Can just ball joints be replaced in the rear top and bottom, or do we have to purchase the complete control arm assembly?
Mine are toast! and eating tires from negative camber?
Thanks
Pete
Rear Ball Joints?
Moderator: volvite
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Thupertrooper
- Posts: 674
- Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:17 am
- Location: Mesa,AZ
Greetings. Looking at same on mine rear + front. They can be replaced w/o replacing the conrol arms, but it's risky. They are pressed into thin steel on the control arms, and if not done dead nuts on you're looking at a potentially very dangerous situation; i.e. joint separating from the arm. New arms don't cost that much more than just the joints. Only thing is: opening the can of worms to replace control arms; espescially since the bushings love to sieze to the bolts. Someone replaced just the joints on mine all the way around before she was mine, and the mounting plates are slightly distorted, and the joints look like they sould be more flush. IIRC, the top & bottoms are different. The bottoms have a verticle groove in them, tops don't. You would need to pull the arms and use a real press to get a better-than-trail-fix anyway; and even then I would worry. Too late on mine, I have to do the control arms. This is my take from what I've read here on the forum. This is definitely something Nissan did that pisses me off. Should be serviceable; not desposable. 30+ years of wrenching and NEVER had to replace control arms to change ball joints. Worn joints would definitely contribute to excessive tire wear. Anyone else feel free to chime in if you have done just the joints successfully, or if I'm full of boogers! I going to tackle this in the spring too.
Sounds like a full replacement will be needed. I/we did change out the front before with a ball joint press with no issues.
I have a friend who's equipped with a lift and torches so perhaps we can just burn it all off and put new bolts etc. on. This truck is at its end of life with 237k mi so I'm not doing anything like the cam chains etc.. when it blows its done! It been a awesome vehicle and I just replaced it with a 12 LE. The rear alignment is really bad because the ball joints are so worn so I can replace them and get it back in speck to quit toasting tires at a reasonable cost.
Who knows, perhaps I'll get another 100k out of it! and in the meantime keep our new one out of the Ohio winter salt baths!!!
Its frustrating what the dealer deems serviceable, the only thing this truck did that was not normal maintenance was it seemed to be hard on u-joints! My local dealer would not sell the joints but tried to get me to by replacement propeller shafts! They just want to make more $$$
I have a friend who's equipped with a lift and torches so perhaps we can just burn it all off and put new bolts etc. on. This truck is at its end of life with 237k mi so I'm not doing anything like the cam chains etc.. when it blows its done! It been a awesome vehicle and I just replaced it with a 12 LE. The rear alignment is really bad because the ball joints are so worn so I can replace them and get it back in speck to quit toasting tires at a reasonable cost.
Who knows, perhaps I'll get another 100k out of it! and in the meantime keep our new one out of the Ohio winter salt baths!!!
Its frustrating what the dealer deems serviceable, the only thing this truck did that was not normal maintenance was it seemed to be hard on u-joints! My local dealer would not sell the joints but tried to get me to by replacement propeller shafts! They just want to make more $$$
Good to know front replacement can be done, if done right. Thupertrooper is right about finding the parts(rears), I started looking and gave up after awhile. Not seeing them without more digging.
A friend with a lift and oxy-acetelene is a good friend! Game changer. 237k is awesome, very possible to get alot more life outta her. When I was looking for PF in the fall 2018(wanted one for years, bro in MI had 05SE) the market was pretty slim,(b/c these are great trucks) 2011/12's were scarce; good find, especially the LE. 08SE replaced my 03 Trailblazer with 244k, that the ohio salt flats were REALLY eating; she was unzipping quick. No major issues on it other than typical GM nonsense (except steering rack, but with that mileage, SOP) Other than all of the darn corrosion, PF WAY easier to work on.
All of the bolts needed; especially the elliptical cam adj. can add up, but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. I highly recommend an anti-corrosion product called E.C.K.; Electrolysis Corrosion Kontrol. (by Van Nuys, you can order it directly from them). It's consistency is like toothpaste. I use it everywhere, as it lasts a long time and doesn't get on everything like copper or nickle anti-sieze and is safe on plastic&rubber. I smeared it all over front skid plate last winter (it was rusting really bad; and the few dry times in Ohio were spent catching up on other things, I didn't have a window to paint it) and it's still good. Makes life easier, especially on fasteners. Been applying on frame etc. here and there right over rust; just buying time, and re-applying as needed.(doesn't wash out but can be removed with normal rubbing alcohol or usual solvents. And no I don't represent them, it's just that good of a product
)
I think a lot of dealers make their money off of parts and service rather than sales. Just my opinion based on what I see. U-joints on mine are coming up sometime this year I'm sure, as they appear original. Dreading that as they look like solid blocks of rust. Wonder why your PF is hard on joints. Just another quirk on these trucks? Pinion/yoke bearings O.K.? Drive shaft in-phase/ balanced? Or is it just the steeper drive angle b/c shorter wheelbase. At least u-joints are reasonable.
Yeah, and the "propeller shafts" (I'm stuck in the past, I call them drive shafts, and "final drives" to me are differentials) are VERY expensive. I would look into aftermarket or even fabbed ones first if the price is right, if that's REALLY the issue.
Sorry about long reply, I tend to ramble. Hope you can get it done for reasonable cost and she can remain in your fleet for many more moons. Good luck on the rear, those new parts will feel great on the PF.
A friend with a lift and oxy-acetelene is a good friend! Game changer. 237k is awesome, very possible to get alot more life outta her. When I was looking for PF in the fall 2018(wanted one for years, bro in MI had 05SE) the market was pretty slim,(b/c these are great trucks) 2011/12's were scarce; good find, especially the LE. 08SE replaced my 03 Trailblazer with 244k, that the ohio salt flats were REALLY eating; she was unzipping quick. No major issues on it other than typical GM nonsense (except steering rack, but with that mileage, SOP) Other than all of the darn corrosion, PF WAY easier to work on.
All of the bolts needed; especially the elliptical cam adj. can add up, but not too bad in the grand scheme of things. I highly recommend an anti-corrosion product called E.C.K.; Electrolysis Corrosion Kontrol. (by Van Nuys, you can order it directly from them). It's consistency is like toothpaste. I use it everywhere, as it lasts a long time and doesn't get on everything like copper or nickle anti-sieze and is safe on plastic&rubber. I smeared it all over front skid plate last winter (it was rusting really bad; and the few dry times in Ohio were spent catching up on other things, I didn't have a window to paint it) and it's still good. Makes life easier, especially on fasteners. Been applying on frame etc. here and there right over rust; just buying time, and re-applying as needed.(doesn't wash out but can be removed with normal rubbing alcohol or usual solvents. And no I don't represent them, it's just that good of a product
)I think a lot of dealers make their money off of parts and service rather than sales. Just my opinion based on what I see. U-joints on mine are coming up sometime this year I'm sure, as they appear original. Dreading that as they look like solid blocks of rust. Wonder why your PF is hard on joints. Just another quirk on these trucks? Pinion/yoke bearings O.K.? Drive shaft in-phase/ balanced? Or is it just the steeper drive angle b/c shorter wheelbase. At least u-joints are reasonable.
Yeah, and the "propeller shafts" (I'm stuck in the past, I call them drive shafts, and "final drives" to me are differentials
) are VERY expensive. I would look into aftermarket or even fabbed ones first if the price is right, if that's REALLY the issue.Sorry about long reply, I tend to ramble. Hope you can get it done for reasonable cost and she can remain in your fleet for many more moons. Good luck on the rear, those new parts will feel great on the PF.
Nissan doesn't recommend replacing just the ball joints, which is why they only sell them as part of the control arm. The issue is that the metal around the joint gets stretched and if you don't press them out or in perfectly straight, it can oblong the hole. Without proper tension on the joint, it's possible over time that it will become dislodged and fall out of the control arm, leaving only the snap ring to hold it in. I've seen this occur a couple of times on A32 Maxima front control arms and a B12 Sentra, also on the front control arms.
As far as the bolts seizing, the best way to deal with them, IMO, is to just cut the through the bolts using a Sawzall. Then, install new bolts with the new control arms.
As far as the bolts seizing, the best way to deal with them, IMO, is to just cut the through the bolts using a Sawzall. Then, install new bolts with the new control arms.
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