Very close call , pos parts chevy 2500 3/4 ton drama today

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Davyjones

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So .....

3 miles west of gecko today I was traveling west bound on the 78 doing about 60 and thankfully just missed getting into a head on collision with a 18 wheeler .  
 

My truck all of a sudden made a hard left hand turn into opposite traffic , it took every thing I had to keep it out of the opposite lane until the rig passed at which time I ended up almost  off the road , but was able to  gather it all up and get it safely on the right side of the road and off and into the shoulder .  
 

so after gathering up a thought or two I get out expecting a tire or something  down only to find the upper drivers side ball joint broken in half . 
 

2007 duramax 2wd crew cab 190k miles  factory stock except for method wheels and bfg all terrain tires . 275 70 17 I think is tire size so not a big tire . 

had front end rebuilt about 80k miles ago , new arms , new shocks , new tie rods , new bushings and steering parts parts of unknown origin . 

the tow truck guy who came from brawler had a lot to say .... he said he sees alot of chevys like mine with broken arms , ball joints,  tie rods . All of them lifted 
 

he commented about the tire marks on the road and he says damn , your a lucky muther effer can’t believe you didn’t flip it .
 

honestly I never touched the brakes , just let my momentum carry and gradually steered it back and across  

point of this is drive safely and count your blessings every day

today wasn’t the day to be my last . this certainly got my attention to look at other things in my life 

Davy Jones 

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Glad to hear you're ok. I had a 2006 LLY Duramax on 37s and the pitman arm tapered bolt snapped. Fortunately my wife had just pulled out of the driveway at home and it happened. A couple years later same thing happened to me in my truck. Pulled away from the curb and lost the steering. Pitman arm snapped again. Both pitman arms were Moog. I switched to Kryptonite steering parts. Can't imagine how bad it would have been if I was doing 70mph on the freeway. 

 
Glad to report that while stopped waiting on my tow , several duners stopped to see if I was ok . 
 

learned long time ago always have  Ice chest , water , food , auxiliary cell charger , shade umbrella when traveling . 

. 

 
Something I learned while rebuilding my 08 2500hd front end was there is a wild difference in parts quality, and OEM parts are a knockoffs half the time when ordering from eBay, Amazon, Walmart marketplace ,etc.  

GM (Ac Delco) has three different grades. All the Kragen, AutoZone, etc are junk. Moog has two different grades, the list goes on.

I opted for a mix of dealer parts and Moog problem solvers. 

I also highly recommend a cognito pitman/idler arm saver kit on any older GM truck. Really makes a difference.

I know how puckered you felt, probably had to change your drawers... haha .

Good save. :thumb:

 
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L.R.S. said:
Glad to hear you're ok. I had a 2006 LLY Duramax on 37s and the pitman arm tapered bolt snapped. Fortunately my wife had just pulled out of the driveway at home and it happened. A couple years later same thing happened to me in my truck. Pulled away from the curb and lost the steering. Pitman arm snapped again. Both pitman arms were Moog. I switched to Kryptonite steering parts. Can't imagine how bad it would have been if I was doing 70mph on the freeway. 
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I had the same exact pitman failure in my 2006 ccsb 2500 Sierra, total steering loss. Has just got off the freeway and was only doing about 15 when it happened. Not lifted and only on 33” tires, 130k miles. Count those blessings!

 
Always gotta be careful towing for sure. I came around a blind corner at 50 on a small downgrade to find this truck still sliding to a stop. Crazy 

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My '03 2500HD 4x4 on 35s as all stock at 140k miles.

My son has basically taken this truck over a d drives it daily now.

Shocks and now steering controls are on the list.

I'd hate for him to have this happen while on the hwy, etc.

 
Dam dood, Angels were watching over you.

Glad your okay.

 
Lucky and good on you to post it here as a PSA.

Ball joints are definitely wear items to be inspected every tire rotation.  They usually tell you they're gonna F-off before they do. 


I also use a jack handle under the tire to lift up and observe for movement in the ball joints before the suspension moves/

 
Would it be an overreaction on my part if I said this would be the reason I'd go Ford over Chevy/GMC when I get a new truck in the next few months? 

 
SYBIZ said:
Would it be an overreaction on my part if I said this would be the reason I'd go Ford over Chevy/GMC when I get a new truck in the next few months? 
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Sorta.  Still has balljoints that are notorious for failure, they just let you know more loudly that they're failing. :biggrin:

 
Glad you are safe, this post really makes me think I should slow down a bit when towing.

 
I had a the same thing happen on my 08 GMC. Immediate total steering failure that fortunately happened in a parking lot. That must of been a horrible feeling to have happen while towing,

 
Glad you were able to make it out okay.

This is the exact reason i sold my 2004 dmax. It had a 6” rcd lift and 315’s. I bought the truck new and drove it straight from dealer to get the lift.   every 20k miles i had to replace all ball joints pitman/idlers. After 2nd set at about 40k miles i did cognito everything on the front end. It helped alot but pitman/idler arms were still problematic (would get another 5-10k miles with the supports). Their tie rod kit is a must have. I also replaced  2 sets (left and right) wheel bearings within the 80k miles i had the truck. 
granted, i used the truck like a truck. I chased for my friends all over baja, plaster city, and nevada. And  i am a bit ocd about my vehicles. Every rattle click or shake must be addressed immediately. 
it was the primary reason i ended up getting rid of that truck and into a superduty. Loved the way that chevy rode though.

 
Wow. Glad you're ok after that.

My 06 LBZ has just shy of 175k on it now, torsion bars have been turned up since 12k at which time I also installed the Cognito idler and pitman supports (which are the single best upgrade you can do to a GM IFS IMHO). Running 33" A/Ts. At 150k I replaced the upper arms, tie rods, idler and pitman arms for good measure. I used Moog upper arms and their 'upgraded' pitman and idler arms. Also did Cognito tie rods. Had it aligned multiple times but the truck would never drive properly after the parts were installed. Last month I replaced the idler and pitman arms again as they were completely clapped the eff out as well as the upper arms because the ball joints were loose. Not even 25k miles on them, WTF? The Cognito tie rods are a-ok. The original OE parts were worn at 150k but still very much serviceable. Needless to say I replaced them all with Genuine GM parts this time, NOT ACDelco replacement parts, had it aligned and whaddya know, it drives like it should again.

 
Also had an issue with PEC brand lower control arms causing a death wobble in my WJ Grand Cherokee recently. Fortunately I had held onto the original control arms with 277k miles on them and was able to put them back in and no more death wobble. What I'm trying to get at is especially lately that most aftermarket replacement parts are literal garbage. I'm a 20+ year auto tech for a living and it has been pretty sad to watch the changes happening. I try to stick with genuine OE parts whenever possible for replacement. Now actual upgraded parts like say Cognito don't seem to have the same issues.

 
Damn lucky!

I just went through my front end on my Z-71 Sierra 1500 and I gotta tell you, there's definitely a difference in quality on these parts. I've replaced several lower ball joints, and this time around I did all the tie rods and ordered through RockAuto. I made sure to order from the higher tier and went Moog. Well they came in a white box and didn't have Moog stamped on them anywhere. Against my better judgement, I put them on anyway. 

I just replaced my lower ball joints with actual quality Moog parts that came in a yellow factory box and the joint itself is stamped with Moog on it. I bought them locally. A buddy says "you overpaid" and that I could've had them at half price from rock auto. I just laughed. Not sure about that. 

 
I had this happen to a GMC Denali Yukon (2006?).  Super happy it happened in a parking lot, would have killed someone on the freeway, scared me and I sold it shortly after.

 
Chingon619 said:
Damn lucky!

I just went through my front end on my Z-71 Sierra 1500 and I gotta tell you, there's definitely a difference in quality on these parts. I've replaced several lower ball joints, and this time around I did all the tie rods and ordered through RockAuto. I made sure to order from the higher tier and went Moog. Well they came in a white box and didn't have Moog stamped on them anywhere. Against my better judgement, I put them on anyway. 

I just replaced my lower ball joints with actual quality Moog parts that came in a yellow factory box and the joint itself is stamped with Moog on it. I bought them locally. A buddy says "you overpaid" and that I could've had them at half price from rock auto. I just laughed. Not sure about that. 
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RockAuto has been hit or miss with a lot of items.  You can get Genuine GM parts from there, hard items seem okay.

But electronics: heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell no.  Nothing but issues for me there, never again.

 
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