resharp001

So, after 3 years, 40k miles, and a decent bit of wheelin' passenger side Dynatrac BJ bit the dust, and displayed it's ugly little secret via a nice DW on last week. I was sure thinking I'd get more than 40k miles out of these things, but it is what it is. My rebuild kit, which set me back $129 and has parts to rebuild all four BJs, is arriving this evening. I've been through the instructions several times, and I've watched a good handful of videos on YouTube. It appeared that a hydraulic press was going to make life easier to press the joint on/off the stud, so I picked one up off CL and am ready for battle.

I'm not much for taking a ton of pictures along the way and documenting step by step write ups, but the DT instructions look self explanatory. I will however follow-up on what I thought of the process, how long it took, and if it was any easier or not than just replacing the BJs all together. I tend to think the job isn't any easier at all (you have to break things down the same way, and then break the BJs themselves down too), and actually might end up taking longer. However, I do like the idea of not having to press a BJ in and out of the axle forging just from the wear and tear perspective. I installed the knurled DT BJs after improperly thinking (back in the day) that I needed knurled after having Synergy BJs in there previously. Oh the things I wish I knew back then..... Anyhow, those were are major PITA to install, and I'll be happy if I never have to mess with that again.

I know it might not be advisable, but my plan is to only replace the passenger side for the time being, and hold on to the remaining rebuild parts until needed.

MacRubi2

resharp001

Ok, I set out to replace the passenger side BJs last night after the FedEx deliver. I read these directions several time, and had watched a couple videos earlier this week. After watching the videos, it was clear a hydraulic press was going to be helpful. I didn’t have one, but grabbed one off CL over the weekend. Here’s a link to a download a PDF of the instructions.

https://www.dynatrac.com/fileuploade...1486424364.pdf

A couple things to note right off the bat:
1) The instructions are very thorough with both text and pictures at each step. Can’t expand much on them with any DIY write-up.
2) I was expecting to receive a couple “tools” with my rebuild kit as referenced in the instructions……good luck with that (more on this later)

I had planned to track how long it took me to do this, but that idea was ambushed right from the start. I had the axle on jack stands, wheel off, brakes off, unit bearing/axle shaft out, and knuckle off in 20 minutes…..ready to get to work. I got started on the lower BJ, and then got called in for dinner……the first roadblock in tracking my labor time.

My lower BJ is the newer low-profile version that has been out for some time now. It was not pictured in the instructions, but I had emailed DT last week in inquire about the difference in how I’d need to remove the stud as opposed to the directions. I have just two small allen screws in the top of my lower BJ. I was to remove those screws and use a small punch to drive the joint down (obviously after removing the retaining clip and such). The stud and joint came out easy enough. At this point it’s time to remove the joint from the stud. Here is what DT shows to do –


If you watch any videos of this process, it will be glaringly obvious that this just ain’t gonna happen. It’s even more obvious after using a press, that this is kind of ridiculous. I’m not certain why DT doesn’t just instruct you to use a press to remove the old joint and press a new one on. The ghost of Harambe using a sledge hammer while you hold the punch in place may be able to drive that stud down, but I’m here to advise you’ll be wasting your time trying to do this with a punch and 5lb sledge.

So, I set out to use 12-ton press, which proved to be a little frustrating too. Videos I watched had guys using a punch and a press, so that’s how my first attempts were the same with the same kind of punch –



The problem with this was that as the press comes down, it shifts a little, and then it’s a balancing act of press on the punch, and punch on the stud, and it’s a lot like a rola bola circus act. Press shifts one way, punch shifts the other, stud shifts the other, and all the sudden you’re not pressing straight. It took me several attempts of backing the press off and trying again. Finally I said that punch wasn’t gonna work, and shifted to a flat punch like this –



Well, that worked better to separate the two pieces. Not having the point on the punch was a little easier, and I jammed a screwdriver in the side of the press to prevent it from shifting on me once load started to be applied. A couple attempts to press the new joint on the stud (or rather the stud in to a new joint), and this happened –



Well F me. I finally determined that using a piece of flat stock over the stud’s end was a better course of action –



This method made it a bit easier from here on out.

Phew, new joint pressed on old stud and I was ready to wrap up the lower BJ rebuild (I had cleaned up the lower housing per instructions)! Whoooa, not so fast sir. Remember those special tools that are referenced in the instructions, but that were apparently not included in the rebuild kit?? These –




Well, I already knew I did not have said ball socket press tool, so I searched around for something I could get by with. Everything was just a little too small (was going to be hammering on the ball portion of the joint) or too big (totally engulfed the sleeve portion when trying to hammer). Well F me again! Now it’s 7:40pm and I’ve exhausted my search of the garage for anything that would work. I tried to gently tap tap tap the joint up in to the cup with a punch on the sleeve, in the same fashion in which it was removed from the cup earlier. That was a big NO-GO, and obviously was not going to work.

Lowes/HomeDepot/Harbor Freight are an hour round-trip from home, but I was faced with throwing in the towel for the night, or getting my sweaty ass in the car and start driving. I was determined to continue, so off to the store I went.

My initial thoughts as I drove out were as follows:

1) Suck it up and buy HF BJ press adapters, and HOPE it would have a size that was perfect to use. Of course, I hadn’t measured what the size was, but at least I had the old joint with me to test things.
2) Swing by lowes and randomly look for items that MIGHT work (had the proper inner and outter diameters) to hammer the joint up in to the cup.
3) Swing by AutoZone or O’Reilly and get a BJ press which I knew wouldn’t have an adapter I needed but still could help.

I stopped by Lowes first thinking I MIGHT find a cheaper option to the BJ adapters, and had time to swing by both stores if necessary. Well, I found a coupler piece in the electrical section that fit on the old joint pretty good. My only hesitation was that the metal wasn’t very thick, and I questioned if it would buckle under pressure. I found another coupler in the plumbing section that was thicker and I thought could work as well. I bought both pieces for a total of $3.80 or so, and decided to not deal with HF. On the way home, I decided to pick up a BJ press just in case from O’Reilly. This proved to be a wise decision, cuz I’m also here to advise you just use a press to push the new joints back in to the cups, cuz hammering them in is just a flat stupid alternative. I was back at home at 9pm and ready to proceed.

My gamble paid off, and the electrical coupler, paired with the BJ press, made quick work of pressing the joint back in place. In fact, it was so easy I went ahead and proceeded to the upper BJ after putting the finishing touches on the lower.




***One more thing I’d note here. DT supplies all new parts for the joint. I went to replace the zerk on the lower and ran into a tiny obstacle. Under the C there is a tiny lip. When backing out the old zerk fitting, I could not get it out before it hit that lip and stalled my progress. You MAY need to file that lip down in order to get the old zerk out and a new one in. Just a heads up***

resharp001

After working out the kinks in my methods, the upper BJ was pretty easy/straightforward. I moved through that rebuild pretty swiftly, greased all my steering components, and buttoned everything back up. My only issue on reinstalling everything, was forgetting the dumb ABS line bracket, which I do EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! Fortunately I caught it after torqueing down the BJ castle nuts and before shoving the axle shaft back and putting the brakes back on (as has happened before).

Reiterating again, from DT instructions, this idea is just stupid….along with hammering them back in to the cups on install –





After getting the wheel back on, and while the axle was still on jack stands, I grabbed a shovel and did the quick BJ test. Boom, that sucker was solid once again! There was a ton of play in the old lower joint. You could hold the sleeve in one hand and feel a ton of play moving the ball portion back and forth with a couple fingers on the other hand. SMH.

Final thoughts –
Cost Aspect:
I paid ~$550 for these BJs originally (and extra $50 for knurled cuz THOUGHT I needed them). I paid $129 for rebuild kit (enough to do all 4 joints), $80 for a 12-ton press, and $3.80 for couple pieces from Lowes. I won’t count borrowing the BJ press. If we just take the BJs and rebuild, I’m essentially on my 2nd set of DT BJs at a cost of $340 per (both left and right). If I have to replace these again in another 40k miles, I’ll be averaged down to $270 per! If I have my jeep long enough to do a 3rd rebuild, I’ll be down to $234 per, and will finally be in-line with all you TF/Synergy guys in regards to cost!

Rebuild vs. Pressing New:
These knurled DT BJs were a PITA to install 3 years ago. The knurls were significant, and it was a bear of a job. Before these, I had pressed in Synergy BJs, 9 months later another set of warrantied Synergy BJs, and immediately after that was looking at having to press in a 3rd set, all within 1 year. The idea of pressing BJs in and out was old by that point. That was a big reason I went with DT. Honestly, I had a friend that installed RP BJs, and would have gone that route had I not THOUGHT I was forced into knurled. I know now that the synergy knurls really AREN’T the same, and could be followed with a non-knurled BJ. Oh well, that ship sailed, so no sense shedding tears. Anyhow, this rebuild process wasn’t terrible, yet it wasn’t any quicker or less work than just installing new BJs altogether. If anything, maybe a little more entailed. I do think there’s value in not continuously pressing things in and out of the C forging, but ….. meh. The work is what it is, and I chalk a lot of this type of stuff up to owning a modded vehicle….it just comes along with the territory. I think I appreciated seeing the inside of the joint, being able to clean everything up, and would rather lightly press the new joint in to the cup rather than a whole BJ in to the C. That said…….

I will say that with any process, there is a learning curve. WHEN having to rebuild the driver’s side (notice I didn’t say “IF”), it will go much smoother as I know exactly what to expect. I suspect I could knock out one side, both upper and lower, in about 1.5 – 2 hours from start to finish next time.

Suggestion to Others:
If I’m being honest, I don’t think I can recommend these BJs to others. Keep in mind that I run 3.5” BS with 37s, and I have long travel shocks that give me more articulation up front than the average jeeper, and the jeep is wheeled pretty decent. I’m sure that all plays in to it, but I would have expected to get more than 40k miles out of these BJs. I’d challenge everyone to find reports of Rare Parts BJs failing like this.

From a cost perspective, I just don’t think these made sense for the use I got out of them vs. the lower priced units. I also don’t think, for a similar price, that they hold up like the Rare Parts. I’ve seen other users like Pyschocupcake go around with DT about this process in the past, and although you can rebuild these without pressing the housings in/out, the process is no easier than just a replacement, and the cost is not effective. I now get what she was arguing. It’s not like pressing the joint on to the stud is 10 second task done with your hand, and many people aren’t going to have a hydraulic press…..and again, the idea of hammering away is a joke IMO.

If you’re in the market for BJs, I think I’d have to suggest TF with their lifetime warranty……knowing that the BJs aren’t going to last a lifetime, just they’ll be free to replace. If you want to be done with BJs for a long time, Rare Parts.

At the end of the day, I’m ok with what I have. I’ll continue rolling on down the trail, but I’ll no longer have the fairy tale thoughts that I’m done jacking around with BJs.

MacRubi2

resharp001

Well, if you have them, it makes more sense to rebuild than replace........but, if I could take a major re-do on the original purchase, I would. Knowing what I do now, I just can't see these ever making much sense. If you ever do need to rebuild yours, just be prepared with a press, BJ press, and an adapter or something to help get them back in the cup.

Mr.T

Thanks for taking the time to write this up, very good info!

JKJB

Thanks for the writeup!
Mine havent lasted much longer and i will need to do this soon too.

resharp001

A bit disheartening to hear reports like this. When I purchased these BJs, I really couldn't find many reports of people saying anything negative. I know the limiting factor in the D30/44 axles is the size of the forging manufacturers have to work with, and that is what it is, but, I'd expect more wear out of something that costs 2X as much as most of the others.

MacRubi2