Okay. So I decided to go with Napa ball joints because it's a half mile from my house and priced well. I've been a customer for 25+ years etc. now I have two dilemmas.
First, the lowers' came with the threaded insert and the part that gets pressed into the knuckle is splined. Are these the correct parts? I've read that using splined ones will screw up the knuckle.
Secondly, the uppers I received both have the same part number on the outside of the box. Only the boxes are different in size as well as looks. The two joints look nothing like each other. One shaft is much longer.
Also this is on an 01 with a D30 LP.

 

Part number

 

Crazy

 

Advanced carries moog. Much better quality my napas didnt last long. JM2CS

 

So I took some measurements and it looks like the shorter one is correct. Napa is ordering another to see which one they get. They also checked one of the more expensive ones and it's the same as the shorter one.

 

The store ordered more and they were the longer ones. So I got two of them. Turns out there were similar issues with Moog and Spicer. Only read about one issue with the spicer. Read a few on Moog. Turns out the updated design is that way. I read that there's a bit of the stud that shows when the nut is torqued. I guess it's because there's no boot. It's an integrated seal now.

I'm about to get this underway. Already have it in the garage on stands and wheels off. How much of a chance is there of oil leaking into the tubes if I don't drain the diff? I guess I might just drain it. Not sure when the last time it was changed. We got it with 165k and now it has 206. Probably time to change it. I was just worried if I could get a gasket locally.

 

Oil getting into the axle? Not sure how replacing BJs would do that...but I've never done ball joints on my XJ.

 

The axle shaft needs to be pulled out because the u joint gets in the way of the ball joint press. Not sure if it can be done with the shafts still there. I will try that first though. So far I have one side ready to pop the knuckle off. Going to get the other side to the same point. Then depending on what time it is or how tired I am I will probably save the knuckle and ball joint removal for the morning.

 

So the shafts do need to come out. The knuckle won't come off with the shafts there. Bad thing is I found another thread about issues with the longer ball joint studs. Apparently they make the knuckle hole out of alignment with axle tube. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that a part would still be produced and sold if they don't work.

Just going to go ahead and install them and hope to hell they work correctly. If not maybe I could find 2 of the old style ones between the 3 Napas that are semi close by.

 

So apparently the diff does not need to be drained. I was looking at the fill hole and it looked to be below the tubes. So I removed the plug and I can see that the level of the oil is just below where the tube meets the housing. At least on the driver side. Can't see the other side through the hole but if the Jeep is sitting level it should be the same. And if I do lose any oil it will be minimal.

 

I got the Moog ones. With the longer shaft. And the splines. They work just fine.

Expect a small amount of oil to drip out of the tube. It's normal. Will be a small amount. Take care to put the shafts back in straight, so you don't tear the seals.

You're on the right track.

 

Cool. I've got a lower in. About to install an upper. Sucks the upper wasn't bad but I needed to remove it anyway to get the lower out. Lower was a little loose.
And I plan on being very gentle when reinserting the axles. Last thing I need is to mess up a seal. Thanks for the reassurance that these will work without problems. Funny how you can always find instances where people have problems with certain things but you never hear about all the times where they were fine. Unless specifically asking.

 

You should replace them both at the same time anyways. Would suck to have to do the job all over again after replacing only one, just to have the other give out after a few miles...

You got this! LOL

 

Okay so everything is back together. All I need to do is torque the spindle nut. What do u all do to tighten it? I was going to have my wife hold the brake pedal while I torqued it but she's sleeping. I was thinking maybe a prybar between the lugs but I don't want to mess up the studs on the new hubs. Maybe have to wait until morning to finish and test drive.

 

So I stuck a screw driver into the fins of the rotor. Tightened them hot to 150 ftlbs because that's as high as my clicker wrench goes. Going to dig up my old one with the needle and see if that goes any higher. I'll report back in a couple days once I put some miles on the new parts.