That is not very nice Demonoid. What a Darwinian philosophy you have, enjoying others problems and waiting for them to fail. Try helping others out instead. It is a much better philosphy for life. I don't drive 4wd dry, that would be stupid. - Paul

 

Thanks Rollincoal, some great advice here. Very helpful.

Well, as it happens, today over lunch I had a muffler put on at the shop. Had the guy take a look at the joints while he was there and on the lift. He gave a quote for the work too:



Axle Joint x 2 (U-Joint) - $40.48 each, $80.96 total
Upper Ball Joints x2 - $31.52 each, $63.04 total
Lower Ball Joints x 2 - $38.85 each, $77.70 total

Total Labor to install - $288.00.

Total in all - $525.22. Yikes.

He was saying that it is marginal in 2wd mode or not yet noticeably bad but in the 4wd mode, becomes a major issue while turning the wheels at the sharper angles. Make sense to you guys? These parts have never been changed on the suv and it is 20 years old. They are likely going bad. Any other ideas on best place to buy these parts to save money on the parts cost? You guys are all great here and very helpful, except those looking for the pure entertainment. thx all - Paul

 

I find it hard to believe that all that is bad and causing this issue... all of a sudden. My guess, 1 or 2 of them is bad, not all. That being said, it would not b a bad thing if all that got replaced.

For ujoints, get Spicer brand 760's. Only ones worth a Damn under say, $50. They r just over $20 depending on where u order.

Ball joints u shouldn't skimp out either. MOOG, Alloy USA, or Synergy. Rock auto will probably b the best place for MOOG. I think a buddy picked up a set of Alloy USA for under $100, per side maybe, from eBay.

All of this can b done for under $300 in parts of u ain't scared to get alittle dirty. Might learn ya a thing or 2 about ur JEEP amd how to figure out what's wrong w it. 9 times outta 10, info u get on the internet is wrong. U just gotta sort it out for itself

 

Thanks for the parts pointers. I agree, probably not all of these bad but if you are going in, probably best to do them all at once. What bothers me is the 2wd mode is using these same parts at the wheels as the 4wd mode does, just with the front/rear torque split/wheel slip happening there. Is this a reasonable explanation to the problem? Should it not also be very bad in 2wd mode too?

I'm ok doing some work as long as I know how to do it. I had planned on doing that with the exhaust kit I bought. But getting into it, couldn't get the muffler off the cat, so had to use a shop anyway. They did that for $50 install using my kit, not bad at all. But I think it is also useful to know one's limits. Without proper mechanic training, you can't just pick up everything you need to know doing it on your own without help. That is a recipe for disaster which Demonoid would enjoy watching! I think I will tackle new fuel injectors though as I learn more about that - not too hard from what I read there. I will tackle things I know I can handle. I am very handy in other areas, home DIY projects, woodworking workshop. Just not a trained mechanic and never had anyone to learn from.

I also found you can get a new rear leaf spring for about $100. Probably a junk yard would be better for that though - these don't fail that often do they? Other side is still fine. - Paul

 

In 2wd... its that. 2wd. 0 power is transferred to the front. Everything still spins tho from the tires. Without lockouts, the hubs that u have to "lock in" on a lot of other 4x4's that disengage the wheel from the axle shaft, ur xj they are engaged all the time and the entire drivetrain turns whenever the jeep is moving. That's y it's ****ing with u in 2wd.


There is YouTube videos about all this stuff. Even changing out them injectors and ujoints and stuff

 

I'm on tapatalk so I can't tell, but if ur anywhere close to Demonoid, I'm sure u 2 could get together and knock this **** out over a few beers:beer:

 

This gives you an idea of how to get to the axle shaft u-joints:

 

Do you live in rust country?

 

Thanks again guys. Today super busy but let me catch up on the new info posted a bit. I'll come back in a couple days.

Yes, I'm in Indiana, rust belt central. The Jeep was outside most of its life and not driven at all for about 2 years once. So rust will be there. Rollin, thanks for your explanation. Yes, it is sinking in slowly now in my brain. OK, 2wd can be ok because front shaft not locked whereas in 4wd it is and so could be much more senstive to a u-joint or ball joint problem there. I would still think the ball joint part of it though would show up somewhat in 2wd mode and it feels "normal" to me in that mode. I have to decide what and when I want to deal with this. I need the 4wd mode in the winter when it is bad, but would be in 2wd mode normally. This suv probably had a total of no more than 50 hours in 4wd mode in the last 10 years as it was only in severe weather, snow or ice. It could have had some abuse before I got it - don't know on that at all, but likely not much. Previous owner knew how to use it too. So I think this is all just fair wear and tear. The steering thing got gradually worse over time, but I didn't detect any severe issue at the start of last winter season, just your normal bit of wheel hop. By the end now, it is really bad. But we had a terrible winter. Prob put 20 hours on it in 4wd mode this last winter. Went through 1 ft of snow or drifts a few times and solid ice a few times. Only vehicle on the road was a snow plow and my old jeep more than once this last winter.

Really, cannot backup or do any parking lot maneuvers in 4wd mode now unless you have a football field free to do that in. Can in 2wd normally, then could switch to 4wd mode when moving on the road ok. Sharp turns on the road would be a problem but don't really do that. Prob just have to drive in 2wd mode until fixed as may not be too safe if I ever had to turn sharp in 4wd mode.

The muffler guy did a "real quick" eval on this and didn't even turn the wheels or anything. So the ball joints part of it I'm not certain are bad. The u-joint part of it makes a lot of sense with the help from all of you here and prob are bad. Maybe plan to do the u-joints and do the ball joints only if bad when you get into it to verify? Sound like a plan? Not sure if I want to do this one myself or not. Is the quote listed reasonable for the labor part for this? $288? Someone told me this is normally a lot more than that but I don't know. Not an easy job to do I don't think at all.

New muffler is awesome! Old one was terrible. Much better engine response! Later on I think I'll put in some better injectors too. Wish that improved fuel economy. Read it did, then read more and found it really didn't. Worth doing anyways though for response. Mine takes about 4-5 seconds to start normally. Should help starting too. - Paul