I am planning on replacing all 4 tie rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm and mount and power steering pump this weekend on my 1995 chevy suburban K1500 4x4. The truck has almost 200,000 miles on it and the steering is very sloppy. I have already taken a look at the joints and there is a lot of play in all of them and that is why I am going to do them all. Does anybody have any suggestions before I start? I plan on inspecting the ball joints and replacing those if needed, but not sure what all that will take. I have never done any suspension work before and I want to do this myself. There is no hurry to get it done, as you can see I have a fleet of Bonnevilles to get me through.

Take all the steering off as a unit. Put the new stuff together exactly the same as the old, counting the number of turns on the tie rod etc. Put the new stuff back on as a unit, from one outer tie rod to the other.
Consider replacing the steering box while you are at it. After 200,000 miles I am sure it is tired.

Have few pipe extensions handy to break those old bolts free and dont forget heat before you round off a bolt head.

The ball joints require a special tool, I think you rent/borrow from the zone? I know Kneichts loaned tools with a small deposit in Corvallis?

You need a healthy sledge hammer and the ball joint splitter to remove the ball joints on a Chevy pickup. Some good beatings and perseverance and you'll have 'em out.

granted i am in the north east but for $30 i buy new adjusting sleeves opposed to messing with the old junk.

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked things today and found that the pitman arm is pretty bad and the gearbox is shot. I think the biggest problem is that. I also thought it was the pump leaking, but it is also leaking from the gearbox. This weekend I am replacing the gearbox, pitman arm, and pump. Will be taking a good look at the hoses too.

Here is a slide show of some before and after photos. Keep in mind that I decided to start taking pictures after I disconnected the lines and was working on the pitman arm removal. A lot of the oil was from the leaks at the pump and gearbox (leaking around output shaft). I still need to finish torquing down the pitman arm. I am working on cleaning up and painting the skid plates that go under the radiator and front diff. This was my first time working on any type of steering components and I learned a lot. It was fun and now I plan on tackling the Idler arm and tie rod ends next.