When Did You Replace Your Ball Joints and Control Arms?

[ls1frc]

Make sure these are not the pre-assembled ones as they are of lesser quality than buying all the parts individually and building a new one from scratch. You'll need a McPherson Strut Spring Compression too for DIY.

They are AC delco 580-433, which I matched to what was on the Truck and verified on ac delco website it matched my codes in the booklet. I am going full factory replacement here, I like the auto leveling + electronic suspension. It's a family cruiser, so I want it to be like a cloud. Love the truck, can't wait until its newified. I bought it with 105k on it, so I am sure I actually never felt how smooth it is supposed to be yet.

I was planning on taking the struts off and going to the mechanic to have them put the springs on. Not messing with that myself.

Once all the suspension is done, I am going to preemptively replace the fuel pump. Once spring rolls around, popping the heads off and getting rid of DOD. While I am there, new motor mounts will go on and maybe long tubes. At the minimum, shorties to get rid of the rusted on exhaust manifolds. Definitely new oil pump and new camshaft as well. Debating on dumping VVT for just a straight 3 bolt cam, we will see.

Should be like new after all this and very reliable, other than the oil burning. Nothing I can do there, but I just throw a quart in every couple months, not a huge deal.

I don't have a work commute, so this thing should last a long ass time. I need to find a way to slow down the rust though.

 

[ls1frc]

Added some more parts today:

Moog K100026 X 2 (Alignment cam + bolts)
Moog K6716, pack of 30. Alignment pins in case any drop out while I am working on it.

 

[swathdiver]

They are AC delco 580-433, which I matched to what was on the Truck and verified on ac delco website it matched my codes in the booklet. I am going full factory replacement here, I like the auto leveling + electronic suspension. It's a family cruiser, so I want it to be like a cloud. Love the truck, can't wait until its newified. I bought it with 105k on it, so I am sure I actually never felt how smooth it is supposed to be yet.

I was planning on taking the struts off and going to the mechanic to have them put the springs on. Not messing with that myself.

Once all the suspension is done, I am going to preemptively replace the fuel pump. Once spring rolls around, popping the heads off and getting rid of DOD. While I am there, new motor mounts will go on and maybe long tubes. At the minimum, shorties to get rid of the rusted on exhaust manifolds. Definitely new oil pump and new camshaft as well. Debating on dumping VVT for just a straight 3 bolt cam, we will see.

Should be like new after all this and very reliable, other than the oil burning. Nothing I can do there, but I just throw a quart in every couple months, not a huge deal.

I don't have a work commute, so this thing should last a long ass time. I need to find a way to slow down the rust though.

I think you'll learn that most of these parts last a lot longer than you're thinking. At least that's been my experience. I was all set to do as you did and had to slow myself down. Deleting VVT will cost you about 1 mpg on the highway. Mine loses no oil between oil changes and is at 152K now. AFM is there but not running and has all the latest parts.

 

[wjburken]

I'm thinking of this kind Chris:

FF to about 3:00 minutes in:

That looks better than what this guy did.

 

[swathdiver]

That looks better than what this guy did.

Oh boy! I was thinking of those standup ones and then sell it but the blue one will do the job. I have seen a version of the blue one with a tab that can be clamped in a vise and thought that was a good idea too.

 

[ls1frc]

I think you'll learn that most of these parts last a lot longer than you're thinking. At least that's been my experience. I was all set to do as you did and had to slow myself down. Deleting VVT will cost you about 1 mpg on the highway. Mine loses no oil between oil changes and is at 152K now. AFM is there but not running and has all the latest parts.

That's true! But fuel pump is the one thing I can think of while on a family road trip that will strand you.

I am going to do all the suspension since I am there but I am on the fence on the axles. It will add another $500 to the bill to get the OEM quality ones but I am about done spending money.

 

[swathdiver]

That's true! But fuel pump is the one thing I can think of while on a family road trip that will strand you.

I am going to do all the suspension since I am there but I am on the fence on the axles. It will add another $500 to the bill to get the OEM quality ones but I am about done spending money.

I'd be afraid of opening a can of worms Mike. I monitor my fuel pump's health via the Tech-2 like I do with the battery and other things. I thought about changing the pump but many of them run 200K miles on the original pump, even more. I wouldn't bother with the axles until the boots go.

As soon as my back heals up, we'll be dropping the front axle to change out the engine oil cooler lines, the transmission dipstick tube and some other stuff like the rear seal on the transfer case.

 

[ls1frc]

I'd be afraid of opening a can of worms Mike. I monitor my fuel pump's health via the Tech-2 like I do with the battery and other things. I thought about changing the pump but many of them run 200K miles on the original pump, even more. I wouldn't bother with the axles until the boots go.

As soon as my back heals up, we'll be dropping the front axle to change out the engine oil cooler lines, the transmission dipstick tube and some other stuff like the rear seal on the transfer case.

Fuel pump seems pretty straight forward, no?

What does the tech 2 tell you about the fuel pump health? Maybe I can do something similar.

I'll likely pass on the axles as long as the boot doesn't feel brittle or look cracked up.

 

[swathdiver]

Fuel pump seems pretty straight forward, no?

What does the tech 2 tell you about the fuel pump health? Maybe I can do something similar.

I'll likely pass on the axles as long as the boot doesn't feel brittle or look cracked up.

Well, you have all those lines up there above the tank and disconnecting them and moving them around can start a leak. The fuel pump has a trim level that can be watched and of course you can use the tool to see if the pressure bleeds down too soon and if the pump maintains pressure at WOT.

 

[iamdub]

Can a shop press type of apparatus be used to disassemble/reassemble the struts?

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon Denali XL
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

You mean a regular press like this?




I don't know if they exist, but you'd have to have special fixtures to hold both ends of the coil and still clear the strut so the nut on the top plate is accessible. Sounds sketchy and I tried to come up with a quick way to throw such a fixture together when I was replacing my struts. Was easier to borrow and use the proper tools.

If by "shop press", you meant the strut compressor used in shops:




...Then, yes, since this is what it's for.