Yes, but the issue is the hole in the steering knuckles are too big. I ordered new ones. Maybe that'll fix it.
Wrangler TJ Ball Joint Replacement
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Hasselblad
TJ Enthusiast
FINALLY got around to doing this job, along with bearing assemblies and axle end seals (which worry me). Mission accomplished with a couple hiccups:
- the "pushing/install" ring was juuuuust narrow enough to push as long as it was PERFECTLY aligned, otherwise it started to bend the metal on the ball joint. Unfortunately it did not have a ring to fit into the c-clamp and had to pretty much trust that it is centered when pushing up to install.
- Had a major brain fart and caught myself swearing that the first lower BJ would not press up into the knuckle, and then realized I was trying to push an upper into it... Thankfully it just marred the top so I could use it in it's proper place. I are a dummy
- Had a minor brain fart attempting to remove the first upper, was using the "receiving" cup that fit around the rubber and all, but not outside of the entire BJ. I couldn't figure out why I was manhandling it and could not get the BJ to budge. Duh.
- Using a puller to pop off the bearing assemblies is a bad idea, as it just began to force the axle into the shaft. Thankfully I realized that before it got too far.
Once I began to slow down and put actual thought into things, and got better at stacking the various pieces, things went a LOT more smoothly. The angled ring worked ok, but even trying to stack in perfect alignment it was not exact, but they seated fine in any event.
Things of note with the super-sized clamp set:
a: it is heavy AF, which made putting it on stacked pieces with one hand a bit of a challenge
b: I wish there had been a separate shorter pushing bolt, as it made me very thankful that the TJ fenders have the flexible plastic sides. Breaker bar rode up so high that had the fenders been metal it would have been a serious issue when working on the upper BJs.
c: the angled ring worked ok, uncertain if it is angled exact though.
Hasselblad
TJ Enthusiast
Is that gap there after torquing the nut? If the gap is there once the nut is torqued, then either the balljoint ran out of threads, or the knuckle hole is too SMALL for the balljoint taper. Did you try torquing the bottom balljoint?
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Hasselblad
TJ Enthusiast
So how did you do this? Another dummy here...
Judicial use of a BFH. And also slightly putting the bolts back in and whacking them from the inside out. I laugh that the youtube videos just show it slide right off the knuckle. Keep in mind that I had new assemblies going in, so I was not worried about being gentle with the old ones.
Cool. I'm going to be doing my front end once the weather cools down, but as I'm replacing the knuckles too, it probably doesn't matter.
Hasselblad
TJ Enthusiast
Pre-90/91 since no one really knows for sure what the year split is, they used a fixed upper balljoint that didn't float up and down. That means there has to be some method to compensate for a pair of machined tapers which are difficult to get the exact same distance apart. Rather than employ aerospace level quality control and machining practices, it is easier to make one side adjustable. For those years of XJ, MJ, and YJ, they used a threaded hole for that insert you see in the box in the lower ball joint hole and a 4 prong socket to adjust it up tight on the tapered pin after the upper was tightened down.
Downside is it makes the lower hole much weaker. They got smart later and just made the upper float.
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