Rear Ball Joint testing...

jdumont · **Posted:** Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:31 am

Hey all, been having all sorts of odd noises coming from the rear of the Jeep for a couple of months now. I thought it was the upper shock mount so i torqued those down again and still had the noise.
Today I got under there and pried (gently) in between the diff and rear a-arm and there was definitely 1/4" of up and down movement or so. Just checking but this is bad right?
Ill prob pick up the joint from the stealer tomorrow and then do the work tuesday since its a holiday...

Ive seen a few write ups on here and it doesnt look too bad. Just getting the joint pressed back into its home is the tough part.

Thanks in advance...
Josh

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:49 pm

Yea, if there is that much movement in the joint I would assume its bad. You will be able to tell for sure when you remove it.

When I painted my rear suspension I pumped that joint full of grease. May not be a bad idea to do that on the new joint. Just be careful with the boot. From what I remember I used a grease needle to pump it in. I think it had a snap ring on it that I had to take off but other than that it was no problem.

jdumont · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:03 am

How the hell do you get the bolt out that holds in the rear upper ball joint!!!
I removed the nut on the drivers side not the thing wont budge. Ive been bashing it (carefully) towards the passenger side with no luck. GRRRRR

I think im just gonna take out the whole bracket that the ball joint bolts to so i can get it in an easier place to work on it.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread. ... ball+joint

jdumont · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:43 am

Update: The arm itself is rusted to hell. Ball joint is frozen solid in the arm. The two bushings are shot to hell. I stuck a shaft into the bushing sleeves where the bolt goes through and it sounded like an old creaking hinge coming from the rubber. The rubber is also peeling away from the bushing sleeve from the dry rot.

I think I have just decided to get the entire assembly new from the stealer.
I can get it tomorrow morning for $290, part number 52088901AD.

I should have known I was in for this disappointment when it took me almost two hours just to get the arm out!

Grrr...

tonycrd · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:34 pm

You do have a jack under the rear axle to take the stress of that bolt???

jdumont · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:43 pm

Yea I ended up putting the little bottle jack that comes with the KJ in there. I wedged it between the backside of the diff and the underside of the a-arm. That popped her loose.

The whole thing is just rusted to crap so pressing either the ball joint or bushings out will prob screw up the arm.

Trying to convince the GF to get it for me for xmas!!! lol

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:11 pm

Yea, I would say it will rust pretty bad if it gets a lot of salt on it. Mine looks better than new... It really does. :lol:

The joint has a notch in it that the bolt fits in so the bolt must come out to get the joint off. It was much easier for me to get it off since I took the engine axle out. Its not a hard as you would think... Few bolts and shes out..

Primer..

Two coats of textured paint..

jdumont · **Posted:** Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:14 am

Haha, yea mine looked NOTHING like that at all. Try flaking rust color and texture. Even the inside of the bracket was loaded with rust so that when i shake it they all fall out like a cheese grater.

Should have the new one late this morning at the stealer!

cmohr · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:06 am

I ended up replacing the entire arm, as here in Australia you cannot buy the ball joint separately...

jdumont · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:39 am

Yea that stinks that you dont have the option, I got the new arm assembly installed in about 30 minutes. I cannot believe how quite the Jeep is now. That must have been the source of so much noise that i never even noticed because it happened over time.

I LOVE IT! Too bad it cost so much though....

jdumont · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 8:16 am

I still cant believe it. Just got to work and the Jeep sounds like a new car inside now!

I recommend everyone check that area!!

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 9:57 am

jdumont wrote:

I still cant believe it. Just got to work and the Jeep sounds like a new car inside now!

I recommend everyone check that area!!

so everyone go check your ....rear today , feel it, shake it, twist it around some :lol:

no one likes a noisy rear in public :shock:

so how much total did you have to spend?

jdumont · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:08 am

Well I bought the ball joint only first, that was $77. Returned that for full refund and bought the arm for $294 + tax. I think it was $315 total.

Im not that pissed about it considering if I didnt get the entire assy I would have had to replace the ball joint and both bushings which would have been almost $150. Plus the labor and frustration on my part to do all that...if I even could... The ball joint was totally rusted into the boomerang and the bushings looked even worse.

The difference in my mind is negligible considering the big picture.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:14 am

yes thats not too bad and like you said the frustration etc of taking it all aprt...my times worth more than that so really is a cheaper way out and quicker, I may have to look into my rear closer :wink:

I have one of the JBA upper links laying here when I put the new rear diff in so may change it all together :wink:

Rear Ball Joint testing...

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