Front Ball Joints. Let discuss what is the best replacement for the stock ball joints.

[Headbarcode]

Exactly why I was asking. Plus they’re a nightmare to remove.

I was also the in house machinist in the family business that repaired heavy equipment. A knurled bushing is a last resort to not have to replace the axle housing or have new inner c's welded in. They typically require a higher degree of force to install them, due to their greater interference press fit. Removal will be just as easy as a smooth bushing, but there's no sense in doing that because a 2nd knurled set will usually not have as good of a press fit as the 1st. Even in perfect conditions, any bored hole will lose holding dimension with every press out and back in. That's one big reason why I'll always recommend the Dynatracs, as they can be rebuilt in place.

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[roaniecowpony]

Where can you get DANA HD ball joints. I can't even find a part # for a JL

Jeep Ball Joints|Northridge4x4

 

[DEdney1775]

I bought my Jeep a year ago this week.. It already had 40k miles on it fully stock.. I've put roughly 10k miles on it, lifted with 37s.. Think I'm good for another 10k plus on my ball joints?

 

[roaniecowpony]

I bought my Jeep a year ago this week.. It already had 40k miles on it fully stock.. I've put roughly 10k miles on it, lifted with 37s.. Think I'm good for another 10k plus on my ball joints?

Any yea or nay, would simply be a guess. Only way to know is to check them. There have been some posts on how to check them, or take it to a trusted front end shop. My front end shop does a full joint wear check before every alignment. They don't miss anything.

 

[mwilk012]

Does the JL have the same type of ball joints as the JK and Ram HD trucks, with one traditional ball joint and one of the telescoping kingpin type?

 

[wibornz]

I bought my Jeep a year ago this week.. It already had 40k miles on it fully stock.. I've put roughly 10k miles on it, lifted with 37s.. Think I'm good for another 10k plus on my ball joints?

I put about 42,000 miles on my JLUR with 37s and a lot of off roading before I needed to replace the stock ball joints.

 

[Jeep&dogs]

Just a FYI. Take a 2-3” extension and wedge it between the outer axle shaft and the inner C, start the Jeep and turn the wheel, the power steering will push the stuck hub right off. Here is a picture of what I am describing.

 

[Roky]

I finished disassembly but got screwed today. Northridge 4x4 product page says Dana HD part #10048946 fits my 2019 JL rubicon. Kit does not fit. Upper ball joint tapper is smaller dia. than OEM and too small for camber bushings tapper. Knuckle slides up and down on tappered ball joint shaft.
I'm sure Northridge will take them back but my rig is down until I figure out what's going on.
heads up this Dana HD ball joint part # is wrong.

Update: looking at spicerparts.comI found this guide...

Application	Axle Model	Left	Right
2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL	Dana 30™ (Model 186)	10048946	10048946
2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL	Dana 44™ AdvanTEK® (Model 210)	10048946	10048946
2020+ Jeep Gladiator JT	Dana 44™ AdvanTEK® (Model 210)	10048946	10048946

None of my business, but why not go with dynatracs ?

 

[Jeep&dogs]

I went with the Dana first and had play in one of the joints right after installing them. I got a refund from Dana and went with the Dynatrac. I would recommend saving the trouble and spending the extra and be done with it.

 

[Roky]

Looks like I'm going to be forced , Haha

It’s a good buy once cry once item. I’ve had zero issues, and if you have your rig long term, you can rebuild all four for 150.00. And my favorite part , you don’t have to remove them.

 

[MarkY3130]

I installed the dynatrac ball joints Thursday night. Jeep had 33,793 miles at replacement. I’d been having inconsistent death wobble for about 1,500 miles. The new ball joints tightened everything up and it drives so much better now. Definitely should not have waited.

Install wasn’t bad. Most annoying thing was dealing with my passenger side RCV axle tube seal as the two piece RCV shaft on that side is too thick to slide through the RCV tube seal. You have to separate the CV joint from the shaft of that axle to get the tube seal off the shaft. I opted to just pull the tube seal out with the shaft. Nothing people that are capable of doing ball joints will have a problem with, but added some extra steps and time thinking through what to do about it when I realized my axle shaft wasn’t going to come out like I had planned on.

*Note, no problem on drivers side. RCV axle shaft slides right out the RCV tube seal.

 

[Northridge4x4]

I finished disassembly but got screwed today. Northridge 4x4 product page says Dana HD part #10048946 fits my 2019 JL rubicon. Kit does not fit. Upper ball joint tapper is smaller dia. than OEM and too small for camber bushings tapper. Knuckle slides up and down on tappered ball joint shaft.
I'm sure Northridge will take them back but my rig is down until I figure out what's going on.
heads up this Dana HD ball joint part # is wrong.

Update: looking at spicerparts.comI found this guide...

Application	Axle Model	Left	Right
2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL	Dana 30™ (Model 186)	10048946	10048946
2018+ Jeep Wrangler JL	Dana 44™ AdvanTEK® (Model 210)	10048946	10048946
2020+ Jeep Gladiator JT	Dana 44™ AdvanTEK® (Model 210)	10048946	10048946

those are the correct ball joints for your application. My guess is possibly Dana put the wrong parts in the box possibly? Hard to tell what’s going on. Email [email protected] and we will get you taken care of. But I agree with others Dynatrac is the way to go.

 

[Northridge4x4]

We need to figure out what the issue is first then evaluate from there. When you email us send us some pictures and include any part numbers that are on the ball joints and we will investigate from there

 

[Roky]

I installed the dynatrac ball joints Thursday night. Jeep had 33,793 miles at replacement. I’d been having inconsistent death wobble for about 1,500 miles. The new ball joints tightened everything up and it drives so much better now. Definitely should not have waited.

Install wasn’t bad. Most annoying thing was dealing with my passenger side RCV axle tube seal as the two piece RCV shaft on that side is too thick to slide through the RCV tube seal. You have to separate the CV joint from the shaft of that axle to get the tube seal off the shaft. I opted to just pull the tube seal out with the shaft. Nothing people that are capable of doing ball joints will have a problem with, but added some extra steps and time thinking through what to do about it when I realized my axle shaft wasn’t going to come out like I had planned on.


*Note, no problem on drivers side. RCV axle shaft slides right out the RCV tube seal.

I don’t have to worry about the salted snowy roads, so I modified the stockers. I’ll likely get the rcvs if these fail, but so far so good, lol….

 

[Headbarcode]

I installed the dynatrac ball joints Thursday night. Jeep had 33,793 miles at replacement. I’d been having inconsistent death wobble for about 1,500 miles. The new ball joints tightened everything up and it drives so much better now. Definitely should not have waited.

Install wasn’t bad. Most annoying thing was dealing with my passenger side RCV axle tube seal as the two piece RCV shaft on that side is too thick to slide through the RCV tube seal. You have to separate the CV joint from the shaft of that axle to get the tube seal off the shaft. I opted to just pull the tube seal out with the shaft. Nothing people that are capable of doing ball joints will have a problem with, but added some extra steps and time thinking through what to do about it when I realized my axle shaft wasn’t going to come out like I had planned on.

*Note, no problem on drivers side. RCV axle shaft slides right out the RCV tube seal.

I had the same issue with the FAD splines being too large to go through the outer housing seal. I ended up removing the snap ring and the alternating steel washers and flat rubber seals. I then pregreased the seals and loaded them one at a time in correct order over the FAD spline, because I already assembled the cv stub shaft on the intermediate shaft. I reassembled the seal before fully landing the outer shaft assembly.

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