front end help

[digglesworth]

so I wanna start gathering parts to start swapping out front end components. from what I hear, the bushings and ball joints wear out causing front end wobbling and vibration. so what is all involved? id like to get a complete list together. ive got almost 80,000 so my goal would be to have all this stuff on hand to replace everything around 100,000. that may be a year and a half or two from now but as its probably gonna be a good chunk of money for everything, id rather start buying stuff now a piece here and a piece there.... so details would be greatly appreciated and associated part numbers would be awesome. can the bushings for the upper and lower control arms be replaced or do I just buy new arms? that goes for ball joints too? are those replaceable? and what about wheel bearings? are those a problem area too? ive got 33s now but plan to do 35s when these wear out (probably around 100,000 also)... and half shafts? do those go bad/cause issues? and steering racks. ill be adding one of the aftermarket clamps/bushings to the list... do racks wear out or just the stock strap and bushings that cause flex...? now how about the front diff? and I guess t-case. I haven't done any wheeling with my 3 but I plan to. I know this seems like a ton of questions but I plan to keep my truck for quite some time and anything I can do to keep it performing at its best is worth it to me... thanks guys...

 

[digglesworth]

well after looking around under there it appears my drivers side cv shaft seal is bad... its all gooey where the cv shaft connects to the carrier.... looks like the cv shafts will have to be pulled too.... might be tackling all this stuff sooner than I thought... ugh...

 

[Chook]

Check your steering mount bushes might be worn also................

 

[digglesworth]

Yeah. A steering rack mount kit (unspecified brand) is on the list and will be done when I do all this...

 

[digglesworth]

got front axle seals from gmpartshouse... seal protectors from ebay to re-insert the cv shafts without damaging new seals. thinkin I might need a seal puller. located which lower ball joints im going to use. learned I need new upper a-arms as a whole unit. I think I found the lower control arm bushings on gmpartshouse as well. the rears don't sound fun to press out. now I just gotta figure out which rental kits to use for the bushings and ball joints. now if I could only find a good deal on the upper a-arms and some 16mm tie rods (inner and outer)...

 

[benlaud87]

I have 16mm tie rods with a few thousand miles on them. I just swapped to some hd ones

 

[alrock]

Sounds like you've got just about everything covered there. The seals should pull out with a screwdriver but it can be easier with a tool like the Lisle Axle Seal puller, and it's under $10.

 

[digglesworth]

alex- I saw that seal puller in some threads I dug up and might as well get one... benlaud- I assume you've got the inners and outers if you've replaced your complete assemblies... if you want, message me with how much you might want for them. thanks a bunch.