Gap is pretty close to the second pic in this link, maybe a bit less: http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums...pared-to-stock

This is the ball joint I got. I know, Autozone, so it's probably crud....Unfortunately, it's the only thing I could afford to get for this emergency repair: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...1855_376835_0_

 

Oops, double post....Sorry

 

i would just tighten everything down as normal and check for play.
if no play, all should be good.

fill them full of grease after you tighten them up too.

 

Yeah as long as they're seated properly in the axle side you're good. Torque and grease

 

Okay, I did the passenger side wheel bearing this morning before work after I greased the ball joint I installed. Took a little bit to get the bearing off, but I finally did. Had to tap the axle shaft out of the hub since there was rust holding it in, but did NOT expect this!

I think it basically exploded going down the road at some point!!! Anyone ever seen a failure like this before?

 

It would appear that an oak leaf infiltrated the unit and obliterated the bearings.

Nice!

 

Lol No, that leaf wasn't the cause. It fell off the tree right above my Jeep and I didn't take it out....I'm guessing it's the original bearing and it finally said "F**k this!"

 

Yeah. Not a bad run for original lol

 

So, just out of curiosity....If this had been a relatively new bearing and this level of failure happened, what do you think would've caused it? Again, just for my own curiosity

 

Sitting in sea water on the ship over... not many things that cause that kind of rust and bearing destruction lol

 

Well, we do go four wheeling and sometimes hit mud, but wouldn't it be rather hard for mud to get inside there?

 

Not once the seal breaks down. Like you said that was probably original.