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  • Ball joint woes

    I fought with my truck all day long to get my upper ball joint to line up. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was causing the lower control arm to not want to compress high enough... well turns out I learned the torsion bars needed to be backed off lol. What a pain in the ***...

    Then to boot it didn’t look like the ball joint was sitting properly until I pulled the boot down. But she torqued in fine...




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    2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
    1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


    Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

  • #2
    Yeah always something, looks good.
    08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
    96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine

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    • #3
      So just as I finished up installing new ball joints and shocks- I discover my frame is cracked right through on both sides on the GM weld.

      Unbelievable odds. Looks like a defect from likely using too hot of a weld which thinned out the metal. Then with a bit of rust, boom she went. I contacted GM and they won’t do diddly squat which annoys me even more.

      There is some surface rust on the frame but it is nowhere near rotten to cause this. The rest of the frame is solid as can be

      Click image for larger version

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      2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
      1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


      Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

      Comment


      • #4
        Well that sucks, figures GM wouldn’t do anything. What you gonna do?
        08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
        96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine

        Comment


        • #5
          What a mess. So I have been literally running around looking at vehicles in every ounce of my spare time and trying to strip some accessory parts off my old truck.

          I bought a 2018 2.5L Colorado that I am supposed to pickup on Wednesday. I got it for a fair price with a bit of warranty, but only because it has about 56k on it. Which I am fine with because they would have mostly all been highway miles.

          I am drafting up an email to GM as we speak with more photos of the crack. I want to push them to do something, because it really is a factory default in my opinion and it is lucky it didn't kill me or another family...

          2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
          1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


          Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

          Comment


          • #6
            Nice. The Colorados are nice little trucks. And that's coming from someone who is decidedly NOT a truck guy.

            What colour?

            And good luck with GM. Who knows maybe you'll start a recall.

            Comment


            • #7
              White! I’ll make another threat with some pics a little later today/tomorrow!

              It’s been a total wreck the last number of days getting everything in order

              2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
              1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


              Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

              Comment


              • #8
                So with a ton of running around the last few weeks, I am finally done trying to sell my truck as a whole and am parting it out. I have a guy who is going to buy the motor off of me and his mechanic is going to pull the motor. That saves me some time and space which will hopefully allow me to catch back up to my other projects I fell behind on before I need to part down the rest of the truck.

                I won’t start a new thread for my new truck, I’ll just post my 2018 below. I had to run out and line-x the bed and did they ever do a killer job on it....

                Attached Files

                2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
                1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


                Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

                Comment


                • #9
                  Looks great.
                  08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
                  96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Really sucks on the chassis cracks...
                    Usually when doing ball joints (yes, I have owned a few pieces of crap and have had to do one or two, lol) I raise the body up, put a block under the lower arm and lower the body down into place -- seems to usually line everything up without having to fight with the suspension too much.

                    Liking the new truck though.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Pax2001 View Post
                      Really sucks on the chassis cracks...
                      Usually when doing ball joints (yes, I have owned a few pieces of crap and have had to do one or two, lol) I raise the body up, put a block under the lower arm and lower the body down into place -- seems to usually line everything up without having to fight with the suspension too much.

                      Liking the new truck though.
                      Maybe I should have tried that - I had the jack under the control arm though. I think my biggest issue was that the tension was still on the torsion bar. Once I backed them off it was smooth as butter... lol, It's always the stupid tricks you don't think of though...

                      2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
                      1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


                      Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Been crazy busy with this truck lately- some progress pictures of chopping it up to part out... parts are in a storage unit...
                        Attached Files

                        2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
                        1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


                        Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Holy cow , that’s some serious parting out. Good job.
                          08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
                          96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            It actually wasn’t nearly as much work as I thought. Milwaukee “torch” sawzall bits made the cutting a total breeze. I am straight through the frame in 30-45 seconds. The blades are super strong too- a few times when the steel closed up I slipped out of my cut line and smashed the blade on the body and expected it to fold in half. Didn’t even bend... best $27 I’ve spent in awhile lol.

                            I have mostly everything pulled minus the front suspension. Once that is out I’ll make maybe 4 more cuts to chop up the remaining front frame and that’ll be it

                            2002 SOM Z28 Camaro - 12.9 @ 104 mph
                            1996 3800 Camaro - 13.43 @ 100.77 mph


                            Project Cars | How To Guides | Scratch Repair | Synthetic Oil

                            Comment

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