Im starting to lose faith..

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:48 pm

Ive had my Liberty for alittle over 3yrs now and its been a great little Jeep. Ive done many things to it and have gotten it to where I love everything about it.

Here lately little things have been popping up that wouldnt really bother me but the Jeep only has 26,700 miles on it. The balljoints were the first to go but that was kinda normal for the liberty. About a week ago I replaced the right rear caliper since it was sticking and I also started to head a clicking noise when turning.

I had the OME lift on it for about 1.5yrs or so and only netted 1.5in of lift.. I up'ed it to the rustys lift this past Christmas giving me around 2.5in of lift and Ive confirmed its 1in less than the franken lift. So tell me why the heck my cv joints are already going bad? I feel like Ive been very easy on my jeep through-out its life. Ive never been hard on it the few times Ive been offroad.

I got me alittle summer job this summer but Im not sure if I can keep up with all the repairs.. I didnt really have anything in mind to buy for it other than a muffler and a shift kit and was wanting to save my money other than that.. Ive already quit the summer job since Im taking a summer class, so I didnt get much. Ive already got the muffler and shift kit but Ive yet to put the shift kit in.. I have 2 weeks between my summer class and my fall classes, so Ill probably do it then.

Anyway, Im just alittle down in the dumps and needed to get it all out.. Its kinda like having problems with a wife or girlfriend.. haha..

Anyone have a spare cv joint for sale? I thought about turning it over to the powertrain warranty, but its $100 for that and they would probably turn me down b/c of the lift.. Ive seen rebuilt units for $150.. So its not worth it.

Does the cv joint just slide outta the diff? That shouldnt be a hard change at all if it does.. Pop it outta the knuckle then pull it out?

I bet a dollar it doesnt have much grease in it.. Guess I should buy those clamps and the tool from napa and check the other side and re-pack it when I change it. Are the cv joints the same? Im not sure which side it is.. Sounds like the left side.. So far it only does it when turning left too..

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:02 am

Hey I feel ya,I've been fighting a brake problem for awhile now(almost zero brakes) and everything checks out fine,replaced almost everything and still no brakes(a little better after putting the Trxus MT's on),gotta go to a HydroBoost setup,if that fails I'm scraping the KJ(it's no good without brakes).But that's life,parts wear out.If you wheel,parts wear out faster,you can't get away with it.That's why when I do the SFA I'm overkilling everything do prolong the life of my KJ.CV's go bad at unexpected times so there is no real blame for any on causing factor,maybe some water got past the boot a wreeked havok,who knows.Well good luck and yes the front CV shafts pop out of the front diff(will need a little prying force from a pry bar to release the clip).

moose · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:46 am

you can always put it back to stock for a week and let the dealer fix it. that's what i had to do for the ESP issue....

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:03 am

I had thought about that Moose. Since its outta the 3yr/36k warranty, I only have the powertrain warranty which has a $100 deductible. Ive seen rebuilt cv's for $150 so its not really worth saving $50 to take the lift off then put it back on.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:52 am

Jeepjeepster wrote:

I had thought about that Moose. Since its outta the 3yr/36k warranty, I only have the powertrain warranty which has a $100 deductible. Ive seen rebuilt cv's for $150 so its not really worth saving $50 to take the lift off then put it back on.

check with autozone ,pepboys, napa or where ever I think they go for ~$120 with a life time warranty
buddy up to the store closest to you if you plan to wheel
we have several guys who are club members and work/manage the local parts stores and man does it help they will bring parts to the meeting for you
or you can go pick them up even special order can be had easy

dont get down it is part of owning a jeep
like a guy once said
"when you own a jeep just start at the steering wheel and kep throwing money at it"

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:20 am

What makes you think your c/v joints are worn out? I have 89k on mine and still original. Although i dont have much time to give mine a beating in the woods these days.

Maybe those are what's causing my latest noise in the front end.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:53 am

myjeepwalks wrote:

What makes you think your c/v joints are worn out? I have 89k on mine and still original. Although i dont have much time to give mine a beating in the woods these days.

Maybe those are what's causing my latest noise in the front end.

Read where I said its clicking when I turn. Thats why Im so upset. I do not hear about people having troubles with these and I have a smaller lift than most people and I have less miles..

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:57 pm

I'm dumping mine first chance I get. KJ's stink.

Wasatch15 · **Joined:** Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:52 am **Posts:** 242

The driver side half shaft is shorter than the passenger side half shaft. The Inner CV joint is a totally different type of CV than the outer joints. Note.. it is the inner CV that has the job of lengthening the halfshaft length when the suspension is working. It sound like an outer CV is going out if it is clicking when you turn.

I looked into the halfshafts from J.E. Reel, they are made a little beefier and have a more flexible CV boot but the articulation is the same as the originals. Since installation of my lift I have had minor CV issues ever since. The guys doing the heavy wheeling must be hearing all sorts of weird front end sounds.

Ron

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

I am not sure, but could be related to that rear axle job you pulled on your KJ? :oops:

LiLredLibby · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:50 pm

First of all Jeepjeepster,don't be so hard on yourself.From what little I know about you,I'm not sure your going to find anyone who tries to take care of their libby any better than you do. :wink:

Secondly,I still can't understand why everyone on this forum does'nt understand that IMO it does'nt matter what type or brand of lift your running,it's the amount of angle and the type of wheeling you do that determines the stress and the life of the independent suspension.The very same people that told me to stay away from Rusty's OTT lift have had problems that I have'nt had yet. Again, I gained about 3 1/4" of lift and have put about 20,000 road miles and 4 to 5 trips offroad for some light to moderate wheeling.I just coud'nt see spending the nearly 300.00 difference for the coil lift,ending up with only 2 to 2 1/2" of lift at best,and then clevis lifting with conduit nuts to get to where I am now.Maybe there was a second or third generation of Rusty's OTT lift that he sold to eliminate the upper balljoint contact,but I can promise you at full droop my upper balljoint has always had about 1/4" of space between the coilsprings,and my struts are'nt leaking and still ride good.And yes I've seen the contact photos at least a hundred times so I don't need anyone to waste their time re-posting them. :lol:

I can't explain it,I just know mine don't hit.

As for the cv joint.....pop the halfshaft out and see if you can just buy the bad cv,your stock one may have been built on a Friday. :lol:

Ron

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:06 am

I'd say pull the halfshafts out and check'em and check all the stuff you are having problems with - If you really need to drive - you still can without the halfshafts in - just take it easy doing so.... I drove mine without halfshafts for almost 200 miles when I popped the front diff.

Don't loose confidence on your KJ - This coming from a guy that got a new JK Rubicon? - Yes..... definetly - I beat the KJ up pretty good on all sorts of terrains - from MOAB rocks to midwest mud; I tried every single thing there is - some of it hard stuff and I never had a problem with my KJ. Of course when you go to extremes something might go bad - you never know. That is when i blew the front diff.
I've seen rigs doing stuff that I would not even try - pure example is USAFCOP - he wheels it hard - it does break sometimes but nothing major. but the kj always comes thru.

chetos · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:51 am

DaveKJ02 wrote:

I'm dumping mine first chance I get. KJ's stink.

Took that "too long Sunday nap" and feel kinda grumpy??

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:36 pm

chetos wrote:

Took that "too long Sunday nap" and feel kinda grumpy??

Nope. Here's what I did yesterday and what made me say what I did. Note the strap.

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

You got it all wrong. You have to hook the other end to another vehicle.

1stJeepKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:04 pm

I'll be replacing my drivers side half shaft here pretty soon. CV noise is getting worse and worse. At http://replacement.autopartswarehouse.com/parts/autopartswarehouse/wizard.jsp?year=2002&make=JP&model=LIBE-LIMITED-002&category=All&part=Axle%20Assembly&dp=true AutoPartsWarehouse the ARC brand is around $75 and the CVU brand is about $100.

I have no idea what the difference is between those brands.

I still love my KJ!!!

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:09 pm

1stJeepKJ wrote:

I'll be replacing my drivers side half shaft here pretty soon. CV noise is getting worse and worse. At http://replacement.autopartswarehouse.com/parts/autopartswarehouse/wizard.jsp?year=2002&make=JP&model=LIBE-LIMITED-002&category=All&part=Axle%20Assembly&dp=true AutoPartsWarehouse the ARC brand is around $75 and the CVU brand is about $100.

I have no idea what the difference is between those brands.

I still love my KJ!!!

One has a warrenty and the other does not,don't forget the core charge($75 and $32) you have to pay untill you ship(another big cost) the bad CV to them and then you will get the core charge back.Personally I would stick with a more name brand CV reman then those,most likely they are remaned with cheap China parts.Sorry but I don't skimp when it comes to my KJ,you will find no cheap stuff on my KJ.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:28 pm

When my CV does need replacing Ill probably go with a Napa unit..

Im really not to sure how to figure out which one is it yet.. It doesnt do it all the time yet and if I jack it up, not matter how I do it, Ill change the angles of the cv's and it probably wont do it anymore..

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:42 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

When my CV does need replacing Ill probably go with a Napa unit..

Im really not to sure how to figure out which one is it yet.. It doesnt do it all the time yet and if I jack it up, not matter how I do it, Ill change the angles of the cv's and it probably wont do it anymore..

Better replace it before it fails,remember that you can't "unlock" the front diff in a KJ(no lockouts) so if it fails while driving it could damage alot more than just the CV,plus the parts store won't except a totally destroyed CV for a core,they need to be able to reman it to sell it to the next person.Better fine tune that hearing or have a freind help,2 sets of ears are better than one.

Im starting to lose faith..

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