RN M OVR

I was thinking of picking up a press kit at Harbor Freight if I can't borrow my buddies. Are there different press kits I should look into that are better than others?

I thought that using a pickle-tooth pry bar and a BFH would help me remove the steering knuckle from the axle. How did you have problems?

How did you screw up your axle sleeve when reinstalling? The reinstall of everything seems much easier than removing and installing the ball joints themselves.

Sorry. Not trying to rip on you. Just trying to dig up as much info and troubleshoot as possible before putting the JK on stands on going to town.

Thanks again

jksooner

From what I understand, the Harbor Freight is a good kit. I rented one from Auto Zone, and it was pretty sparse. I ended up going to Advanced Auto... their kit had a sleeve that was slanted for the bottom portion of the top joint... was MUCH easier to use. Not sure if the HF kit has that, but I know most people have used that kit.

I didn't have a pickle fork when I removed my axle, and it was pretty married to the knuckle. I just had to cajole it a lot and muscle them apart. You may not have any problems with using the fork.

It was the axle seal that I messed up... I have no idea how... maybe I pushed on the axle to hard when I reinserted? I have no idea. All I know is that after I did my joints, axle fluid was leaking. I gave it a good week before chalking it up to the seals rather than just fluid that had leaked into the tube. It was still leaking at a pretty good gush a week later.

I also broke a breaker bar trying to press the new joints in... I would definitely use the anti seize as was mentioned earlier.

RN M OVR

Cool. Thanks a lot. Do I need thread locker for anything such as when tightening the axle shaft nut back on? I know it's 100 ft lbs. Or is thread locker (lock-tite) no necessary? And, I'll keep keep everyone updated. Much appreciated for the help.

RN M OVR

Do I have to worry about C-Clamps?

The Jeep is going up on jacks tomorrow!

RN M OVR

Well, for someone who has never done this before, it took me a solid 12 hours. Feel free to laugh it up. Literally started at 8am and ended by 8pm on the dot. The only difficult part was taking the old ball joints out, in my opinion. That was quite frustrating. Everything else was pretty straightforward, looking back on it. Installing the new ball joints wasn't hard, just you have to be meticulous because you have to get them in straight. If they're going in straight, they won't put up a huge fight; but they do fit very very snug.

Before this, I was getting some bump steer, and wheel wobble often. My old ball joints were toast. You would not believe how much play was in them. The best way to describe them was like the "rag doll" affect when you input that code in a video game so everything is lifeless.

I went aftermarket instead of OEM. I must say, however, that these ball joints are beastly. After the test drive--driving on the roads that usually are catalysts to my problems--my bump steer was virtually gone. My wheel wobble is definitely gone!


This Wednesday I'm taking my JK to Desert Rat (a 4x4 shop) to have my suspension and steering components checked out to see how I can hopefully vanish this bump steer.

My TIP.... do this with a friend. Aside for a good pair of extra hands to help you out, it's always nice to have someone to talk to.

Thank you all for the tips and advice before I lifted my JK up on the jacks

Jarodbeg

Changed mine out last night. Took me about 5 hours doing it alone. Those uppers gave me the most trouble, coming out and going in. The lowers didn't give me any trouble. Now im praying that I didn't mess up my axle seals putting the shafts back in...