Got an alignment after putting bigger wheels and tires on my xj. Offset wheels with 32’s on it and they said my right front ball joint needed to be replaced with an offset one. When I bought the jeep the guy said he replaced the ball joints which was maybe around may and occasionally since but it I get some clunking from the passenger side on bumps which I can’t diagnose. Could this be a bad ball joint and I don’t need an offset one or something worse

 

The D30 is made at the factory that way on purpose. It is up to you if you want to.

 

I wouldn’t trust a non 4x4 shop to do an alignment on an old jeep. Especially if it’s modified at all.

There are lots of things that can clunk and such but there are videos on how to try and diagnose it that are relatively easy. However there are many front end issues that can make clunking that aren’t super obvious. It doesn’t take much slop to clunk.

lastly, it might have newish ball joints but I wouldn’t count in it.

 

I dont understand the before measurements and after measurements nomenclature...what did they do to get the left side out of the red. 2ndly how much lift do you have to fit 32,s and do you have adjustable or lengthened upper and lower control arms? Its possible the right side arms need some tweaking...did they do any of that?

 

Sorry for the supert late response. I have no clue about the measuremnts but its got a 3.5 in lift, adjustable lowers and rustys upgraded track bar. It was doing this before i put the wheels and tires on and after rotating them recently, it's been vibrating pretty hard at 60ish but when I get up to 80 it goes away. Any ideas??

 

Your issue her is the camber of right front is minus 1 degree and should be near zero (like LF camber)

This means your wheel is tilted inwards at the top slightly

You should check the specs for our XJ, as some inward camber is usual in most vehicles, but I have an idea it close to zero with XJ...check it on Google mate !

This could just mean the ball joints that are in there are worn...are they new ?...if they are not you could possibly replace them with standard ball joints.

That your LH one is good suggests that. Check the archive on this topic

The Toe has been reduced to aero (out of red), by adjusting tie rod ends (easy)..they were close before

Your Castor is close to spec

So you may have worn ball joints or unit bearing on RH front, dont get me started on bent axle housings, any of those will cause some vibration

 

What’s a unit bearing? And I have some minor front right collision damage on the frame like the po hit a tree at low speeds or something and a bent housing has always been on my mind which I hope that’s not the issue but it’s a possibility. The ball joints were new as of last April and it’s been like this since I bought it. I was gonna get the adjustable one installed as recommended by the shop and I trust them since my dad used to take his jeep there for years so idk what to do about it at this point

 

The unit bearing is the part the wheel bolts to and the axle runs through, is a wheel bearing, but its all integral on an XJ..Rock Auto has pics, ebay etc etc

free download the FSM

All you can really do is have them fit the offset ball joint I suppose

Its ominous you have front RH accident damage...thats the "long" axle tube side of a D30

I have personally experienced bent axle housings, more than once, its very hard to detect, and can mess with your head, and wallet

You should discuss this with the shop, seeing as you trust them, see what they have to say

 

Or the alignment machine is wrong, because it also says the right rear has -1 degree camber. Looks like all they did was set the toe-in which you can do yourself fairly accurately with a tape measure. Their measurements are only a accurate as the guy attaching the jig to the wheel.