When to upgrade ball joints with 37s?

[kapk22]

I’m running the following on my 2021 JLUR and only have 8000 miles on her. (Maybe 6k with the 37s). I’m wondering when I should upgrade the ball joints. I am preparing to make a 2k mile trip and am a little concerned, as I have only driven her about 400 miles round trip one time with the lift and tires. Otherwise, it’s my daily around town, back and forth to work.

Mopar 2”
Clayton adjustable upper and lower rear control arms.
Rough country adjustable lower front control arms
Rough Country adjustable front and rear track bars
Rear track bar relocation bracket
37x13.50r20 Nitto Mud Grapplers (heavy)

I plan on going to 4.88 or 5.13s when I have the money. Not happening before the move though.

I will be having the shop double check and retorque everything prior to the trip. (I will recheck after they do

Otherwise, would you guys be concerned about the ball joints? Or anything else?

She drove great on the short 400 mile trip.

Sponsored

 

[wibornz]

I have replaced five sets of ball joints on friends JLUR running 37s pretty much since the Jeep was new.... think under 500 miles when the 37s went on. They all needed new ball joint around the 40,000 mile mark.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Ours made it to ~37k miles on stock ball joints and 37’s. You’ll know when they need replaced.

 

[kapk22]

Sounds like I can just do them later. Maybe I will get them in when I gear. Thanks guys

 

[rayzjeep]

Ours made it to ~37k miles on stock ball joints and 37’s. You’ll know when they need replaced.

How did you know for sure you needed to replace them? Have them sitting in the garage but haven't had the time to swap them out yet.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Wobble/ shimmy developed when the stock ones were wore out.

 

[Jeepzilla]

I just replaced mine with the Dynatrac HD rebuildable ball joints. I have the 2021 JLUR with stock wheels and tires and 23,000 miles. I have moderate mechanical abilities and performed the swap myself. I uploaded a video of the passenger side. Most videos only show the driver side, so I figured i would show the passenger side since you have to remove the FAD.

Please forgive the poor camera skills

 

[DEdney1775]

Northridge had a great deal on the Teraflex hd ball joints. Mine arrived last night. Not waiting for shimmy or wabble to replace mine. My rig has about 25k miles with the 37s. Replacing the joints when I have a full day to commit to it.

 

[av8or]

I’m at 60,000 miles on the original ball joints with 37 inch Patagonias. Twice across the rubicon trail, 4 trips to Moab and once to sand hollow, 5 Jeep jamborees and 13 badges earned. They are getting a little sloppy now and just started to get a little wobble so new ones soon. I had to get tie rod and drag link before ball joints.

They lasted MUCH longer than anticipated.

 

[acomputernerd]

This is a YMMV event for sure. I am just hitting 30k and have noticed wobble on the driver side. I have a set from black Friday that I will be installing when I have the time or the money. I do switch back to the OEM wheels more than most though just to save costs so its not pure 37s but I have wheeled it quite a bit this past year. I wouldn't think that the mud that we have in the east of the rockies is very helpful either.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Sounds like I can just do them later. Maybe I will get them in when I gear. Thanks guys

That's a good time since you're already pulling the front shafts. There's not a lot more labor to do to drop the knuckle and replace the joints.

Otherwise, running them until they wear out is what most people do. They just get loose, it's not like your knuckle will suddenly fall off driving down the road.

One other thing to consider at the time is to replace the aluminum knuckles with iron/steel. The Mopar and Reid knuckles are priced very close to each other. Either set would be an upgrade.

 

[J0E]

How did you know for sure you needed to replace them? Have them sitting in the garage but haven't had the time to swap them out yet.

@Zandcwhite responded

Wobble/ shimmy developed when the stock ones were wore out.

How about this JK video, should be the same for JL's. That's what I do but I also have my mechanic do an inspection every 2,000 miles or more. At, 4,000 miles He discovered the front passenger BJ was loose, similar to this thread IIRC.

 

[whiskey jack]

So I just completed my dynatrac ball joint install. 12k total miles, 7k on 37s. No death wobble but a slight shimmy around 50mph that balancing and rotating couldn't fix. Suspension was all tight and I have rusty's track bar brace with a rk track bar.

Turns out my lower passenger ball joint was bad. Really wiggly once out. Must have been weak from factory. Dynatracs totally fixed the shimmy and jeep feels tighter down the road. 2 great tips from other members: spray lots of wd40 the night before to help the knuckle come off, my ball joint stems were already rusting in place and were a bitch to break loose and put it in 4wd so you don't have to open up the axel disconnect cause the collar will hold everything in place while the axel is out.

 

[Spartan-463]

Has anyone gone with the Ball Joint deletes?? From what I've seen they seem stronger and better then a standard ball joint, yet if their so good why isn't everyone using them?

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

Has anyone gone with the Ball Joint deletes?? From what I've seen they seem stronger and better then a standard ball joint, yet if their so good why isn't everyone using them?

I thought I read on here the American Iron deletes make noise.

Sponsored