Chevy A-arm Problem

[BRSTQUEST]

So this weekend I take the truck to Glamis and drive to Olds....I was doing between 3 and 8 miles an hour and somehow managed to push a ball joint out of the upper a-arm.....What a pain in the ass that turned out to be....The a-arm is bent with some damage to the ball joint hole and the rolled lip just above the spindle.....Iam thinking of replacing with the cst tubular a-arms but not sure if there is anything else out......Don't want to break the bank but its unacceptable to have my truck break at 8 miles an hour.....

[eek-a-RAT]

what kind of truck? pick up/crew cab?
is it lowered or lifted?

[Wet Dream]

About a year ago, there was a pic on here with a Chevy that was playing in the sand. Both fronts were toed out to the stops due to breakage. Maybe someone has it?

[Mr. Crusader 83]

do you have a fabtech lift? my buddy chevy s-dime blazer used to do this all the time. he put cst upper arms and it stopped. he also used the mooge ( i think thats right) ball joints.

[motormonkey]

Are you sure you were only going 8 mph? If you were faster and hit some woops you might need some limit straps or you will tear out ball joints.The shocks cant hold it together.

[jojoshow]

There are about a half dozen people out there that make upper control arms for your truck. Cost is appx 350-450 with coil included. If you have just a taller coil spring in the front thats your problem. CST also makes large angle ball joints that can help your situation.

[sigepmock]

I did the same thing on my 03 2500HD. Pressed in ball joints suck. I ended up with a set of new upper arms from Cognito Motorsports with bolt in Mooge ball joints. Never had a problem again. The CST and Cognito arms are both good choices.
As far as the question about should it happen at 5 to 8mph???? Unfortnuately it happens a lot. Gotta love the IFS.
If you want to save some cash get a set of stock arms taken off another truck and then get the RCD or Fabtech lower "Multi-shock mount" It bolts in place over the stock ball joints and kinda helps hold them in place....I don't think this is the right way to fix it but it will get you an the road again.
Good luck,
Chris

[BRSTQUEST]

I guess I did give only limited information about the truck. It is an '05 CC 2500HD with the Duramax. It is a 4X4 with a 6" CST lift. I have Bilstien's at all four corners in the stock locations. As for the speed, Iam sure I was only doing between 6 and 8 MPH because I was supprised how bad the truck was riding and a Ford F250 with about a 6" lift just raced away from me so i kept looking at the speedo on the attitude controler. It just shocks me that the truck would break at slow speeds and while it was not being rallied on. I know the truck isn't meant to be trashed in the dirt and the lift is for looks and clearing bigger tires but damn my comuter car wouldn't have this much trouble and its a corolla.....

[EmpirE231]

those upper balljoints are the 100% week link in all a-arm trucks... especially the newer chevys... I went through 7 sets in my old 2000 c1500!! the tubular arms are a good fix because they allow you to use the mooge (sp?) ball jointsm which are way stronger and allow for more movement!! the reason they break is because they bind... you might have to replace your bump stops to make sure they dont over extend the ball joints.
I now have a 2005 2500 with the durumax 4x4 with the cst 6" .. ... but I went with the cst uni-ball upper arms.... uni-balls replace the balljoints and are wayyyyyyyy stronger. it is the same setup run in pre-runners and some trophy trucks! they allow alot more movement and are super strong... should never run into a problem with these unless you beat on it hardcore non stop
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v372/empire231/TRUCKLIFTED005.jpg

[BRSTQUEST]

Well I know a few people on here have shops that due lifts, what am I looking at price wise for the Cognito a-arms and the CST a-arms????

[sigepmock]

Well I know a few people on here have shops that due lifts, what am I looking at price wise for the Cognito a-arms and the CST a-arms????
I think I paid $500 for the set with everything I needed to bolt them on.

[Antisocial]

The ball joint spelling is MOOG... Not that im a great speller but i use them all the time :)

[cyclone]

The ball joint coming out of the arm is pretty common on Chevy's because its pressed into a single wall steel. A cheap fix is to grind the cadmium (sp?) coating off the ball joint flange and then grind the paint of the arm. MIG or TIG weld four spots around the perimeter of the ball joint flange to the arm and it won't come out again.

[BRSTQUEST]

The dude who fixed it in Glamis welded the new one into place...While we had the arm off I saw it had some damage to the lip and the hole for the joint was no longer round.....I just dont like the fact that 6 to 8 MPH knocked this thing from its arm...I can't imagine what moght have happened with the boat hooked up and on the highway!!!!!! That could have been real nasty to say the least

[BOBALOO]

I guess I did give only limited information about the truck. It is an '05 CC 2500HD with the Duramax. It is a 4X4 with a 6" CST lift. I have Bilstien's at all four corners in the stock locations. As for the speed, Iam sure I was only doing between 6 and 8 MPH because I was supprised how bad the truck was riding and a Ford F250 with about a 6" lift just raced away from me so i kept looking at the speedo on the attitude controler. It just shocks me that the truck would break at slow speeds and while it was not being rallied on. I know the truck isn't meant to be trashed in the dirt and the lift is for looks and clearing bigger tires but damn my comuter car wouldn't have this much trouble and its a corolla.....
Was there a dark colored Blazer or Bronco racing the F250 back to sand hwy from Olds late sat night? I remember a chevy and one of the 2 racing back, at a whopping 10mph thru the whoops. I have a white lifted F250 and there would have been a back seat full of jackasses yelling at every truck we passed.:D Cant believe we didn't get stuck.