Adjustable ball joints
 

So i am in the process of getting my jeep put back together and to fix my negative camber due to 4 broken ball joints and 2 broken wheel bearings. from my rough measurements one side is 1.5* negative than the other. so to correct this i bought a 2* alignment balljoint and a 0.5* alignment ball joint.

however my order can be modified (its through a local auto parts store). Should i get another 2* alignment ball joint. the 0.5*-1*-1.5*-2* ball joints are all the exact same price. But what I was thinking was "what if my rough measurements were off then i would need to purchase another ball joint since you cant return one that has been installed" and at 105.99 a pop i would rather not due that. But here is the think, say my rough measurements are right and then i only need 0.5* of camber adjustment then that puts the rest of the 2* to mess with my caster either putting the knuckle more forward or backward. i know that it wouldnt be by much but with how sensitive the alignment process is i dont want it to be to much.


what do you guys think. keep the 2* and the 0.5* adjustable ball joints or change my order and get two 2* adjustable ball joints and get the camber dead on and have the possibility of messing with the caster adjustment a little bit?

I have used lots of these and don't really care for them a lot. They don't seem to be as strong as other ones. I was lucky enough to have axle correction equipment where I worked so I could fix camber by hydraulic correction of the axle. Anyway I would go for the 2 degree. They never seem to move it as much when you get up that high. Plus like you said you can correct caster with it as well. I would shoot for the right side having about .5-.8 more caster then the left side to compensate for road crown and keep it from pulling right when you drive down the road.

Perfect. thank you for the answer.

i am not getting the cheap adjustable ball joints. I ordered "Specialty alignment" upper ball joints which is a company who does only alignment parts and they are cold forged and alot more beefy than the moog adjustable ball joints. We will see how well they hold up tho.

No problem. Just curious what setup were you using to measure your camber?

I've had the same Napa Premium 0-2 deg. balljoints (upper) in my heep for a few years. The key is to tackweld them in place after getting the camber set.

an old alignment sheet showing that one side needed a 1.5* adjustable ball joint per the shop and that the other side was right at edge of spec. then when measuring one side against the other (actual angle finder) there is still 1.5* difference between the sides so i will correct the other side by that .5* and then the 2* on the other side to get it back into spec. but i broke all 4 ball joints and both wheel bearings after my roll over leaving me like this:


https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...1006001041.jpg
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...1006001219.jpg
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...006001218a.jpg

Damn that is ruff. I think for the $200 for adjustable ball joints I would be looking for a used axle. Your axle is diff bent. The ball joints are just compensating for the bent axle. You could also try to find someone the straighten the axle but those shops are fex and far between anymore.

went thru this a long time ago. the axle is fine and i cant get an axle for less than 350. plus they are all 3.55 gearing and not 3.07 gearing. this was the cheaper route

wait what axle and gears are you running. off topic I know, but kind of makes sense that it might be bent

i am running 3.07's with 33's and lots of engine mods.

but let me put it this way. the reason that i know the axle is not bent is because we strait edged it AND took actual degree readings off of it to determine if it was bent or not, or if it was the outer C's. the axle is strait with zero deflection so we determined the best option is to just get adjustable ball joints.

to kinda drive the point home my ball joints were so bad that i could literally pull the actual stud out of the bearing cap (which is still in the outer C on the axle). i did this to 2 of them.and the other 2 have 3 inches of side play.

when i would lift the axle up the knuckle would separate about 1" from the outer c's.

Looking forward to seeing these installed Brian.

gotcha I recently did ball joints on my Jeep as well. best fix to date.

this past summer I rebuilt my suspension....soup to nuts to oem specs with a 2in BB. I did it in stages and the BJs were the last stage. I have to say that job made the biggest difference. driving is a pleasure again....good luck