Skyjacker fake johnny joints?

[billyp]

The “Johnny Joints” on my lower Skyjacker control arms are shot. I contacted Skyjacker and they gave me a link for a rebuild kit — Currie ce-9110rk. I just noticed as I’m doing some research that they charge almost double what everyone else charges ($41 vs $21).

It appears to me though that this kit won’t work for this joint. In all the videos I’ve watched, the two halves of the bushing snap around the ball pretty easily. For the skyjacker ball, I can’t get it to collapse around the ball. Also, the bushing I removed don’t look like the Currie bushings. Lastly, there’s a snap ring on both sides which sounds like genuine Currie does not have.

Just want to make sure I’m not doing something stupid since this is the first time trying to rebuild one of these joints.

 

[jjvw]

Are you using a press? Johnny joints need a press to disassemble and reassemble. Real Johnny Joints use two washers and a snap ring to secure the joint assembly in the housing after squishing everything together.

Fake or not, shim them tight again for not a lot of money. Adding some preload by squeezing the ball and races into the housing will make them live longer than what you can do without squeezing.

Thread 'How to Rejuvenate a Worn Out Johnny Joint' https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-rejuvenate-a-worn-out-johnny-joint.63740/

 

[billyp]

Yes used a hydraulic press. Couldn’t get it anywhere close to getting the snap ring in. I’m going to upgrade to something else and rejuvenate these into the trash.