Aero

I recently acquired my 2008 JK knowing it had a few issues; however I got a really good price so it has been worth it. One item that I wasn’t expecting is the camber is off by about -1.75 and -1.5 degrees for the front tires. There is about a 2.5” lift and I am running 33” tires, so nothing too crazy.

I did the standard ball joint checks and everything seems fine and feels great while steering. The shop that did my alignment told me I would need adjustable ball joints to correct the camber and the total would run $999. I had to ask twice because I was sure I heard wrong (I said hell no if you are wondering).

I know some negative camber is acceptable, but -1.75 seems a bit much and I would chew through my tires too quickly. Since both are off by the similar amounts, it does make me feel like they (previous owners) just beat the hell out of this thing and I may have a bent axle or “C”s.

So my current plan is to look at getting adjustable ball joints and doing the work myself, but I wanted to check if anyone has experience with adjustable ball joints and has any recommendations. I don’t want to put anything on my Jeep that will limit off road capability and components that are adjustable tend to scare me away.

Thanks for any help

kellyII

I'm fixing to have to replace my ballpoints also. However adj ball joints like moog are way to pricy for me. I can and will replace with synergy. Motifs only adj .50 camber I believe. Between synergy and good quality parts on my front end I will be fine.
With only 2.5 inch lift I can't see why you need adj ball joints

planman

Most often, when Camber is out of spec, it is due to worn ball joints, not a bent axle C.

Swap in a set of Synergy ball joints and most likely, your Camber will be close to spec.

nthinuf

You might do some more investigating to find out what is bent, and whether you want to prevent it from getting worse or happening again. If the C's are bent, are you installing gussets to keep them from bending further? If the housing itself is bent, is it enough to possibly cause gear problems? Will you be straightening the housing and then maybe installing sleeves and/or a truss?

It could turn out cheaper to buy a new housing. Or it may be a great time to go ahead and start looking for a d44 replacement.

Aero

Thanks for the input. As far as I can tell nothing is bent, but I am not sure what measurements on the c would verify that. I will likely replace all the ball joints since the jeep has 62k on it and I am not sure they have ever been updated. If that does fix the problem I will likely add gussets for future protection. If the ball joints don't work, I'll start saving for some serious hardware.

redlinin616

I've got 35s. and after I installed a 3.5" lift and teraflex flex arms.. then synergy ball joints have my rig riding perfectly straight and all within specs.. the extra adjustment is well worth it. I also sleeve and gussetted the front

redlinin616

GunDude

Since the neg. Camber is pretty close, on both sides, I would say bad ball joints or c's. If one was off more than the other I would guess bent something.

New ball joint are on my summer time list.

kjeeper10

Rid the stock crap for ball joints. One side (forget) was reading over 1* before replacing to Synergy's. Be a good time to gusset C's while at it.

Aero

I went ahead and put on the Synergy ball joints and that fixed everything up, feels allot better as well. While I was changing those, went ahead and added gussets since the ball joints were out. Since this was my first time changing ball joints, it was a pain in the ass at first, but well worth learning how to get it done.

Thanks again for the input