How do you change the upper ball joints on a 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe?

Answer 1

The easiest way is to first remove the one bolt in the ball joint and unattach the small wire clamped to the side. Remove the cotter pin and big ball joint nut. Use pickel fork to break free from steering knuckle. Next, get a small grinder and grind off the heads of the three rivets to where they are flush with the ball joint surface. Since you will be throwing the ball joint away, it won't matter if you damage it slightly. After you have grinded the rivets down, remove the ENTIRE upper control arm. It is held by two bolts that has nuts facing away from the center (mine required a 7/8" socket, I believe, and 1/2" breaker bar but were easily removed and not frozen). You might have to disconnect a little of the cowling. I would keep up with how many threads are showing on those bolts since you don't want to over tighten them when you put them back on to allow for movement. After you have removed the control arm, place it in a bench vice and, with the ball joint still attached, punch the rivets out with a punch and hammer. DO NOT REMOVE THE BALL JOINT FIRST, if you remove the ball joint first, it will cause the rivets to mushroom on top and make it difficult to travel through the control arm. After the rivets have been removed, replace the ball joint and reattach the control arm. I tried to replace the ball joint with it control arm attached, and it was a be-atch. I ended up having to remove the control arm after HOURS of agony.