xjtrailrider said:
Didn't they just recall all of the KJ's for ball joint failures? We've had a couple here in our home town flip on the interstate due to ball joint failures. They ran a piece on the local news.
I saw one loose the whole right front knuckle/wheel the other day in traffic...Dang thing just fell off at about 30 mph. Poor woman about s**t herself.
Thats one of the few draw backs on the KJ. DC could have saved some serious $$$ had they listened to us (those who own KJ's and actually know crap about Jeeps) when we said that it wasn't just limited to the 02 and early 03 models, as they previously thought. Back when this was still becoming a "major problem" there were some who had their originals snap, got it fixed per the recall/warranty, and then had the replacements snap AGAIN! DC finally woke up once it started showing up on the later 2003's, the 2004 models, and even some of the 2005 modles had theirs snap not too long after leaving the freakin lot (some had theirs let go with only 3-4K on the ticker...
And of course, DC being the cheap people they are, tried to blame the problem on "defective heat shields". Please!....their idea of a heat shield is a JOKE! The problem is the things are getting too hot being next to the brakes (which are a tad weak for a vehicle of it's weight, so the front rotors get pretty hot after a while of driving). And the fact that they've put the sealed units on EVERYTHING front end related means that you can't keep grease in them, they dry up, and snap. Had they made the LBJ's greasable units, there wouldn't be a problem.....or atleast as much of one.
But now, DC must eat the cost of a set of LBJ's for 830,000 KJ's, or every 2002-2005 model KJ. 830,000 x 2 = 166000 ball joints total.
Luckily the ones on my mom's never let go, but I didn't realize just how close they were untill I got it in for the recall. I thought the steering had become a little loose, but I chalked it up to being out of alignment. Managed to get the stealer to squeeze me in among the others and got them replaced. I couldn't believe how tight and responsive the steering was with the new ones. It was just like the day we bought it.
The really sad part is, due to the number that have to be replaced, and the fact that DC can only crank out so many replacement LBJ's, the stealers are only allowed to do so many at a time, and there are long waiting lists at alot of the dealers in the nation. For those who can't get theirs in and have to wait, it's a crapshoot as to if yours is going to let go or not.
