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I have a 351W that I was getting ready to rebuild 20 years ago. I wish I had it bored back then when it was a LOT cheaper!!!
Dave's 2012 Silverado Truck Build
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we have 3 good shops around me, 1 is a totally last resort slow as all heck the others top notch work, bore and plate hone to size,
dave's up in canada i would think has a more limited option as to where it can be done, parts from the usa, man do they get hurt
dave's up in canada i would think has a more limited option as to where it can be done, parts from the usa, man do they get hurt
just converted what dave will have to pay for those pistons if he gets them from the usa .
211.00 US Dollars = 283.52325 Canadian Dollars that's still plus international shipping plus import taxes. just for the pistons, the rings add https://www.summitracing.com/parts/slp-e-921k20/make/chevrolet
83.00 US Dollars = 111.51365 Canadian Dollars plus the lists,
good luck DAVE
211.00 US Dollars = 283.52325 Canadian Dollars that's still plus international shipping plus import taxes. just for the pistons, the rings add https://www.summitracing.com/parts/slp-e-921k20/make/chevrolet
83.00 US Dollars = 111.51365 Canadian Dollars plus the lists,
good luck DAVE
Still working on finding a machine shop to bore out the block.
I did spend a couple hours finally swapping out the lower shock bushing, which I found was wore out when I put on new shocks.
After unbolting the shock and strapping it out of the way and moving the cv axle, I used my ball joint press w a 15/16" impact socket to push the old bushing out:
![Tire Automotive tire Wheel Tread Motor vehicle]()
Old vs new:
![Shoe Photograph White Light Wood]()
New one pressed in:
![Automotive tire Wood Bumper Hand tool Gas]()
Took it out for a test ride/get some groceries and...still have some banging happening when the suspension moves, so something else is still wrong. I'll replace the bump stops/jounces as they are also pretty worn, using the nicer looking ones from the parts truck and see if that helps, and recheck ball joints/sway bar/a-arm bushings...
To follow up on yesterdays valve lapping, I had bought this tool (crappy pic, it's OEM Tools large valve lapping tool). Simply put, it sucks. The "rubber" tips are anything but, they feel more like soft, flexible plastic instead. With moisture, either end would barely do a 1/2 rotation of the valve before coming off.
![Drinkware Gas Metal Cylinder Titanium]()
I did spend the time (should have done this first) to find the similar tools I knew I had, just didn't know where they were resting. I found 3, that are all at least 20 years, and probably more than 40+ years old, and all of them had softer, actual rubber suction cups, that gripped and stayed on the valves like they are supposed to...
Also spent a bunch of time figuring out what pistons to buy, from what I can tell from going on various auto parts sites, there are:
GM 89017849 (actually I would want 89017850, which are .5mm oversize)
Mahle 2243664WR
ENGINETECH P5073
SILV-O-LITE 3518HC
These are all the same cast pistons, w floating wrist pins, dished heads, and opposing valve relief cutouts. Once I get the machine shop nailed down, I'll order the pistons from whoever has stock.
Edit:
I'm sure there are other pistons that will work, but I'm going for a stock setup, with minimal risk and cost. There are forged pistons for way more, and maybe some other LS pistons will work, but I don't know enough about them to select them.
And a special shoutout to the ebay douches with the somewhat vague ebay lists for Mahle pistons for stupid money. They just have the p/n and charge 4.5x the price everyone charges for a single piston, but way less than what others sell a set of 8 for, and I know it's going to be just a single piston, w a return hassle...
Finally, a couple days ago, I ordered the Eonon Q80Pro head unit, w free backup camera and bluetooth obdii code reader, and the head unit came in (the other two bits actually shipped earlier, but from the other side of the country, so they will get here in about a week. I had planned on buying a similar setup to what I added to my '04 Sierra mainly to add Carplay support (an Alpine ILX-W650 HU, Pioneer NC-BD6 camera and PAC-Audio RP3-GM11 harness), but even with the xmas/boxing day sale discounts, this is about 60% of the price ($400 vs $500 for the Alpine, + $100+ for hte camera and $100+ for the right harness for my truck), and it includes the right harness for the truck, so it just plugs in.
Main HU, only about 2.5" deep so no problem with being too deep (way back the original radio I got for the '04 Sierra was a Pioneer AVH4000NEX, which needed a dash support cut out at the rear for it to fit in all the way).
![Gadget Rectangle Gas Technology Electronic device]()
The main thing with installation is figuring out this rats nest of wiring:
![Electrical wiring Cable Wire Electronic device Electrical supply]()
It's basically a bunch of plugs that go into the radio and the trucks wiring harness's. The manual has a single diagram to show how it all connects up, I expect it to be pretty straightforward, particularly since I've done this kind of thing before, but it may be a bit puzzling for someone who hasn't. However, I expect newbies will find it easier than the more traditional method, like what I did with my '04 (buying a head unit and a separate harness adapter, and having to wire the harness adapter to the radio yourself), and particularly if you try going cheap and just buy the head unit and then cut up the trucks harness to wire the HU up directly to that.
Edit: Misrememered the price for the unit, it was only $340 + 5% GST, not $400...
I did spend a couple hours finally swapping out the lower shock bushing, which I found was wore out when I put on new shocks.
After unbolting the shock and strapping it out of the way and moving the cv axle, I used my ball joint press w a 15/16" impact socket to push the old bushing out:
Old vs new:
New one pressed in:
Took it out for a test ride/get some groceries and...still have some banging happening when the suspension moves, so something else is still wrong. I'll replace the bump stops/jounces as they are also pretty worn, using the nicer looking ones from the parts truck and see if that helps, and recheck ball joints/sway bar/a-arm bushings...
To follow up on yesterdays valve lapping, I had bought this tool (crappy pic, it's OEM Tools large valve lapping tool). Simply put, it sucks. The "rubber" tips are anything but, they feel more like soft, flexible plastic instead. With moisture, either end would barely do a 1/2 rotation of the valve before coming off.
I did spend the time (should have done this first) to find the similar tools I knew I had, just didn't know where they were resting. I found 3, that are all at least 20 years, and probably more than 40+ years old, and all of them had softer, actual rubber suction cups, that gripped and stayed on the valves like they are supposed to...
Also spent a bunch of time figuring out what pistons to buy, from what I can tell from going on various auto parts sites, there are:
GM 89017849 (actually I would want 89017850, which are .5mm oversize)
Mahle 2243664WR
ENGINETECH P5073
SILV-O-LITE 3518HC
These are all the same cast pistons, w floating wrist pins, dished heads, and opposing valve relief cutouts. Once I get the machine shop nailed down, I'll order the pistons from whoever has stock.
Edit:
I'm sure there are other pistons that will work, but I'm going for a stock setup, with minimal risk and cost. There are forged pistons for way more, and maybe some other LS pistons will work, but I don't know enough about them to select them.
And a special shoutout to the ebay douches with the somewhat vague ebay lists for Mahle pistons for stupid money. They just have the p/n and charge 4.5x the price everyone charges for a single piston, but way less than what others sell a set of 8 for, and I know it's going to be just a single piston, w a return hassle...
Finally, a couple days ago, I ordered the Eonon Q80Pro head unit, w free backup camera and bluetooth obdii code reader, and the head unit came in (the other two bits actually shipped earlier, but from the other side of the country, so they will get here in about a week. I had planned on buying a similar setup to what I added to my '04 Sierra mainly to add Carplay support (an Alpine ILX-W650 HU, Pioneer NC-BD6 camera and PAC-Audio RP3-GM11 harness), but even with the xmas/boxing day sale discounts, this is about 60% of the price ($400 vs $500 for the Alpine, + $100+ for hte camera and $100+ for the right harness for my truck), and it includes the right harness for the truck, so it just plugs in.
Main HU, only about 2.5" deep so no problem with being too deep (way back the original radio I got for the '04 Sierra was a Pioneer AVH4000NEX, which needed a dash support cut out at the rear for it to fit in all the way).
The main thing with installation is figuring out this rats nest of wiring:
It's basically a bunch of plugs that go into the radio and the trucks wiring harness's. The manual has a single diagram to show how it all connects up, I expect it to be pretty straightforward, particularly since I've done this kind of thing before, but it may be a bit puzzling for someone who hasn't. However, I expect newbies will find it easier than the more traditional method, like what I did with my '04 (buying a head unit and a separate harness adapter, and having to wire the harness adapter to the radio yourself), and particularly if you try going cheap and just buy the head unit and then cut up the trucks harness to wire the HU up directly to that.
Edit: Misrememered the price for the unit, it was only $340 + 5% GST, not $400...
@charles g , again, thanks for research those pistons/rings. The pistons you found aren't the same as what my L96 currently has (not dished & press fit pins), I'll pick from the ones I found that are the same as my current pistons.
good luck dave
to many piston choices for that motor
to many piston choices for that motor
pistons for that one are like my big block, flat top, pop top, open chamber .closed chamber head, drove me crazy finally let the machine shop supply them when they bored it, upside for me was they plate honed the block to each piston,
balanced and pressed , each assembly was felt pen marked with the bore number on it .
balanced and pressed , each assembly was felt pen marked with the bore number on it .
Spent some time doing minor stuff on the truck itself, as the engine is paused for machining work.
Got the Eonon Q80Pro radio, so I installed that. Not the final install, as I need to pull the HU to wire up the backup camera when it arrives (IDK if I want to install it right away or when I finish making the flatbed for the truck).
Hardest part about the install was installing/routing the GPS unit. I'm not sure it's entirely necessary, as I will be using Carplay from my phone for navigation. Installed it on the passenger side dash, routed in through the passenger side fuse panel area, then behind the upper glovebox, then behind the radio.
![Musical instrument Hood Musical instrument accessory Audio equipment Electronic instrument]()
![Motor vehicle Automotive tire Bumper Automotive exterior Gas]()
And you need an 8mm wrench to attach it to the radio:
![Audio equipment Gadget Electronic instrument Computer hardware Gas]()
Appearance when installed:
![Motor vehicle Gas Personal luxury car Auto part Vehicle door]()
I got wireless carplay working. The unit came with 3 usb cables that plug into the radio, one for connecting up to mini-usb, if you have GM's dash USB port (in the above pic, it's the one with the cover open). I installed this one, it doesn't work with my iPhone at all, even for charging, but it also didn't power my iPhone with the original GM radio, but a USB flash drive did work with it to the orig radio. The second usb cable is also a 4 pin connector (same as the first) to the radio, with a "normal" usb-a port, with a "Apple Carplay" tag on it, which I didn't try, but should have before I mounted the HU. The third usb cable used a 6 pin connector (I didn't check if it actually wired up all 6 pins or not), labelled for Android Auto, which installs in the second usb connector on the HU, and is hanging down by the transmission hump in the above pic. I tried that, it will charge my iPhone, but does not connect via Carplay. The instructions only mention a Carplay/Android Auto cable, but naturally no cable has that label. IDK what they have to have botched to need one-off usb cables to work with specific products, to work around paying a few pennies more for a proper universal usb cable.
I tried using the built-in mic, in the radio, to try commanding my iPhone via wireless carplay, but I have to shout multiple times to get it to work. The unit included a wired mic, I'll try installing that and see how that makes a difference.
From my initial setup and use, the radio is functional, but not to a ui quality level that previous carplay units I have are, such as a Pioneer avh4000nex or alpine ilx-w650, as the ui switches to a more basic mode once you get to some option/page that they haven't skinned, and for whatever reason Carplay and Android Auto both run through an app called "TPLink", which may be what it's named in google play store, but it's stupid from a ui standpoint.
I also replace the rear dome lights so they work again, and replaced the upper console for the second time (first was to get the bulbs working and to look nice again) to add the garage remote setup from the parts truck. It doesn't need any truck programming, and just plugged in and worked after a couple of tries using gm's programming instructions. One thing I don't like about it, is that it functions even when the truck is off/ignition key is out. My other truck has been broken into and the remote stolen out of it (I now remove the remote from the truck when it's parked), and I'm sure the thief tried opening the garage with it, and it didn't work because I also disable remote entry when I'm home). I will see about re-wiring it so it only gets power from a key-on source (after testing that it still works after having power disconnected/reconnected).
Finally, I brazed a nut for a drain plug to the transmssion pan from the 6l90 I pulled from the parts truck, to install on the main truck. It sticks out about an inch (with the plug installed), but it will drain everything out. I'm not worried about anything hitting it, as it's still raised up from the front diff and frame, and it's rarely even going onto gravel roads. The transmission itself should make a decent spare, as while the fluid was really dark, there wasn't much debris on the magnet.
![Gas Automotive wheel system Auto part Metal Automotive tire]()
![Water Fluid Sink Plumbing fixture Automotive lighting]()
Got the Eonon Q80Pro radio, so I installed that. Not the final install, as I need to pull the HU to wire up the backup camera when it arrives (IDK if I want to install it right away or when I finish making the flatbed for the truck).
Hardest part about the install was installing/routing the GPS unit. I'm not sure it's entirely necessary, as I will be using Carplay from my phone for navigation. Installed it on the passenger side dash, routed in through the passenger side fuse panel area, then behind the upper glovebox, then behind the radio.
And you need an 8mm wrench to attach it to the radio:
Appearance when installed:
I got wireless carplay working. The unit came with 3 usb cables that plug into the radio, one for connecting up to mini-usb, if you have GM's dash USB port (in the above pic, it's the one with the cover open). I installed this one, it doesn't work with my iPhone at all, even for charging, but it also didn't power my iPhone with the original GM radio, but a USB flash drive did work with it to the orig radio. The second usb cable is also a 4 pin connector (same as the first) to the radio, with a "normal" usb-a port, with a "Apple Carplay" tag on it, which I didn't try, but should have before I mounted the HU. The third usb cable used a 6 pin connector (I didn't check if it actually wired up all 6 pins or not), labelled for Android Auto, which installs in the second usb connector on the HU, and is hanging down by the transmission hump in the above pic. I tried that, it will charge my iPhone, but does not connect via Carplay. The instructions only mention a Carplay/Android Auto cable, but naturally no cable has that label. IDK what they have to have botched to need one-off usb cables to work with specific products, to work around paying a few pennies more for a proper universal usb cable.
I tried using the built-in mic, in the radio, to try commanding my iPhone via wireless carplay, but I have to shout multiple times to get it to work. The unit included a wired mic, I'll try installing that and see how that makes a difference.
From my initial setup and use, the radio is functional, but not to a ui quality level that previous carplay units I have are, such as a Pioneer avh4000nex or alpine ilx-w650, as the ui switches to a more basic mode once you get to some option/page that they haven't skinned, and for whatever reason Carplay and Android Auto both run through an app called "TPLink", which may be what it's named in google play store, but it's stupid from a ui standpoint.
I also replace the rear dome lights so they work again, and replaced the upper console for the second time (first was to get the bulbs working and to look nice again) to add the garage remote setup from the parts truck. It doesn't need any truck programming, and just plugged in and worked after a couple of tries using gm's programming instructions. One thing I don't like about it, is that it functions even when the truck is off/ignition key is out. My other truck has been broken into and the remote stolen out of it (I now remove the remote from the truck when it's parked), and I'm sure the thief tried opening the garage with it, and it didn't work because I also disable remote entry when I'm home). I will see about re-wiring it so it only gets power from a key-on source (after testing that it still works after having power disconnected/reconnected).
Finally, I brazed a nut for a drain plug to the transmssion pan from the 6l90 I pulled from the parts truck, to install on the main truck. It sticks out about an inch (with the plug installed), but it will drain everything out. I'm not worried about anything hitting it, as it's still raised up from the front diff and frame, and it's rarely even going onto gravel roads. The transmission itself should make a decent spare, as while the fluid was really dark, there wasn't much debris on the magnet.
Got the block and heads out to a machine shop to bore .020 over and cut the valve seats.
Then spent way too long trying to get the rubber jounces out of the parts truck as they are in decent shape (vs spending over $100 for a full set of them). They are just a snap fit in cones welded to the frame, the cones have some cutout tabs holding them in place, so I need to figure out how to get them over the tabs without destroying them.
Also received the "free" backup camera as part of the Eonon Q80Pro head unit I bought. I have no idea about what quality the image will be, but from the instructions and cabling, it's primarily cheap. From the price difference of the Q80Pro on AmazonCA vs Eonon's site, they value the camera at about $20 (Eonon's site has 2 free addons, and costs $20 more than Amazon, where they only include 1 free addon.
Pic of it/w cable attached:
![Plant Wood Electrical wiring Twig Tree]()
Things I don't like about it:
-instructions indicate the camera can only be active for up to 10 min at a time. Not a huge deal, but sometimes I like driving and watching if anything is happeing behind me (either vehicles or my trailer).
-short cable from the camera, to a plug. I'd rather it have a long, sealed cable from the camera to the inside of the cab, both to eliminate an extra connection and to not have connectors (separate video signal and power/ground) designed for indoor use, outside. I'll need to tape them up real good.
-mount seems very feeble, and they include a double-sided foam mounting pad thing for it. I'll probably fab a mount the camera screws to, that can be bolted to the truck
-power and ground cable ends need to be wired up near the camera, they say to the reverse lights wiring, which is another source for problems. And the trigger wire (I guess it turns the camera on/off) doesn't a plug to connect to the HU or it's wiring harness, seems extra cheap vs the HU being entirely plug-n-play, with this camera designed to attach to their HU's. I'll need to dig through their harness to find the right wires to hook them up to (and perhaps add a switch to have an on-demand way to view the camera w/o having to shift into reverse)
-there appears to be a vent hole in the back of the camera, which also isn't a great idea for something exposed to the elements.
I'm comparing this against the Pioneer NC-BD6 camera I bought about 8 years ago, for somewhere around $120, which:
-camera was sealed
-mount was made to screw/bolt to something
-single, long cable, sealed to the camera housing, that goes all the way into the cab, that then broke out into a video connector, and then a power/ground/activation plug that went into a small power/controller box, that then I had to wire to the head unit
-camera comes on when shifted into reverse, or I get the HU (either the Alpine ILXw650 or Pioneer avh4000nex) to view the camera whenever, for however long I want (from what I can tell, I have to externally fake the HU into thinking the truck is in reverse to view the backup camera, and also trigger the camera to be on).
It's the difference between something that works well, and something that is the cheapest thing you can make and you can say it functions.
Then spent way too long trying to get the rubber jounces out of the parts truck as they are in decent shape (vs spending over $100 for a full set of them). They are just a snap fit in cones welded to the frame, the cones have some cutout tabs holding them in place, so I need to figure out how to get them over the tabs without destroying them.
Also received the "free" backup camera as part of the Eonon Q80Pro head unit I bought. I have no idea about what quality the image will be, but from the instructions and cabling, it's primarily cheap. From the price difference of the Q80Pro on AmazonCA vs Eonon's site, they value the camera at about $20 (Eonon's site has 2 free addons, and costs $20 more than Amazon, where they only include 1 free addon.
Pic of it/w cable attached:
Things I don't like about it:
-instructions indicate the camera can only be active for up to 10 min at a time. Not a huge deal, but sometimes I like driving and watching if anything is happeing behind me (either vehicles or my trailer).
-short cable from the camera, to a plug. I'd rather it have a long, sealed cable from the camera to the inside of the cab, both to eliminate an extra connection and to not have connectors (separate video signal and power/ground) designed for indoor use, outside. I'll need to tape them up real good.
-mount seems very feeble, and they include a double-sided foam mounting pad thing for it. I'll probably fab a mount the camera screws to, that can be bolted to the truck
-power and ground cable ends need to be wired up near the camera, they say to the reverse lights wiring, which is another source for problems. And the trigger wire (I guess it turns the camera on/off) doesn't a plug to connect to the HU or it's wiring harness, seems extra cheap vs the HU being entirely plug-n-play, with this camera designed to attach to their HU's. I'll need to dig through their harness to find the right wires to hook them up to (and perhaps add a switch to have an on-demand way to view the camera w/o having to shift into reverse)
-there appears to be a vent hole in the back of the camera, which also isn't a great idea for something exposed to the elements.
I'm comparing this against the Pioneer NC-BD6 camera I bought about 8 years ago, for somewhere around $120, which:
-camera was sealed
-mount was made to screw/bolt to something
-single, long cable, sealed to the camera housing, that goes all the way into the cab, that then broke out into a video connector, and then a power/ground/activation plug that went into a small power/controller box, that then I had to wire to the head unit
-camera comes on when shifted into reverse, or I get the HU (either the Alpine ILXw650 or Pioneer avh4000nex) to view the camera whenever, for however long I want (from what I can tell, I have to externally fake the HU into thinking the truck is in reverse to view the backup camera, and also trigger the camera to be on).
It's the difference between something that works well, and something that is the cheapest thing you can make and you can say it functions.
Got the front jounces out of the parts truck today, with minimal damage to them. Used large adjustable pliers to twist them while pulling down on them at the same time, to get all 4 out.
Removing the very worn one from the parts truck was another thing. They are worn right next to where they go into the holding cups, so using pliers, I can't get a good enough grip on the section being held by the cups to twist & loosen them. Tried just prying them out w screwdrivers, didn't get much. Eventually came up with the idea of drilling holes in the rubber, that did the trick w a bunch of holes, which both weakened the rubber holding them in place, and made it so I could get a screwdriver behind the rubber to pry on it better.
Worn out vs worn:
![Shoe Automotive tire Wood Automotive lighting Personal protective equipment]()
Tried using a variety of prying tools to push the replacement ones into the cups, with no success. After googling for videos on doing similar ones (apparently nobody replaces them for my style truck), tomorrow I'll try jacking up the frame to extend the front suspension, then insert the rubber piece and a block of wood to push against it, and then lower the truck to hopefully use the trucks weight to push it into place.
Also looked at the rest of the suspension again, to find what might be causing the banging noise/feeling when going over bumps, and the only thing that looks like it might be a problem are these:
![Motor vehicle Automotive tire Automotive exterior Automotive fuel system Gas]()
![Wood Gas Bumper Motor vehicle Automotive exterior]()
Both bushings on the passenger side upper control arm look like the arm is sliding sideways on them. The other side shows nice black rubber where it's shiny in the above pics. I'll order some bushing and ball joints just in case they are bad (it's easier to tell when it's apart).
Removing the very worn one from the parts truck was another thing. They are worn right next to where they go into the holding cups, so using pliers, I can't get a good enough grip on the section being held by the cups to twist & loosen them. Tried just prying them out w screwdrivers, didn't get much. Eventually came up with the idea of drilling holes in the rubber, that did the trick w a bunch of holes, which both weakened the rubber holding them in place, and made it so I could get a screwdriver behind the rubber to pry on it better.
Worn out vs worn:
Tried using a variety of prying tools to push the replacement ones into the cups, with no success. After googling for videos on doing similar ones (apparently nobody replaces them for my style truck), tomorrow I'll try jacking up the frame to extend the front suspension, then insert the rubber piece and a block of wood to push against it, and then lower the truck to hopefully use the trucks weight to push it into place.
Also looked at the rest of the suspension again, to find what might be causing the banging noise/feeling when going over bumps, and the only thing that looks like it might be a problem are these:
Both bushings on the passenger side upper control arm look like the arm is sliding sideways on them. The other side shows nice black rubber where it's shiny in the above pics. I'll order some bushing and ball joints just in case they are bad (it's easier to tell when it's apart).
Ugh, need to recheck the upper ball joints, as you need to replace the control arm to get a new one, to decide between about $30 per side for bushings vs $150 for a (it looks like what's on the truck now) Mevotech TTX arm or maybe $90 for Mevotech Supreme. And, in a rare twist, shipping for the control arms is stupid high from RA, making for a rare instance where getting them locally is actually cheaper...
For the vast majority of parts that I check, cars/trucks/equipment, most prices are way cheaper in the us (factoring in the exchange rate).
Moog for example, is typically around double the us price, so it doesn't take much for the price to overcome shipping costs.
Toro and Stihl parts are also about double vs buying out of the states. Husqvarna parts is only slightly more expensive from Canadian parts suppliers.
When I did the steering parts for my '04 Sierra 3500, I priced out the same moog parts from rockauto, vs the non-name house brand at the main parts retailer in canada (CanadianTire) and it was about $1k from rockauto, including shipping, vs just shy of $2k from CanadianTire.
But parts from other manufacturers aren't always terrible, I happened to look up Mevotech locally, and a store has it locally in stock for $130cdn (vs $90cdn at Rockauto), which IMHO isn't outlandish for the expensive of stocking it here. And the ratio of prices between Moog control arm and Mevotech a-arm, and moog vs mevotech bushings were the same...
And thinking about the part and
-how worn the shocks were
-how worn the jounces were
-how worn the bushings are (the other vehicles I've had, the ball joints go before the bushings, and for these a-arms, the bushing can't be older than the ball joint [as the bushings must be replaced with the ball joint])
I'm going to just replace the control arm and not bother messing around with trying to just replace the bushings.
Moog for example, is typically around double the us price, so it doesn't take much for the price to overcome shipping costs.
Toro and Stihl parts are also about double vs buying out of the states. Husqvarna parts is only slightly more expensive from Canadian parts suppliers.
When I did the steering parts for my '04 Sierra 3500, I priced out the same moog parts from rockauto, vs the non-name house brand at the main parts retailer in canada (CanadianTire) and it was about $1k from rockauto, including shipping, vs just shy of $2k from CanadianTire.
But parts from other manufacturers aren't always terrible, I happened to look up Mevotech locally, and a store has it locally in stock for $130cdn (vs $90cdn at Rockauto), which IMHO isn't outlandish for the expensive of stocking it here. And the ratio of prices between Moog control arm and Mevotech a-arm, and moog vs mevotech bushings were the same...
And thinking about the part and
-how worn the shocks were
-how worn the jounces were
-how worn the bushings are (the other vehicles I've had, the ball joints go before the bushings, and for these a-arms, the bushing can't be older than the ball joint [as the bushings must be replaced with the ball joint])
I'm going to just replace the control arm and not bother messing around with trying to just replace the bushings.
Joined
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2,082 Posts
switch on the dash to power up the camera and need a diode installed so it won't backfeed the reverse lights! I recently put a double din in my 95 so I had bluetooth and backup camera, should have done it 20yrs. ago!
A day where I did a bunch of stuff, but didn't seem to make a lot of progress.
Picked up the heads from the machine shop, need to check how they are with the valves, and if ok, reassemble them this weekend.
Also ordered a control arm online, then was called with a "oh yeah, we need to charge you more", so cancelled that, then ordered it from a local company, which was also a hassle, as while they have "store", you can't go there and order the part, you need to order online, then wait for the part to arrive from another warehouse, then get it, so that took extra driving & waiting.
Got home and swapped on the control arm, relatively straightforward, but Mevotech used a crappy hex key setup for tightening the ball joint (where you have to insert a hex key into the threaded end to prevent it from rotating). The old part, the bushings had totally separated and the center parts were just floating in the housing.
Went for a drive, and the banging feeling/noise was still there, and didn't seem any better. I'll take the other apart and see if the bushings are ok (they look, and don't seem to move to much when I pry on them, but I'll mark the adjusters, then pull it out of the mounts to make sure).
I also had ordered rod bolts, online, but from a local company, but idk what's up with the company, I phoned and used their website contact feature a bunch of times, with no answer, no callback, no response, so today I finally left a message to cancel the order, and 5 minutes later they sent me an email that it was cancelled. I'll just go to a dealer for them instead, the price for those bolts is comparable to rockauto.
Picked up the heads from the machine shop, need to check how they are with the valves, and if ok, reassemble them this weekend.
Also ordered a control arm online, then was called with a "oh yeah, we need to charge you more", so cancelled that, then ordered it from a local company, which was also a hassle, as while they have "store", you can't go there and order the part, you need to order online, then wait for the part to arrive from another warehouse, then get it, so that took extra driving & waiting.
Got home and swapped on the control arm, relatively straightforward, but Mevotech used a crappy hex key setup for tightening the ball joint (where you have to insert a hex key into the threaded end to prevent it from rotating). The old part, the bushings had totally separated and the center parts were just floating in the housing.
Went for a drive, and the banging feeling/noise was still there, and didn't seem any better. I'll take the other apart and see if the bushings are ok (they look, and don't seem to move to much when I pry on them, but I'll mark the adjusters, then pull it out of the mounts to make sure).
I also had ordered rod bolts, online, but from a local company, but idk what's up with the company, I phoned and used their website contact feature a bunch of times, with no answer, no callback, no response, so today I finally left a message to cancel the order, and 5 minutes later they sent me an email that it was cancelled. I'll just go to a dealer for them instead, the price for those bolts is comparable to rockauto.
And I tried again to get those jounces installed, first by extending the suspension, wedging it in place w some wood, then compressing the suspension, didn't do much (the suspension is pretty stiff), and then by driving around (roads are pretty rutted up w soft snow so the suspension was working), and neither was enough to get one pushed in so it stayed. I'll try getting a new one and installing it, and if that works, then getting all new ones (as the ones I'm trying to install are pretty stiff with age and the cold), and if it is similar, maybe try installing them when it's a lot warmer out or when I swap the motor in (as it'll be in the garage w the heat on).
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have you checked the swaybar and links for the source of your suspension noise! if those upper control arms have moved the castor will change ,your likely going to need an alignment after you get the wheels on it that your going to run!
if it drives good that's half the battle,but if it's beating tires off that gets expensive quick!
if it drives good that's half the battle,but if it's beating tires off that gets expensive quick!
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