Do I need new ball joints?

[Terpsmandan]

Running 37” KO2’s with a Mopar lift on my ‘22 JLURD. Just about to pass 70k. Got some DW about 15 months ago so I added a set of MC Geometry brackets to get the caster angle back to a bit over 7 degrees and that killed the DW. Now I get a bit of occasional shake at 60. I jacked up the each side of the front of the Jeep to see if there was any lateral slop in the front wheels and I could not push either tire in or out when I grabbed the top of the wheel and pushed and pulled. The “experts” say that I should have worn out my ball joints by now. How can I tell if they are worn out or not?

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[nU7OuxIx]

This is what I've done for my YJ. I presume it's the same technique for the JL since a ball joint is a ball joint.

 

[Terpsmandan]

Thanks. Guess I am ok for the time being.

 

[renegadecaderyn]

This is what I've done for my YJ. I presume it's the same technique for the JL since a ball joint is a ball joint.

Thanks. Guess I am ok for the time being.

JLs can have bad ball joints even if there is no play as tested/shown in the video. The JL ball joints have a plastic lining that cradles the steel ball. This is the component that causes the ball joints to fail. If everything else is tight and there is no play, I would replace the ball joints.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...n’t-trust-the-traditional-diagnostics.123407/

 

[rohdawg]

At 70k and running 37s I’d replace them whether they’re “bad” or not. The OEM ball joints are crap and will fail at some point.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I have gotten more than 33k out of a stock set. Our 2019 had 37s and then 38s. The ball joints tested fine on the Jeep but were floppy when pulled. The 2022 only got 28k out of the stockers, but it's on 39s.

 

[lashlee]

I put american iron off road ball joint deletes on my wifes JLUR before we make the 5k mile round trip out to Moab last year. They were a little tight at first but haven't had one episode of DW since installing them. The OEM ones had about 65k on them.

 

[dragoneggs]

At 70k and running 37s I’d replace them whether they’re “bad” or not. The OEM ball joints are crap and will fail at some point.

I’m surprised they are still good at that size and mileage!

 

[Westymike]

I’d say it’s time. I replaced mine at 21k with the MetalCloak baller joints and felt a positive difference. ??

 

[angrykitty]

I'm at 34k and I have a bad visible shake of the front wheels. I'm hoping ball joints fixes this. I've had it since I installed the lift a year ago at 20k and it's progressively gotten worse.

 

[Terpsmandan]

I'm at 34k and I have a bad visible shake of the front wheels. I'm hoping ball joints fixes this. I've had it since I installed the lift a year ago at 20k and it's progressively gotten worse.

Have you had the caster checked? Wife and I have mopar lifts. She’s running 35” Nittos and I am on 37” KO2’s. I was fighting a serious DW and installed a set of Metalcloak correction brackets and set the upper control arms at the highest caster setting. Finally got it measured and I was a 9 degrees and the pinion angle was to far out. Reset the UCA mounts and that dropped it to 7 degrees. Never had a DW problem with hers and had it measured and her caster angle is under 5. Steering seems a little more “wandery” than mine but no DW so I’m not going to touch it. Also on mine it took about 30k for the DW to start. Also thinking that the impacts on the angled LCA compresses the bushings over time and caused a decrease in the caster angle.

 

[angrykitty]

I’m 6.5 and 6.8 for caster. I was told to be around 7. It’s interesting, I put the 37s on before the lift and everything was fine. I put the lift on and everything went crazy. At first I thought it was the track bar, I didn’t torque it under load. I resolved that and the issue went away, mostly. It’s come back and Clayton thought the track bar bushings were bad. I replaced those and it seemed to go away for a week, now it’s just continuing to get worse every day. I’ve got a Rusty’s tie rod and drag link I need to install plus the ball joints and then cross my fingers.

 

[Adv_aw8s]

I've been lifted on 37's for 37k miles on stock ball joints. They still felt tight when trying to get any movement out of the wheels. We have a busy summer so I went ahead and installed dynatrac ball joints and steel knuckles. Steering improved and the stock ball joints once they where out were easily moved by hand. I feel much better knowing I have steel knuckles and dynatrac ball joints.

 

[SadRobot]

I've been lifted on 37's for 37k miles on stock ball joints. They still felt tight when trying to get any movement out of the wheels. We have a busy summer so I went ahead and installed dynatrac ball joints and steel knuckles. Steering improved and the stock ball joints once they where out were easily moved by hand. I feel much better knowing I have steel knuckles and dynatrac ball joints.

Do you have a part # or link to where you bought the steel knuckles?

 

[Terpsmandan]

The Mohave comes from the factory with a cast iron steering knuckle. When I replace my ball joints, I intend to replace these as well. Can’t hurt and it’s already apart.

https://www.moparonlineparts.com/sk...xwgEaQvKy9ip4yV2E2m0Q2dCEN_aRnEIaAsoxEALw_wcB

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