Loose CV axle

MrE08 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:07 am

Hello Everyone, I am new to this site as well as Jeeps. I recently bought a 2008 Liberty for my wife. It has what appears to be a 3" lift. I am unsure of the brand and cannot find it written anywhere on the lift. Recently the passenger side CV axle has come loose and knocks when the suspension compresses at speeds greater than 35 mph or so. I was going to take it to a mechanic that I trust but I am worried that it may happen again with time. My question is with a 3" spacer lift should I think about installing some longer UCAs and/or larger ball joints? It rides well (I have nothing to compare it with as I have never ridden in a stock KK). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:08 am

First thing is if it is a spacer lift THEN get rid of it. They all cause issues with wearing upper ball joints etc, plus will also kill your front shocks.
A well set up full spring lift will wear parts over time but not like a spacer lift, there lies your problem.
Now an upgrade is the jeepinbyal upper control arms built for lifted Libertys, this will hep out some .
On the wear part , I recently replaced my left side factory CV. After 170,000 lifted miles it finally wore out.
If you could ride in a full spring lifted KK or KJ you'd never want to drive your spacer lifted KK again. Not being an a** just the full on truth

Gageraid · **Posted:** Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:46 am

Very interesting you bought a used KK with a lift kit.
How about a picture?
Tom is right. If it's a spacer lift, you're going to want to remove it as it's going to cause more harm. Might even be able to sell the kit for $50.
If you want to have a better riding KK, look good, and have more clearance, save for a full spring lift.
Be warned there are are only a handful of options out there to lift a KK.
Best bang for your buck is the Old Man Emu (OME) Econo lift. ~$750.
If you can afford the Jeepin' By Al upper control arms, get them. They're not needed, but recommended by all that have them. Prices might seem a little high, but it's such a dramatic improvement over stock. Very happy I have this lift installed on mine.

MrE08 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:45 pm

Thank you very much for the reply's, I really appreciate the information. I am taking it in on Monday to get it fixed but I don't want it to happen again before too long. In your guys' opinion do you think that I could get JBA's upper control arms and make it work? Because I'm fine with how it rides... Or would it be worth it to throw on the OME lift? The Jeep only has 68000 miles on it and we plan on keeping it for another 100,000. Here is the only picture I have of the Jeep (my wife is driving it as it's hers) and also the best picture of the lift I could get.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:00 am

Well known that the KJ/KK springs are weak to begin with, I've had them in here that were sagged an inch by the time they had 75,000 miles. If you plan on keeping it for a while then yes a full spring lift kit is in order. You can add the JBA UCAs but you'll only be putting a temp bandaid on the real issue

Gageraid · **Posted:** Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:43 am

The pictures aren't showing up for me.

MrE08 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2013 1:18 am

Hmm, I will try again to post some pictures. So I've been looking at lifts, mostly on JBA. Since I am happy with the rear I am thinking about ordering the Ironman front coil springs and struts, and possibly the JBA upper control arms in the future. Does anyone have any feedback on this setup? Once again, I cannot thank everyone enough for all of the advice.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2013 6:43 am

Ironman is good , has a good ride, handles well etc, personally tested it on mine for a while.

MrE08 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:24 pm

Well I just ordered up the Ironman springs, struts and a 0.250 clevis spacer (I'm worried about going from a 3" spacer down to only 1.5" of lift from the new springs/struts). I wasn't sure if I'll need it as the stock springs may have settled and I may get more than 1.5" of lift with the new setup. I am hoping if I dial the lift down to around 2" or so the cv axle will not be at such a steep angle and this will stop the knocking, otherwise I'm worried the needle bearings are worn out and will require a new CV axle.

Gageraid · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:42 am

MrE08 wrote:

Well I just ordered up the Ironman springs, struts and a 0.250 clevis spacer (I'm worried about going from a 3" spacer down to only 1.5" of lift from the new springs/struts). I wasn't sure if I'll need it as the stock springs may have settled and I may get more than 1.5" of lift with the new setup. I am hoping if I dial the lift down to around 2" or so the cv axle will not be at such a steep angle and this will stop the knocking, otherwise I'm worried the needle bearings are worn out and will require a new CV axle.

I'm sure someone will confirm, but the "1.5" inches of lift is closer to 2.75 or so.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:16 am

Yes with the springs and a 1/4 inch spacer you'll be in the 2.75-3 inch range anyways
the 1.5 inch is for insurance purposes in Australia where they are made

MrE08 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:35 pm

Hmm, well it looks like I'll have a clevis spacer for sale soon!

Ted15 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 12, 2013 6:45 am

MrE08 wrote:

Well I just ordered up the Ironman springs, struts and a 0.250 clevis spacer (I'm worried about going from a 3" spacer down to only 1.5" of lift from the new springs/struts). I wasn't sure if I'll need it as the stock springs may have settled and I may get more than 1.5" of lift with the new setup. I am hoping if I dial the lift down to around 2" or so the cv axle will not be at such a steep angle and this will stop the knocking, otherwise I'm worried the needle bearings are worn out and will require a new CV axle.

I just reread this. CV joints don't have needle bearings and the angle that you're probably sitting at isn't bad. At stock height, the axle goes upward a couple inches. When you lifted it, at least in my case, the angle is about the same but in the downward direction.
I had some vibration when I put larger tires on with the stock springs that went away when the springs were upgraded. Later on, more vibration was eliminated with a load force balance. I did have a bad axle and was trying to eliminate possinbe causes. I was surprised that the expensive balance job did anything at all.

MrE08 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 13, 2013 12:18 am

I'm not worried about the CV joint, I was referring to the bearings inside the axle tube (they may not be needle bearings, I have not seen a diagram of the assembly or had one apart yet).

Ted15 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:40 pm

MrE08 wrote:

I'm not worried about the CV joint, I was referring to the bearings inside the axle tube (they may not be needle bearings, I have not seen a diagram of the assembly or had one apart yet).

I think the axle has a bushing. The intermediate axle I bought had a plastic bushing listed in the parts.

Loose CV axle

Who is online