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Upper ball joint and tie rod end nuts - reusable?
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=89347		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  BoarX [ Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:00 am ]
Post subject:  Upper ball joint and tie rod end nuts - reusable?
Hi all,
My apologies if that was answered already, if so, just point me in the right direction please. I am in the process of replacing lower ball joints on my 2006 CRD Liberty. I have just removed the knuckles to press out old lower joints and press in the new ones. New lower ball joints came with new nuts, but I don't have new ones for the disconnected tie rod ends and upper ball joints. None of those have cotter pins, so I assume they are some sort of self-locking nuts. I tried to find new ones, but so far had no luck. Is it safe to reuse the old ones?

Thanks in advance!
A.
Author:  WWDiesel [ Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Upper ball joint and tie rod end nuts - reusable?
BoarX wrote:
Hi all,
My apologies if that was answered already, if so, just point me in the right direction please. I am in the process of replacing lower ball joints on my 2006 CRD Liberty. I have just removed the knuckles to press out old lower joints and press in the new ones. New lower ball joints came with new nuts, but I don't have new ones for the disconnected tie rod ends and upper ball joints. None of those have cotter pins, so I assume they are some sort of self-locking nuts. I tried to find new ones, but so far had no luck. Is it safe to reuse the old ones?

Thanks in advance!
A.

Yes it is perfectly safe to reuse the nuts. Just be sure and torque them to the correct specifications listed below.
If the nuts self locking ability has deteriorated you can always put some "red" thread locker compound on the threads before assembly. :idea:
Image

The online FSM's can be found here:> http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/

Quote:
From the FSM:
Front Differential/Suspension / Socket Size / Torque Spec
Front Axle Hub Nut /35mm /100 lbs-ft
Front Ball Joint Nut (Upper) /21mm / 60 lbs-ft
Front Ball Joint Nut (Lower) /21mm /60 lbs-ft
Front Clevis Bolt (Upper) / 21mm / 100 lbs-ft
Front Clevis Bolt (Lower) / 21mm / 100 lbs-ft
Front Control Arm (Upper)/ 18mm / 80 lbs-ft
Front Control Arm (Lower)/ 19mm & 24mm/120 lbs-ft

Front Shock/Strut Mounting Nuts /18mm/ 80 lbs-ft
Front Sway Bar Bushing Mount /18mm/ 110 lbs-ft
Front Sway Bar End Link Bolt (Upper)/ 15mm 100 lbs-ft
Front Sway Bar End Link Nut(Upper) / 18mm / 100 lbs-ft
Front Sway Bar End Link (Lower) /18mm / 85 lbs-ft
Author:  BoarX [ Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Upper ball joint and tie rod end nuts - reusable?
Thanks so much WW! My concern was that once loosened with bunch of PB Blaster applied, the nuts immediately could be further unscrewed with just fingers, but after moving the first 1/8" - 3/16" became again really tight and eventually budged only after several tighten-loosen cycles with extra PB applied. This was maybe the result of the dirty threads on the exposed portion of the bolt and in fact cleaning them did help somewhat, but for the first 1/8" the nuts didn't feel like having any kind of self-locking feature - it is that what got me a bit worried. Yes, thanks for the hint, will apply thread locker during assembly, shouldn't hurt.

Cheers,
Alex
Author:  BoarX [ Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Upper ball joint and tie rod end nuts - reusable?
Just a little follow-up to my own question: upon close inspection after rust removal all old nuts turned out to be of nylock type. It was really hard to tell until a piece of nylon eventually came out of one of them.

Cheers,
Alex
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