Hey guys, just bought an '01 Trailblazer 250 for 1K from a guy hard up for $$. It's clean and runs well. I figured it would be good for bombing around in the woods behind my house and my camp. Was this a good deal? I noticed after I got it home that the castle nut on the left side balljoint on the LCA was a little loose, and the cotter key was missing. I tried to tighten the nut, but the whole shaft is turning with it (a little rusty). Are these replaceable, or do I have to replace the whole strut assembly. Sorry if this is a stupid ?, I'm new to these machines. TIA for any help.

 

That was a great deal. They are replaceable. You can either go to the dealer or to erlandsonperformance.com for aftermarket. The Trailblazer is a good atv. May not be the fastest but very fun, reliable and good ride. Welcome to the forum. There are alot of things you can do to the 250 for performance if you wanted to go that way.

 

Thanks for the quick reply... that's good to hear. What is the procedure to R&R the balljoint? Would it be a good idea to replace the one on the other side? (although it appears to be tight with no play)

Yeah, I realize it's sort of a beginner quad, but it moves my 220# around pretty well..and at 6', I'm really comfortable on it. It should be a fun toy to mess around on.

 

Hit it with a couple of quick burst's from a air impact gun. That should do the trick.

 

Gunman it probably wont work because the tapered end is not tight in the a arm anymore. The whole ball joint is loose and rusty. If he were to try it with an impact it will just spin in the socket. There is no tension on it to keep it from spinning. Who knows how long it has been loose. I would rather replace it then risk it popping out on the trail. Dont want another atv accident on the books. If it were still tight in the a arm I would have tried the impact.

 

I had the same problem with my Scram and it worked. If you use a wrench, then the whole stud will spin. If hit it with a impact, then you may get it tight. If not, heat up the nut and hit it with the impact. It will work.

 

OK guys, I'll give the impact a try (gotta bring it to my buddies house). I'll let you know how it goes, thanks for the help so far.