hckrach

I am having issues with a death wobble (occurs on the highway at 55-65 MPH, goes away at 70), and I have it narrowed down to 3 things. My rear shocks do have to be replaced, I know that for sure. It may also be due to alignment, or bad ball joint(s).

My questions are, can the rear shocks cause a death wobble? If I get it aligned, then do that ball joints, will the replacement of the ball joints in any way impact the alignment? I believe it may be an upper ball joint. In order to replace the upper one, do I have to remove the hub assembly, and steering knuckle, or can I leave all that stuff on to replace the upper ball joints? Can a lower ball joint cause a death wobble? I have heard it is typically the uppers that cause it, and the left right tire wiggle will diagnose the lowers going bad.

Thanks in advance!

no rdplz

DW can be caused by MANY different things. But, from the 3 you listed...

Rear shocks will not cause DW. Upper and/or lower ball joints going/being bad can and will. Not having a good alignment will most definitely cause DW. And yes, you need to remove the hub to change out the ball joints. Here's my suggestion:

Get uppers and lowers for both sides. If you're gonna change out one side, you might as well get the other done with too. No reason to have worn parts on one side that will just go bad soon and cause more stress and wear on your brand new parts. Here's a link to Spicer ball joints for $50 per side: http://completeoffroad.com/i-123665-...ds-706944.html
The uppers are greaseable, the lowers are not.

Rent the ball joint clamp tool from an auto parts store. It's ridiculously priced, but you get it back when you return it.
You need:
- That tool kit
- Pickle fork for TRE's and ball joints (helps loosen the ball joints to come out easier)
- a 36 mm socket (axle nut)
- a 12mm socket (brake caliper bolts)
- a 12-point 13mm socket (hub assembly bolts)
- a torque wrench (caliper and hub bolts can be tightened with a air ratchet - or a 1/2" drive ratchet if you don't have air) for the axle nut = 175 ft/lbs. And of course your lug nuts = 110 ft/lbs
- a strong ball-peen hammer (just in case you gotta do some pounding on the lowers which will most likely happen)
- needle nose pliers for cotter pins
- I think it's a 18mm socket for the upper ball joint crown nut (may be wrong on socket size)
- I think it's a 22 mm for the lower ball joint crown nut (may be wrong on socket size).
**The new ball joints have new hardware that is smaller than the OE crown nuts. Pull out the proper socket sizes for these.

1.Set the e-brake (make sure the rear of the vehicle is facing the down slope if your on any type of incline), loosen your lug nuts, jack up the front of the vehicle, put it on jack stands, then remove the tires.
2. Remove the caliper bolts (2) and use a coat hanger to hang the caliper from the coil spring as it will get knocked off the LCA if you just set it on there due to the hammering that most likely going to happen). Pull the rotor off.
3. Remove the axle nut (hang onto the cotter pin, or buy new ones ahead of time) and the hub assembly bolts (3).
4. Remove the hub assembly (if it doesn't come directly off by pulling it, work your way around it, tapping the back edges with the hammer until it comes free) and the brake dust shield.
5. Remove the axle shaft (pull it out slowly so you don't tear the inner seal. Keep the end elevated when you put it back in, again slowly, to keep from tearing the inner seal).
6. Remove the cotter pins and crown nuts from the TRE's. Reove the TRE's from the knuckle (do not turn the TRE's as this will affect the alignment)
7. Remove the cotter pins (new ones are with the new ball joints) and crown nuts from both ball joints. Keep the lower on loosely so the knuckle doesn't fall off and smash your foot and/or knee (trust me, it hurts). Remove the lower crown nut and pull the knuckle off.
8. You need to use the clamp tool in a reverse method on the top ball joint first. This one should come out fairly easy. From there, you can use the clamp in it's traditional method on the bottom ball joint. You may need to use the ball peen hammer (ball end) to help knock the lower loose, so be ready for that. Just don't mushroom the edges as then you'll need to grind it down.
9. Put the new ball joints in (lower than upper) using the clamp to press them in, and then just reverse the above steps.
10. Do steps 1-9 to the other side.
11. Since you may need one anyway, go get an alignment that is to your lift specs (a lifted XJ should not be aligned to factory specs). Most reputable 4x4 shops can do this for you.

I just did all 4 ball joints this past weekend and it took me about 4 hours taking my time. So it's not too bad. Hope this helps!

hckrach

Thank you very much for the write up. My Cherokee is not lifted at all, so I can get the alignment done at a regular shop. My other question is, I would obviously rather make my job as easy as possible, so I was thinking about getting it aligned first, to see if that cures the death wobble. If I do that, and it does not cure it, do I need to get another alignment after I do the ball joints?

no rdplz

Not if you don't turn the TRE's. Forgot about this part so I just added this into the write up: you have to disconnect the TRE's from the knuckle to get it out.

Easy way to check your ball joints is to jack up the vehicle, put a pry bar in the knuckle and check for vertical movement in the ball joints. Any movement means they're going/are bad. The only down side is you can't tell if they're bad rotationally except for the wheel wobbling while going down the road. Big thing there thougj is that everything else needs to be good.

Couple things: Why do you think the alignment is bad? How many miles on the jeep and have the ball joints ever been changed?

hckrach

I need to get it aligned because the steering wheel is off center when driving straight, and it pulls when driving. Tires are proper inflation, and were recently re-balanced.

It is a 2000, with 210,000 miles, and they are the original ball joints

no rdplz

With that many miles on them, I would definitely replace them. IF they're not already bad, they're bound to go soon. While you have the TRE's disconnected from the knuckle, check the play in those as well as they could be a culprit to your alignment. Since you know you need the alignment anyway, I'd wait until on it until parts that are worn are replaced so you don't have to do it again after getting things fixed.

hckrach

How to I check for play in the tie rod ends? (I would just think the end would have swivel play in it, but I don't know) I have never replaced a tie rod (am I correct in saying you use a pickle fork to remove the tie rod end).

no rdplz

Yes, a pickle fork and a hammer is used to remove TRE's. A TRE that has sloppy play is no good (the spindle should oscillate, but not too easily. There should be some resistance).

hckrach

I found a video on here of a guy doing his ball joints, and he left the tie rod end attached the the knuckle. Just in order to do the ball joints, is removing the tie rod ends necessary? It just looked like in his video it was not in the way at all, and would just add an extra step.

Also, in this same video, I noticed he had issues removing the knuckle from the ball joints, and use a type of ball joint separator from Harbor Freight to separate it. Has anyone had issues with that, or does the knuckle typically just want to fall off when the nuts are removed from the ball joints?

Thanks

no rdplz

Disconnecting the tie rod from the knuckle gives a little more room to play. Only takes a couple minutes so it's not like it's a real time-consuming step. I had to hit my knuckle with a hammer a couple times to break it loose from the ball joints.