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Front suspension or joint failed tonight!!!
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=27601		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  blacksmoke [ Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:07 am ]
Post subject:  Front suspension or joint failed tonight!!!
Need your input on what I should do...
Was getting out of the house and while turning I've noticed a strange feeling on the steering wheel and the front of the jeep seemed very low. Got out of the car and asked the wife to take the wheel and slowly turn it while moving slowly, and each time she hit the maximum lock on one side the front (right for a full right turn, left for the left one) move down significantly. it was very difficult to just drive the jeep back in, the wheels started rubbing and I got scared that the front would just fall.

I got the recall for the ball joint made last year, and i'm very angry :evil: as you may expect: we were going to hit I-5 for an hour drive!!!
How should I handle this? Dealership? Chrysler? Attorney? Please advise :-(
Author:  Jeger [ Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:11 am ]
Post subject: 
If it is the balljoints again.

Dealer...to find out the problem
NHTSA...to report it if it was the supposedly "improved" balljoints failing again.
Chrysler...to make sure they know about it and tell them you want them to fix it.
Lawyer.... if you are really pissed about it..
Author:  retmil46 [ Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
I elected not to go the dealer route, and had a set of Moog's put in 3 weeks ago. Tomorrow morning I'm going to get the alignment checked after putting about 500 miles on it, and have the torques rechecked - just to give me a warm fuzzy that everything is as it should be before my upcoming trek.
Author:  Timmaah! [ Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
I have 20k miles on my Moogs and they are holding up well. I can detect no change since installation. The original ball joints were out of spec at 30k miles. Since they are tension ball joints they are dangerous when out of spec. The Moogs look like quality parts next to the originals and they are greasable. My personal opinion is that even the Moogs should be inspected every other oil change (12k miles).
Author:  Joe Romas [ Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:24 am ]
Post subject: 
Any update on the problem :?:
Author:  kjfishman [ Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
First thing you should do is file a report with the NTSB Buy the Moog's and let dealer do the labor. Then go after Chrylser to pay for the Moogs
Author:  blacksmoke [ Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
it must be magic...
The jeep was towed to the dealer and they said that everything was fine!
I went today to check it out myself and yes, strangely, it all seems normal <insert crying grown up here>

One mechanic told me that maybe the 4wd part-time was stuck for a while, which would have gave us that strange feeling while trying to make big turn in the driveway... Of course I've never tried the part-time on hard surface so i don't know what kind of feeling it could make, but it seems a bit plausible :-(

Thanks for your response all, I'll be monitoring the jeep in the next week just in case but it seems to be one of those out of the blue thing (or I was abusing some good substance without knowing it and i dream all of this!!!)
Author:  Timmaah! [ Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:15 pm ]
Post subject: 
Blacksmoke,

I enjoyed your humorous post. :lol:

The shift mechanism inside the transfer case is spring loaded. When you move the transfer case to part-time or full-time position the shift does not actually occur until the parts line up. Then, when you shift out of x-time the actual shift does not occur until the parts are unloaded. Coming into our area down a steep asphalt hill I pull the tranny down into 2nd gear to hold the Jeep back and put it into full-time in anticipation of my crappy loose rock steep driveway off the asphalt. It will not shift into full-time until I blip the pedal ... then I can hear it shift and it's in full-time. I never hear it shift out of 4wd...but it does take a while to happen. Part-time does cause drive-line binding on hard surface. It sort of does stick in 4wd until it's able to shift out.
Author:  Uffe [ Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:29 am ]
Post subject: 
blacksmoke wrote:
it must be magic...
The jeep was towed to the dealer and they said that everything was fine!
I went today to check it out myself and yes, strangely, it all seems normal <insert crying grown up here>

One mechanic told me that maybe the 4wd part-time was stuck for a while, which would have gave us that strange feeling while trying to make big turn in the driveway... Of course I've never tried the part-time on hard surface so i don't know what kind of feeling it could make, but it seems a bit plausible :-(

Thanks for your response all, I'll be monitoring the jeep in the next week just in case but it seems to be one of those out of the blue thing (or I was abusing some good substance without knowing it and i dream all of this!!!)


LOL :D

Btw - if your in part-time and you got binding, you could experience some spring sagging when turning because the wheels try to either stay where it is or it wants to move faster than it can. So the springs get pushed or drawn. All depends on conditions though, if it is on bitumen you will definatly feel the part-time working against you when turning. The inner front wheel will try to move forwards and the outer front wheel will be moving backwards. As I explained that could be distributed sligthly to the suspension and causing a little up/down draft :)

And don't feel sad mate - this is what can happen to anyone. I'm really glad you took the safe route and got it checked out by skilled people, instead of just hammering it. Be good to the vehicle it will be good to you in turn :)
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