how bad is the replacement of the lower ball joints and the idler arm on a '00 s10? thanks for any help.

You will need to rent a spring compressor from the parts house. Once you get it all apart and the springs out with out have one rip you in half, you just have to drill the rivits out of the ball joint. The replacements should be bolt it. Be very careful compressing the springs. It is something you can do in the driveway by yourself but take the time and read the directions and go slow. Plan for about 5-6 hours. This is easier if you can jack up both side of the truck and get them on jack stands. Good luck...I would change the stocks as long as I had it all apart and check the rest of the rubbber goodies...tie rod end and stuff, checking for replacement as well.. The idler arm is a bolt on bolt off deal..should be easy.

You will need to rent a spring compressor from the parts house. Once you get it all apart and the springs out with out have one rip you in half, you just have to drill the rivits out of the ball joint. The replacements should be bolt it.


I DO believe the lower ball joints on an S-10 are pressed out/in.....at least the last dozen or so S-10/15 chassis I've worked on have been.

If you use a hydraulic or screw-type on-car ball joint press, there is no need to remove the shock, spring, or to lower the control arm at all. Same would be true if the ball joint were, indeed, riveted in.

Just set the vehicle up on stands, place the hydraulic jack under the lower control arm to remove the load on the ball joint, undo the ball joint from the spindle, then remove it from the control arm.

Rent a ball joint press - not a spring compressor.....The job will go MUCH quicker.

If I find I must remove the lower control arm, I find a spring compressor only gets in the way. You can lower the control arm with a hydraulic jack. Run a chain up through the spring if you want some security.


The S-10/15 lower control arm and ball joint is interchangeable with your '84 Monte Carlo, Tex.


Be very careful compressing the springs. It is something you can do in the driveway by yourself but take the time and read the directions and go slow. Plan for about 5-6 hours. This is easier if you can jack up both side of the truck and get them on jack stands. Good luck...I would change the stocks as long as I had it all apart and check the rest of the rubbber goodies...tie rod end and stuff, checking for replacement as well.. The idler arm is a bolt on bolt off deal..should be easy.

....and I DO believe the idler arm might require a "pickle fork" or some other such tapered socket separator.

Don't separate it by hitting it between two massive hammers. That distorts the taper which leads to wear and potential stud breakage.

how bad is the replacement of the lower ball joints and the idler arm on a '00 s10? thanks for any help.

You're the "Head Mechanic @ Bennett's Garage" and you've NEVER done a set of lower ball joints on ANY of the millions of S-10/15 OR ANY of the millions of 1978-1985 GM intermediates (Monte Carlo, Regal, Cutlass, etc.)?

What do you guys work on there?

A quick call to your parts supplier would tell you that they are pressed in, so you either need a special, on-car ball joint press, OR you need to remove the lower control arm and take it to a hydraulic press.

The idler arm will likely need a "pickle fork" or some such tapered socket separation tool.

DO NOT separate it by hitting the two sides of the taper with two humungous hammers. That will distort the taper, interfering with a good all-around seating of the stud in the hole, and create a potential for stud breakage.

true if they are press in ball joints, I was guessing.

BTW- taking springs out with out the aid of a spring compressor and using a chain, was it, sounds like fun...
Also, never needed a pickle fork. He might need one but I have other ways..

about the being the same as my SS I dont know..the stock a-arms are long gone.

true if they are press in ball joints, I was guessing. .


BTW- taking springs out with out the aid of a spring compressor and using a chain, was it, sounds like fun....

I worked in an auto and truck spring shop for two years. The shop's Snap-On coil spring compressor would usually gather a layer of dust between uses.

The full-sized Fords of that era had a serious problem bottoming out. Inevitably, someone would replace the shocks, but, of course, not fix the problem.

I would change - without exaggeration - two or three sets of Ford front coils every week, and I NEVER needed a coil spring compressor on them.

I needed to use it mostly on full-sized, mid'60s GM products whose front coil springs operated in an arc. The Snap-On spring compressor allowed you to compress the spring in a curve to install it by where you placed the bottom plate.....but, every now and then, I could put one together without compressing the spring.

Most cars you could catch the spring in the edge of the pocket and jack the lower control arm up into position with absolutely no problems.

A compressed spring is to be handled like a loaded gun.


Also, never needed a pickle fork. He might need one but I have other ways..

I said, " The idler arm will likely need a "pickle fork" or some such tapered socket separation tool." I know that there are other tools designed for the task.

For me, the pickle fork was quickest, and we stocked the rubber cups in the event one became damaged in the process.

Just as long as your "other ways" don't pound the tapered socket between two gigantic hammers and distort the socket itself.


about the being the same as my SS I dont know..the stock a-arms are long gone.

Just curious......

......unless you are running the car in road-racing or on the oval track, why would you replace the stock lower arms? AND, what did you use for replacements? What ball joints do you run?

I do a bit of swapping around in the various chassis I build - early Camaro lowers into 108" Metric chassis and F/S Ford lowers into Camaro/Chevelle chassis. Both of the above swaps gain about two-inches of track width.

And, the 108" Metric spindles on the Camaro clip along with the Metric rotors narrow the Camaro clip track width a couple of inches for use under street rods. It's mostly in the rotor hats, but you need the Metric spindles to locate the caliper correctly.

I'm always interested in hearing what others are doing and their results.


Canuck

You're the "Head Mechanic @ Bennett's Garage" and you've NEVER done a set of lower ball joints on ANY of the millions of S-10/15 OR ANY of the millions of 1978-1985 GM intermediates (Monte Carlo, Regal, Cutlass, etc.)?

i can literally see "bennetts garage" from my bedroom window... its a 2 bay 2 story garage with a concrete pad in front of it thats ideal for working on cars, especially with the full workshop upstairs. most of the time working there is on on 03 mustang, improving it to take to englishtown in summer '07. the s10 has only had maintnance and a CV joint replaced on it.

I used Hotchkis upper and lower tubular a-arms with drop spindles so I could put a set of baer breaks on it and lower the front end, dropping the center of gravity. A vast improvement over stock.

got parts on the 30th from moog, they come with (poorly written) directions, ill combine theirs with my crappy manual and hopefully have a chance.

Never did balljoints on mine sorry, hope it goes well.

got parts on the 30th from moog, they come with (poorly written) directions, ill combine theirs with my crappy manual and hopefully have a chance.


Which route are you taking?

On car with a ball joint press?

Or are you removing the entire control arm to use a hydraulic press?

If you choose to remove the entire lower control arm, here's a tip concerning the steel-encased rubber bushings that the inner arm pivots on.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS put your wrench on the head of the bolt - NOT on the nut - and unscrew the bolt (lefty loosey, righty tighty) until the nut starts to spin on the other end.

If you loosen the nut first, there will be nothing to hold the inner sleeve in place to remove the bolt if there is any rust/corrosiomn - and, I can see from here that there probably is - and you will be fighting the bushing, twisting in the rubber, that refuses to let go of the bolt.

If you turn the bolt - using a l-o-n-g bar if necessary - it will break free inside the sleeve.

I've also noticed that this does not seem to work if you loosen the nut first then re-tighten it.

I picked this trick up while working in the spring shop. The bolt going through the front steel-encased bushing on the mid-'60s Ford Fairlanes used to be a tight fit, and rust would seize it inside the bushing. I used to turn the bolt first and had a better-then-90-percent success rate in removing the bolt.

The other guy in the shop used to remove the nut first - even after I showed him my way - then spend 20 minutes or so pounding the bolt out with an air hammer - after which he had to "fix" the end of the bolt in order to re-use it.

I disassemble a lot of 108" Metric chassis - which use the same lower control arm as the 2WD S-10/15 - and I have the most success this way.

I use the same sequence on the rear control arms as well as ANY steel-encased rubber bushing I run into.

.

balljoints and all that shit is easy............i go through them like most playaz do women.........and if you can't rent a ball joint press (yes, the lower ball joints ARE pressed in, whereas the upper ball joints are factory riveted in..........to replace uppers, you just gotta air chisel the head off and pound it out...........the new upper ball joint comes with little bolts that replace the rivets), just take the friggin control arms off and take them to your local shop and have them pressed in........should only cost like $35 per control arm including new ball joint. The idler arm, bah........you don't need that damn thing anyways.............just extra weight..........