Broke Down On a Mountain

[Gangly]

I was in Utah this week attempting a bow hunt in the Wasatch mountains with friends. On the evening of the first hunt, making my way across a ridge to a friends camp, the upper control arm on the driver's side separated, the CV axle got trashed, and the wheel was dang near at a 45 degree angle to the ground. I was able to get it towed off the mountain and into town about 3:00 am, and spent the remainder of the night in an O'Reilly's parking lot. Luckily, there was a Chevrolet dealership not to far away so I was able to get to the dealership and pick up a new CV and UCA. It would have been a few days before they could have gotten to the truck and I brought tools with me on hunt since it was a two day drive to get there, so I did the repairs myself in the O'Reilly's parking lot.

What's interesting is that the UCA ball joint didn't break, it just popped out of the bottom of the UCA. There was VERY LITTLE evidence of grease on the ball joint or in the socket, and you could see where the ball joint had warbled out part of the socket over time. I guess that's what happens over 186K miles of use

Big Kudos to O'Reilly's for letting me work on the truck in their parking lot. However, they made a $150+ off of me from the purchase of various tools, so I guess it was in their best interest anyways. Good thing there wasn't a Snap-On, Cornwell, or MAC truck nearby since I finally would have been justified in over-spending on various tools and the spouse couldn't complain, at least not tooooooo much, lol.




UCA Ball Joint Socket Warbled Out


Trashed CV


UCA and CV Removed, Suspension Disconnected


New UCA and CV Installed, Suspension Buttoned Up


After the failure to the driver's side, I had no faith in the passenger side holding up on the mountain roads so my hunt ended. I drove the truck home over the next two days, but I need to replace the passenger side UCA before doing anymore off roading.

New tools acquired from O-Reilly's (there were a few things I needed that I didn't have with me):
1. Titan pry bar (I actually love this thing, its pretty solid)
2. 21 mm wrench (didnt bother catching the brand)
3. 6 ton bottle jack; already leaking
4. Copper Anti-Seize; they were out of Nickle Anti-Seize
5. PT heavy hammer; not bad, feels robust.
6. Torque wrench; unknown brand.

 

[zimman]

Nice work. Didn't have to call "Matts Off Road Recovery" or anything like that. LOL. I have a set of tools that cost me at least 1-2mpg especially for this reason. It helps but that's a big job. You got it done tho.
Zim

 

[PJorgen]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Any idea of the root cause of the failure?

 

[Gangly]

Wear and tear due to general use. The truck has 186,000 miles on it, and you can see where the ball basically wore down the ball "socket" over time.

 

[NitroExpress]

Bummer, but a good recovery! I wish you would have wound up with a good buck/bull instead of some new parts store tools.

 

[strutaeng]

Great story.

I once had to replace the alternator on our 2013 T&C once on the O'Reilly's parking lot in like 104F summer afternoon when I went to work out of town in East Texas. They were nice enough to loan me some tools and I bought a long ratchet to remove the serpentine belt.

I rebuilt the entire front end suspension/steering on my 99 Silverado at 265k 2 years ago. Everything was original except for the shocks and the steering rack. Ball joints had developed some good amount slop by then and there was some wobble driving. Last year I replaced the hubs (around 275k) and they too had slop.

 

[nadogail]

In 1969, I was being transferred from the Naval Communications Station in Rota Spain to the Naval Air Station in Alameda California.
The Us Navy shipped my 1965 Fiat 600D from Spain to New Jersey. I elected to drive it across the USA to Alameda.
Fortunately I had the foresight to buy a full set of engine gaskets and load them into the car.
We got as far Casey Illinois and the head gasket failed on a Sunday.
The young kid at the Gulf station told me that I was going to be stuck for several days. The mechanic would not be coming back to work until Monday and it might take a few days to get parts for that Italian car.

I told him that I had a set of gaskets and some tools.

He said that I had better get to work. I rolled up my sleeves and used his Lube Bay. We drove out of Casey that same evening and I made it to Oklahoma City before I needed a valve adjustment.

The next problem was a rear wheel bearing failure just past Las Cruces, New Mexico. A general machine shop was able to get me going again until we got to San Francisco.

 

[madison069]

Nice work. Didn't have to call "Matts Off Road Recovery" or anything like that. LOL. I have a set of tools that cost me at least 1-2mpg especially for this reason. It helps but that's a big job. You got it done tho.
Zim

Or "Murphy Diesel"

stand by!

 

[Blk88GT]

A chevy with a failed front end - what's next, Dodge?

 

[zimman]

Or "Murphy Diesel"

stand by!

OMG that's my new scriber. I love he's doing all that for free and frankly last night he helped another veteran, vet cried, I cried and Wrecker Rick almost cried. Great series, love the family and what he does.
Zim

 

[bwringer]

Nice save!

And nice of them to not ***** and moan about you handling the repair there in the parking lot. I've had that happen a few times when performing impromptu al fresco repairs. I've had to point out a few times that the less I have to stop and listen to people complain, the faster I'll be done.

I'm sure many in this crowd remember Big A Auto Parts. I once limped my ancient Datsun into Moab Utah with a bad alternator. By some miracle, the Big A in Moab had one, and the swap was soon accomplished.

However, I found out on the way back to Indiana that the regulator inside was bad, and overcharging. I made it to the Big A back home with a swollen battery, exchanged the faulty alternator (they had one too by some chance, and accepted the return from their distant store) bought a new battery, and all was well.