have some play in front end....
 

well i picked up an 86 short bed couple weeks back.
notice when i get up around 40-50 mph truck shakes a bit.
yesterday i jacked up front end and shook wheels to see if there was play there....and there was some. not a stupid amount of play but some.
is this why im getting the vibrations at speeds?
when i hit anything on the road, little bumps or anything, im hearing ratteling noises, mainly on driver side.
p.o told me might be jack rattleing....dought that. he said maybe need a shock?

anyway, i have a new suspension sitting on my other truck. 5/7 kit to drop this truck. but if i dont wanna swap parts on truck now and then have to fix things later.

should i take truck to goodyear or something and have them look it over. or should i just price and buy front end parts?

thanks for any help.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

Throwing new parts hoping it wil fix something gets very expensive. Unless you you have a lot of disposable income you should take it to a real good alignment shop (not sure Goodyear is the best pick) and get a complete diagnosis.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

GUESS that makes sense. I'll look for shop to bring it to to have checked out.
Pockets are slim so no extra money to be wasting.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

There you go. You don't have to fix everything at once. Get the safety stuff first. Then knock off other things as the pocket book allows.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

will do.
gotta say im itching to try suspension swap jsut to see the short bed lowered to ground. but guess the right way would be, check and see whats wrong, get those parts. an depending whats wrong, then maybe attempt suspension swap.
or if i can swing it, pick up front end kit or piece moog parts for front end and get it done. when cash allows it.
that way i have piece of mind.
looks like the long bed i have in driveway will end up as parts car, then after i get motor out, parts or scrap
thanks for help. ill get back when i get a chance to have a shop look at truck.
might be busy working 2 jobs this week. but once i know, i will post results

Re: have some play in front end....
 

At a shop now. Guy looked at front end and said I need 1 lower ball joint. And aside from that the front ends tight. So.....do I have one stock one put in?
Wait till I get spindles off other truck and have more done?
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

well i left shop came home and took a shot at getting spindles shocks and springs off the other truck.
got one side done.
guy called me with a price on replacing the one bad lower ball joint with a moog part. 140

Re: have some play in front end....
 

I'd ask the shop if they garranty that will fix the Problems. What if you have this fixed and you still have the problem?
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

Makes sense. Think what ill do, if I get time during the week is stop at another shop for second opinion
They balanced tires and still have wobble 35-50 mph.

Question. If I'm swapping drop spindles into this truck. should I wait on ball joint till spindle swap? Can I use lower ball joint from other truck.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

well today took it for a second opinion. and turned out, the driver side shock is the problem....as far as noise i hear. guess its supposed to be part of frame??
and apparentley was welded once, must have broke loose?? so guy welded it. noise is gone.
might still have a little wabble, but dude didnt mention ball joints?
time for a 3rd opinion?

Re: have some play in front end....
 

This may be too late for you...you might have fixed the problem....but a steering damper might be your problem....and mine. I am getting sudden juddering when I go over a bump or the wheel goes in a hole. Andrew

Re: have some play in front end....
 

well the noise i was hearing is fixed.
was shock. guy said where it goes to or thru frame. was messed up. welded up once but bad, so he welded it up. and no more noise.

unfortunatley the truck still wobbles in the 35-55 range.
55-65 also, just more so, and below and over them speeds trucks ok.
need 3rd opinion soon.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

...steering damper would be my choice for the wobble then...mines different, but I had that problem too. ...and not too expensive to buy!!

Re: have some play in front end....
 

If you think the ball joint is suspect, go to www.rockauto.com buy the cheapest one, 20.00 they look just like the moog, change it yourself and see if it gets better. On the wobble, when does it do it, at steady speed, only on accelaration, only on decelaration.......???

Re: have some play in front end....
 

Seems like from 35-65 it has the wobble. Not all the time tho. Just got to work now. On one road cruising at 45 I felt it. Another road steady 38ish felt nothing.
Better to by moog parts?
I'm not sure if ball joint is bad. One shop said yes. Other said nothing but noticed the shock tower had been welded. ????
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

To me moog ball joints have last the longest out of any i have used.If one said the ball joint is bad replace it.The rattle sound you hear on one side is probably a loose dust shield on the back side of the brake rotors or the brakes them self.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

:gmc2:If one is bad just do one?
How long does a cheep one last compared to moog ?
The rattling is gone. Guess whoever welded it the first time didn't do a great job or it broke loose. Other shop welded it again....no noise. Not sure if thats a problem tho. Having it welded. Plan to lower truck. Have lowering shocks ready. Guess we'll see when it comes time to lower truck.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

The only suspension parts worth using are moog parts. The other stuff just doesnt last at all. Theres no need to replace the other joints if they arent bad. Generally If say a lower is bad on one side I would replace both parts but if budget is an issue just replace the 1 thats bad. A bad ball joint is a safety issue. If theres any play it needs to be replaced. Put a jackstand or just jack the truck up under the control arm and then shake the wheel. Its the only accurate way to check the ball joints. The spring will actually put enough pressure against the joint to hold it tight and not show the play if you jack up on the frame for example and let the wheel hang. A bad ball joint can make a clunking noise over bumps.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

I'm with cableguy if you got the money do both ball joints on that side because you are already there.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

Took to another shop....u joints?
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

not sure if i worded it right. but i think that what the guy said might be the issue.
he said that from what i explained, the rattleing may be the joints.
gonna get truck looked at this week. hope someone is able to find and fix problem.

dont wanna buy stuff i dont need, just want the truck to stop shaking.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

had a guy i know put truck up on lift.
says u joints seem good, little play but nothing serious.
said looks like ball joints are good, but pitman and idler arms have a lot of play.
along with a bar that runs across the front. dont remember the name of part, bar.
ill be ordering moog parts for front end soon. hopefully that will help.
also found that the tires on the back of truck, for some reason are wearing in a real odd way example. tread looks like this.....aaaAa.......????

not sure why that happended

Re: have some play in front end....
 

'Bar that runs across the center' can be 1 of 2 possibilities: center-link or sway-bar. For suspension 'wobbles', it would likely be the center-link (also called the drag-link). The center-link is a non wearable item; but the tie-rods that attach to it do wear. When they wear or are loose, they can/do cause vibrations @ certain speeds. The center-link is also attached to the Pitman arm & idler arm. They need to be checked as well but the tie-rods would be the most likely culprit.

Re: have some play in front end....
 

Well I think tie rods are good its the idler pitman that have play. So the center link does not need to be replaced? Gonna get the parts ordered this afternoon. It's not the sway bar for sure.
Hooefully the replacement parts go in with lowering kit and all wobbles are gone.
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Re: have some play in front end....
 

The center-link is a non-wearable item on these trucks & is not replaced. Everything that connects to it is a wearable part & needs to be inspected for wear.