6066 (1960-1966) GMC Truck Club Bitcoin now accepted here! 
Pay Dues
Pay Dues or become a Site Supporter
 



Go Back   6066 (1960-1966) GMC Truck Club > 6066 GMC Truck Club Forum > Wheels, Tires, Suspension and Brakes


Wheels, Tires, Suspension and Brakes Keep them doggies rollin', rawhide

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old November 10th, 2020, 03:00 PM
Walys60's Avatar
Walys60 Walys60 is offline
-= Dues Paid =-
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: ARIZONA CITY, AZ
Truck: 1960 GMC 3/4 Ton
Age: 53
Posts: 107
Rep Power: 82
Walys60 is on a distinguished road
Default 60 Ball Joints

Hey All,

Getting decent weather here again so back at it.

I have started on the front end and I have a dilemma. Other than steering slop, the whole front end is as tight as drum. No movement what so ever in the upper and lower ball joints and the bearings have no movement either. From a quick inspection, so far, the races look pretty well perfect.

So here is the dilemma...For sure the uppers are original, they still have the rivets. The rubber is still amazing pliable. However, NONE of the seals are actually any good. At least I would be very curious where the inch+ of grease all over EVERYTHING in the front end came from if they were any good. My thought is, I know the replacements I would get for all of these parts would not be near the quality of the originals, but I'd just be squirting grease into them constantly and wrecking all the nice refurbishing I plan on doing to the whole thing.

I know...I'm sure I need to just replace em, but MAN it's a hard thing to think about jamming that pickle fork in there and ruining those things.

As far as the wheel bearings go...I'm fairly certain I'm keeping those, but maybe someone could talk me out of that...? They are ball bearing where the new stuff is roller bearing. Maybe in general rollers are the right thing...but man are those things something to behold! I was a tank driver in the Army and these things are reminiscent of the stuff I worked on back then! They're the size of marbles! I can't imagine improving much on those...assuming there end's up being no defects...?

Thanks for your thoughts, as always!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old January 1st, 2021, 06:45 PM
LEWISMATKIN's Avatar
LEWISMATKIN LEWISMATKIN is offline
-= Site Supporter =-
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: RIDGE MANOR, FLORIDA
Truck: 1965 1002 GMC V6-305E
Age: 64
Posts: 307
Rep Power: 173
LEWISMATKIN will become famous soon enoughLEWISMATKIN will become famous soon enoughLEWISMATKIN will become famous soon enough
Default Re: 60 Ball Joints

I wouldn't touch a thing if it is as tight as you say. Just grease everything up good. On the question of the front wheel bearings, you can repack the bearings but the wheel seals will need to be replaced with a modern nitrle lip seal. The lube used in 1960/1 was a long fiber timken #1 grease that could use a leather lipped seal, but will leak out the thin, modern wheel bearing grease. Hope this helps.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old January 4th, 2021, 02:45 PM
Walys60's Avatar
Walys60 Walys60 is offline
-= Dues Paid =-
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: ARIZONA CITY, AZ
Truck: 1960 GMC 3/4 Ton
Age: 53
Posts: 107
Rep Power: 82
Walys60 is on a distinguished road
Default Re: 60 Ball Joints

Thanks Lewis,
So, I did end up popping the upper ball joint. I talked with some folks and came to the conclusion that it would just never hold grease so would be impractical to try to keep it. As far as the shafts, they're in great shape, certainly reusable. Maybe even the bushings would be...but there are NO seals to be found for them so cannot be salvaged. I HAVE to order the entire shaft/bushing/seal package simply because no one will sell just the seals. I did find a supplier that would sell just the bushings, but called them and they said 'no' to the seals, for the upper shaft. They actually said 'if it's not in the catalog, I can't help you'....because I'm talking to someone making minimum wage who knows nothing about the parts, only how to take your order and they can't refer me to anyone who does know. Very frustrating, this whole parts ordering process.

Anyway, in a nutshell, I will have new ball joints and control arm shafts, seals, bushings, etc. once I get the correct parts in. I will be keeping the wheel bearings/repacking etc. Thanks for the tip on the wheel seals and I will definitely do that replacement as well.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
F/S Lower Ball Joints 60-62 GMC atomman 1960-1966 GMC Marketplace 1 December 26th, 2016 06:16 PM
Brake cylinders and ball joints Archiver Previous Forum Posts 0 September 30th, 2009 01:34 AM
orginal riverted ball joints Archiver Previous Forum Posts 0 January 9th, 2006 12:53 AM
Re: [6066 GMC Truck] Ball Joints Archiver Previous Forum Posts 0 July 31st, 2002 01:55 AM
Ball Joints Archiver Previous Forum Posts 0 July 31st, 2002 01:30 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:46 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd 671711554703|1710441998|0