How much time should I expect?

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one4fun

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I will be replacing the upper and lower ball joints on my 86 K10 and wanted to know how long I should expect this to take. I will have all the parts and tools before I start. Is this something that I can comfortably do in a day if I set a full Saturday aside?

Also going to replace the wheel bearings while I am at it.

Thanks.



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towjoe

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Should be a easy day job. Seen it done in about 2 hours by a pro before
 

jux

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Do you have a ball joint puller or bearing packer? You can get by without the packer if you try hard enough, but it can be pretty difficult without a puller. I just had these items done along with a tie rod, and this time I had a mechanic do it as I was much too busy at the time. It wasn't very expensive for me, but as with all mechanics, prices may vary.

I have spent about 3 or 4 hours doing both sides by myself. That includes a few breaks to cool my head.
 

one4fun

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I have both a puller and bearing packer.

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HotRodPC

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I was thinking more like half a day. I'd think if you allowed 6-8 hours that should be a generous amount of time if you have the correct tools. And it seems you'll always run into a hiccup somewhere on these old trucks. They don't like to come apart very easy after being together for 30 years, but still 6-8 hours should cover it all IMO.
 

1987chevybad

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Its a start at 8am and hopefully done by noon job
 

animal

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That's not a bad time estimate. When I worked at the frame shop a GM truck front end took me about 6 hrs to r&r the upper and lower ball joints, upper control arm bushings, tie rod ends on both sides and do the alignment.
 

usar17

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Took me a day. Mainly BC of the learning experience. The spindle was the hardest part to seperate. Rubber mallet is key.

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Mattchu60

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My first time through it took me an entire day to just remove everything and a 2nd day to reassemble. The 2nd time through it took me around 45 min a side to take it all apart and around an hour to reassemble. I learned a lot from the first time. Impact tools help a ton on removing the ball joint nuts on the old ball joints. When I took the wheel bearing nuts off I laid them down in order so I could reassemble them in the correct order.
 

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