After throwing on my 2.5" lift and 35" tires I figured I'd get my toe straightened so I took the Jeep to Les Schwab which I was told would cost $60 - $70.

45 minutes later the fellow comes out and tells me I need to replace the offset ball joints or else the tires will wear really fast.

Product Codes: 562146610 (23510) Each off set ball joint $124.55
Product Codes: 562146630 (23530) Each off set ball joint $138.39
Labor to install $190
Thrust angle alignment $56.25

TOTAL with Tax: $557.56

Is there any way around this? I dont want to wear my tires out fast!

 

dont worry about the caster, caster doesnt wear tires. your camber on the drivers side is off, but i bet once you sit in the drivers seat it will fall into place. i just had my jeep aligned and my readings were almost exactly like yours, camber and caster and all. i'm sure someone else will chime in about adjustable control arms that can help. i wouldnt go spending any 600 dollars.

 

With the solid axles we have, offset balljoints are the easy fix for 'borderline' bad Camber. As you found out, they are expensive to get installed. You will also want to figure out what is bent, and decide if you want to do anything about it.
- Bent C's - haven't heard of anyone trying to straighten them, but at the very least you should put some gussets on so they don't bend any more.
- Axle Housing - this can be straightened, but it can get expensive. (expect 5+ hours of labor?) Depending on how bad the bend is, it can take out seals and bearings and the R&P. Consider adding sleeves if you need to have it straightened.


Your caster is low from the lift. This is normal. You have several options to correct it, but if the flighty handling doesn't bug you, leave it alone.
-Cam Bolts
-Drop Brackets
-Longer/Shorter 'fixed' control arms
-Adjustable control arms
They all have pro's/con's, so research a bit before pulling the trigger if you decide to correct the caster.


This was posted in another thread.

So your right front is in spec, the left front is out by 0.38

Since that is the short side of the axle, guessing it is the C and not a bent housing?

 

I've seen camber #'s worse on 2 jeeps with less than 7k on the one and 15k on the other. If it doesn't pull, do a crayon check on the tire( draw a heavy line on the line from side to side and drive straight down the pavement 100 feet and check to see how much of the crayon is gone) and don't worry about it. If it shows more than an inch left on the crayon line, you may want to get the offset ball joint for the left side. right side wasnt that bad.

 

Wow! Sounds expensive!

 

Hey man, I was a certified alignment tech at a schwab for about 5 years. The ball joints they sell are good ones, but they are expensive. I would call napa or similar and buy a .75 degree offset ball joint for the left front. Replace it yourself, its pretty simple. Just make sure to read the instructions to get the offset in correctly. Then go back and have schwab set the toe, which should run 54.95. Any other questions about it feel free to pm me.

 

WTF???? they luv to keep adding stuff don't they!!!!

 

Screw that ... my Camber is worse than that and my JK is fine ... Skip the Ball Joints

You should be more worried about you caster numbers ...

 

No problem with flighty handling... at least none that I notice...

I'm worried about wearing my tires out faster than they normally would wear... that being said are there adjustments that are worth making?

 

if you wnat to fix it then replace the ball joints like they said. ball joints are easy to replace but kinda time consuming if you have never done it. but it is def. worth doing just so you learn how to tear down your axle. to get the ball joints out you will need special tools that you can rent from an auto parts store for free. just did the ball joints in my yj. went to a shop just to see how much to do them (i was feeling lazy) they wanted $500 went to kragen paid $11 each for lifetime ball joints and took a couple hours to do.