Ball joints need replacement

[Ron Hyslop]

Ball joints need replacement on the right side of 87xj. Any body know a web sight that will spoon feed me throught it?

 

[Beached Bones]

madxj.com

technical article walked me through it when I did mine.

 

[Carpcommando]

The key to replacing the Dana 30 Cherokee ball joints is having a quality ball joint press when you are doing the job.

I got fed up with the local Autozone loaner kit which was tweaked and caused me quite a bit of grief when I did a buddy's Commanche truck so when it was time for mine I purchased a quality press and created a few custom collets to make the job easier.

Also, when you are beating the knuckles off I suggest you temporary instal the wheel bearing asembly...sometimes you have to beat the knuckles pretty hard and having the bearing installed prevent distortion of the Knuckle...use a brass hammer or block and regular BFH.

The Autozone ball joints I installed seem to be good quality and work well.

 

[family XJ]

It is actually pretty easy. I did mine last weekend and it was smooth with a quality press. I also did tierod ends that weekend. I pulled the bearing assembly along with the axle all as one unit. Easier than taking the axle/assembly apart. I pretty much followed the hanes manual except that the book says to take it to a dealer to have them pressed out. I swore I would be able to beat it apart but that is pretty much impossible. It is one of the best replacements I did. I was unsure if they were bad but it sure helped if they weren't. Now I just have a binding upper control arm. Don't know if this helps but I wanted to share. Where are you located, someone may have a press.

DuG

 

[XJade]

I had a mechanic friend buy for me the Specialty Products press (#7250) mentioned in the tech article at MadXJ.com. It was a great investment. Nice for u-joints too.

4wd.com have ball joints for $20 each. I can't verify how decent they are because it's only been two weeks since I've replaced them.

You might wanna invest in a socket set with big ass sockets. I found even with a decent press some of the adapters weren't quite the right size. The sockets will help in those situations.

It can be a straightforward job or else it can be a major pain. So plan plenty of time for the worse just in case.

Two areas of potential difficulty: 1) wheel hub frozen 2) new ball joint not quite aligned thus binding when pressing them in.

That's been my experience. I'm no mechanic but I hope the info helps a little.

 

[Ron Hyslop]

Thanks for the info you guys. I ordered ball joinnt and a press from NAPA and 'am going to tear into it next Tues when I get home!