i was getting ready to go on my first wheeling experience in the kj this coming weekend and now feel concerned. i have been reading all of these threads about th lbj's. i bought my kj used in 2004 w/29k on her. before i picked it up i made sure that the dealer did the recall concerning the lbj's. i knoe the heat shields were put on and the lbj's looked new also. now i have 50k on her and am starting to wonder. the other day at work i put on her the lift to check them. i got the wheels off the ground about three inches and xhexked them with a large steel tube. i did not feel any play whatsoever. should i have placed a jackstand under the control arm and the lowered the kj back down to put a load back on her. i wasn't sure to check it with a load or with out. i have no abnormal tire wear or anything else that would make me suspect that one is bad. i dint want to be in the woods this weekend with two chevy's and have the king of all 4x4's have to be pulled out by one of them. thanks for the help

Sounds like they are okay to me, but I'm not there to see. Are you lifted? If so which lift? You need to make sure the upper part of the spindle is not resting on the spring or little square bump stop or you won't be able to get enough force to lift up the tire. If that is the case then use your jack stands like you said or put a small jack under the lower control arm. However if you are stock then that won't matter. The way you check it is fine.

To check the lower ball joint, you have to release it from the load of the spring. Put a support under the lower control arm. If I remember correctly, the limit of up-down play is 1.5 mm = 0.059 inches.

I think I said more about how I had done this in the "Sticky: How to check your ball joints." Look above in this Forum.