CHECK YOUR BALLJOINTS !!! Near catasthrophe

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:38 pm

Going north on 294, 65mph, little hump on road, Liberty starts shakin left to right an BAM! passenger front side goes down.
Avoided 2 semis behind me and was able to pull to the left shoulder

Balljoint gave out
I'm ok - just shaken up.....
Should have done my part on checking time to time
This is to just let everyone know that you have to know what shape your Jeep and parts are in.... i did not do my part and almost got me in big trouble
Check your rig all the time - specially after a day in the trails - since we travel a lot, there is got to be a way do to a general quick checkup on major parts.

Probably a good time to think about a crash course in checking your rig for problems like this....
Obviously it is something that happens but if we put a bit of time in it, we might be able to avoid things like this.

Inc · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:40 pm

Glad you're OK, did you need a change of shorts? :shock:

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:41 pm

Was it the Upper Ball joint that failed?

trailman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:41 pm

Holy crap! Man you're lucky you didn't get hurt! Well you just motivated me to go and check mine now. It's been a while since I've stuck a 2x4 under the tire.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:50 pm

wow! glad your ok man! thats so scary :shock:

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:53 pm

cdiekhans wrote:

Was it the Upper Ball joint that failed?

Yep - upper ball joint gave out
I skidded on the rim/tire that probably went under the lower control arm
if it did not go that way, i probably would have rolled over

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:54 pm

Glad you're okay... Did you have stock arms?

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:01 pm

cdiekhans wrote:

Glad you're okay... Did you have stock arms?

Yep - stock arms

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:02 pm

As long as we are on this subject....

*********************************

HOW TO CHECK YOUR LOWER BALL JOINTS

OK guys, This is not a tech write up but just a guide to help you find out if you have bad lower ball joints. If you do not feel good about doing this yourself or you do not know how to do this in a safe manner...then by all means take you KJ to a shop or dealer nad have them check your ball joints for you.

Please use good judgement while doing any work on any vehicle.

Again...do not do this if you have not read all of this or feel you might doing something wrong or unsafe. This is just a guideline not a step by step tech article.

Place your KJ on a level driveway and set the parking brake.

Place a floor jack under the lower control arm and lift the tire off the ground about 3 inches. The jack must be uner the conrtol arm and not anything else. You are unloading the spring from the ball joint. if you lift any where else this test is not going to work.

Use a pry bar or 2x4 and slide it under the tire that is lifted. Use enough force to see if there is any play by lifting and releasing the tire. Do not apply too much lifting force to knock the vehicle off the jack.

See if you feel any play...but also have someone else watch to see if there is any play in the balljoint.

If you fell or see any play the ball joint must be replaced. Do not delay on having it replaced because it will at some time seperate and the whell will come off your Jeep.

If you do not feel any play or see any movement for sure...Then your lower ball joint should be good.

While you still have it lifted go to the top of the tire and try moving it from side to side...Push and pull it to see if you feel any play. If it is bad it will have a very small bump or pop feel to it. Again do this slow and dont do it hard enought to pull it off the floor jack.

If you have any bad ball joints.. have it repaired and then PLEASE report it to the other link I post about ball joint failures.

*************************
no if somebody can find anything about the upper ball joint, please post

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:11 pm

big yowch, im glad you're alright!

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:29 pm

Dang! I don't recall any other UBJ failures on road reported here, but maybe I just missed it. Glad you walked away!

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

Inc wrote:

Glad you're OK, did you need a change of shorts? :shock:

X2

2006 KJ · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:27 pm

so that's what the hovercraft mod looks like..

but really.. glad your ok! knowing my luck i would've rolled it.

Inc · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:32 pm

2006 KJ wrote:

so that's what the hovercraft mod looks like..

but really.. glad your ok! knowing my luck i would've rolled it.

It is like the back to the future edition, where he is going he doesn't need roads.

KJ-BOL · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:55 pm

yellocoyote wrote:

did the kj have any noticable symptoms in the days before this happened that you can recall?

Yes....since probably 6 months ago I did notice something - I had a little play when accelerating and decelerating - Jeep went a bit to the passenger side. Should have done something then. My own fault not checking into it.....

That is why I said..... please check your Jeep for problems - even the tiny ones - even if it seems insignificant. CHECK....
Since a lot of us take our rigs on the trails, there is always a chance to mess something up and even an insignificant thing can turn into something worse.

KJ was not the same since I blew up the front diff. Always had this little odd thing that I probably got used to and it bit me back

CD · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:15 pm

Bloody hell, that must have given you a huge fright. Glad no one was hurt.

USAFCOP · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:35 pm

JJsKJ wrote:

:shock: Dang! I don't recall any other UBJ failures on road reported here, but maybe I just missed it. Glad you walked away!

Mine blew a while back, I was lucky, only going 15mph in a parking lot. why I went to Al arm, then that went in Moab.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:53 pm

JJsKJ wrote:

:shock: Dang! I don't recall any other UBJ failures on road reported here, but maybe I just missed it. Glad you walked away!

Thats what I was going to say, usually it happens when your turning at low speeds..

Glad you were ok Kj-bol, that could of turned out to be very bad. :shock:

I try to check my suspension out really good at every oil change...

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:10 am

Glad you're okay..................I have mine for sale if you need or want them. They only have 12,000 miles on them and came out of a 2007. I have them listed for $100.00, but I'd sell for $75.

2006 KJ · **Posted:** Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:15 am

dieselenthusiast wrote:

:shock: Glad you're okay..................I have mine for sale if you need or want them. They only have 12,000 miles on them and came out of a 2007. I have them listed for $100.00, but I'd sell for $75.

that's a pretty convient offer dieselenthusiast.... almost like someone happened to 'help' his ball joint fail. :twisted:

KJ-BOL have you seen a red KJ with some fancy chrome sneaking around lately?

CHECK YOUR BALLJOINTS !!! Near catasthrophe

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