this before.........it's nice to know........thanks!

impulsive78 · #11 02-11-2005, 04:34 PM

Well, i went ahead and put it in the shop for ball joints, pitman&idler arm and shocks with an alignment so i hope i don't have any problems with my front end for awhile....[praying]

BlazerLT · #12 02-11-2005, 04:49 PM

Just make sure you grease all 11 grease fitting on your truck every 3000-5000 miles.

impulsive78 · #13 02-12-2005, 10:15 PM

Just got the blazer back from the shop. HOLY CRAP! It drives like a completely different vehicle. I guess i won't have to worry about that again for another 10-15 years.

BlazerLT · #14 02-12-2005, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by impulsive78

Just got the blazer back from the shop. HOLY CRAP! It drives like a completely different vehicle. I guess i won't have to worry about that again for another 10-15 years.

If you don't grease the truck up every 5000 miles you will be back in the shop very soon.

Did you get under there and grease everything yet?

impulsive78 · #15 02-13-2005, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

If you don't grease the truck up every 5000 miles you will be back in the shop very soon.

Did you get under there and grease everything yet?

Yah........all greased and this time i'm keeping up on them because that repair was not cheap. Hey, you know how you're always talking about weather or not people lubed all 11 zerks? Well, this whole time i've been greasing this thing, i've been missing 2 zerks, one on the pitman and one on the idler. You can't see the zerks from the bottom especially when my skid plate hides all that. Since both those arms have 2 zerks each, it's no wonder they went bad......part of both arms never got lubed. I guess sometimes you learn from your mistakes. I wish i would have known about the zerks years ago.........it doesn't pay to think you know it without reading the manual. Leason learned!

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