mcr108s

I am having an issue with knocking, clanking sound on slow speed sharp turns, it seems my outer front axle u-joints need replacement but I am unsure if there is something else in there need replacement also.

In first video I am moving the wheel back and forth just to show the play. You can see the u joint play more clearly in the other picture, where i just move the axle by hand. But what about the play on the fitting inwards, shouldnt that be a tighter fit towards whatever that part is called?


Any guidance much appreciated Just learning the mechanics...

mo8414

Pull it and replace the u joints If they are sloppy. Pretty simple

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

Im not sure what this "fitting" is that you speak of but I'll assume it's the plastic dust shield on the axle shaft? Yeah, that thing isn't tight against the tube so it doesn't wear out. Anyway, your real problem is that your U-joint is completely shot. SHOT. Do both sides.

mcr108s

You are right, I was speaking about the plastic dust shield, didnt know at the time inspected it what it was or what the axle looks like beyond, but now I know. Yeah I think I will go for complete new whole axles+ u joints because everything is so rusty I guess I will have other problems down the line and also problems removing/assembling parts.

Thanks for your support!

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

That's the most expensive way to go about it. U-joints are serviceable. Buying complete axle shafts is insane. Sure, there's a little extra labor involved for removing and installing the ujoints but that's nothing if you're doing the work yourself.

investinwaffles

Agreed. I would replace just the u-joints and keep the axles

If your Jeep is extremely rusty, you are going to have a really fun time removing the 3 12-pt hub bolts and the hub itself. There are alot of videos on YouTube and it is a fairly simple process as well.
Consider replacing the hub bearings if they are factory original.

Spicer u-joints and Timken bearings are what I always use
​​​​​

EDIT:
Check the ball joints as well. With the wheel in the air, put a pry bar under the tire and see if you can get any vertical movement out of it - the one looks pretty well worn

mcr108s

Thanks waffles! Will follow your advice on hub and perhaps ball joints also.

Regarding torque, do you have a link to a good torque data sheet on all of these? I only have collected it scattered from videos etc..

Thanks!

Pigeon

I didn't see what year your XJ is.

Torque Specs for my 98:
Axle nut- 175 lb/ft
Knuckle-to-hub bolts- 75 lb/ft
Brake caliper bolts- 30 lb/ft

I hope this helps. If you don't have the torque wrenches, you can usually get them through the tool loaner program at O'Reilly, or AutoZone, or...

mcr108s

Thanks for the specs, I do have a torque wrench, couldnt manage with a 99 XJ without it as you might have figured, I am new to most mechanics on the car, I am learning bit by bit as go along. I do have some experience from motorcycles though but when it comes to the axles and u joints etc there is obviously not much resemblence.

I decided to order new u joints, hub, will test ball joint but it seems why stop there...

Also, are there any ABS sensor parts that go with the hub to think about when ordering? or are those all externally located and not affected by changing hub?

mcr108s

Hey guys, wanted to check in and give an update to this thread.

I started working on the car 10 may and I "finished" today, one month later.

The statement: "If your Jeep is extremely rusty, you are going to have a really fun time removing the 3 12-pt hub bolts and the hub itself."

Well... that was an understatement about the fun...

Everything started out fine, was going to replace the whole axle + the sway bar links. Seemed like nothing could go wrong. But then I noticed the hub bolts, which were not 12pt, rather looked like something in between hex and torx. After some rust/brushing , CRC 5-56, I realized they were hex... pretty ****ty choice for such torqued down application. But I did manage to get a bolt out.. and the next.. on the last one I failed and rounded the hex. The first two were by no means straight forward, every turn needed full focus to not mess up the head. The last one I had to cut off the head of with a small dremmel like tool, I think it took 30 minutes to go at it from all sides.

So scrap that old wheel hub and order new ones, +1 week (live in Sweden and order everything from US/Germany/UK on Ebay).

New wheel hub arrives, without bolts. Seller apologizes and sends bolts +1 week.

Mounting everything... one side done.. other side, brake caliper piston is not retracing, cant mount the brake caliper... try everything to push it in, dont have the right brake caliper tool but a c-clamp sort of, but it is rock solid. Have to give up and the brake pads are pretty worn out also so might just order new ones anyway.

+ 1 week, new brake pads, brake discs, and a better tool to push the caliper in again, yay it works (after opening the valve also and later bleeding).

Everything is all shiny now.

AND my primary reason for doing all of this is solved, the knocking sound and really clonk clonk when turning sharply, the clonk and jerk when pushing the accellerator suddenly/hard, is all gone. Very smooth ride!

Hope this primary reason can be a guide to other people, and also what you can do if you have ****ty hex wheel hub bolts and their heads become rounded.

Only thing left is that my ABS light is on, I think I actually messed up one sensor while grinding off the bolts, will look at that next week.

Thanks,

EEVEE

i have never seen a ujoint move that much wow

investinwaffles

I should have warned you even more, those bolts were REALLY rusty on mine, I almost rounded the first one off (F-you chrysler for using 12pt bolts on these), and went for my propane torch and PB blaster. Second two came out much easier. At least you can fit a dremel in that area.

I also had a really bad time getting the hub-bearings out of the knuckle. Uugh, well congrats on getting it all back together! Did it properly, replacing parts that were worn and not just throwing it back together.

Jeepin'_Aint_EZ

The 3 hub bolts were hex heads? Like female hex heads? That's the dumbest thing ever.