all comes down to saving a few pennies here and there.......

I wish all 4x4 vehicles had greasable ball joints, U-joints from factory

 

Problem is that studies have shown that sealed joints, non greasable last longer than greasable..simply because people forget to grease them. I've seen 87 wranglers with stock u joints in the driveline still ight as the day they came off the assembly line...and if your looking at it from the manufacturers eyes they want less problems so sealed it is.

 

And it makes the projected cost of ownership less etc. But that is all meaningless to me because I do lube my chassis whereever there are zerks.

The problem as I see it is that we take these Jeeps places that most vehicles don't go, especially in water. I wouldn't say that a sealed ball joint couldn't last along time under street use conditions. But for our use I want to be able to pump in new grease to flush out contaminants. Maybe the Commander should get sealed ball joints; but not the Wrangler.

So the question is are there any greasable ball joints outh there yet? And if not can a sealed ball joint be modified by drilling and tapping to accept jerks?

 

Well I guess we'll have to wait for reports from those who have installed the ORE gussets. It may take a while. I know I've got mine welded on.

 

Have a shop in Castle Rock Washington that can get you greaseable adjustable camber ball joints uppers and lowers for the 30/44 Danas he also has a gusset kit that is weld in to beef up the C's I'll refrain from naming the shop on the board out of respect to the sponsers. But if any one wants the phone number and address drop me a E-mail

 

It never ends. Just when I thought everything was ok a new saga has begun with my Jeep.

I had some silent armors put on recently, when they went to do the alignment the chamber which is supposed is be .3 is 1.0!! The decided to not align until I went to the dealer because the tire shop said there is no way they could adjust the chamber.

I have no idea what is causing this. My alignment was just in spec a month ago and I have no been off road.

The night before I had checked my ball joints and it seemed all four were loose. I told that to the tire shop and they checked it. They said the only one they could see a little play in was the upper driver side. That also happens to be the wheel with the chamber issue. Could that little play in the ball joint cause the chamber off that much?

I am going to the dealer Thursday. The tire shop said just play dumb, have them replace the ball joint and then the tire shop will try to align. They said they don't even trust the dealer with alignments and I tend to agree with them as this tire shop has never steered me wrong and seems to do well by their customers.

Any ideas on what would cause this?

 

First of all, it is camber. On our Jeeps, this is not adjustable. I am going to guess that either the tire shop is full of bs (either intentionally or unitentionally....inaccurate machine?) or your ball joint is way gone. I personally don't trust tire shops, as they are always going to look for things that need to be done to your vehicle to make money, just as any dealer. I would think if your camber was out that much you would could tell by looking at the angle of the wheel. I am assuming if they say 1.0 they mean it has too much positive camber. Stand in front of your vehicle and look at that wheel. Does it look as if the top sticks out furhter than the bottom?

*Edit* Is this the same trust worthy tire store that filled each of your new tires with 5 psi too little? I am gonna bet they don't know what they are doing.

 

The only way you camber could change that much is if the inner C is bent. Very common problem from what I read on here. You should be able to see it if you stand back and look. The top of the tire would be tilted inboard. Off Road Evo sells gussets for this problem, but you have to put them on before they bend. Good luck.

 

No lift. Suspension is all stock. They did not do the toe cause they said it would just be out of whack again soon with the rest of the alignment out of spec.

What do you mean by the inner c? The steering knuckle? I dont how this could happen from driving on the street..

 

well I just got back from my alignment shop - I finally broke down and went in because I just couldnt seem to get my steering straight. Ends up my front pass ball joint is messed up as well. My front pass tire is way off camber, quite visibly, which I never noticed or even thought to look at.

I took it to the dealer and I already know they are going to fight paying for it. They are just dicks like that. Hopefully they can fix it though. Has anyone heard of any aftermarket ball joints worth using?

I wonder if I've bent the knuckle....any guesses if that's a possibility?