any word on your ball joint problem?

 

Haven't tried to press it back in yet. Doing that tonight.

 

ya 2 for 1/2 the price of one. thats a good deal.

 

So....my worst fear came true last night. The upper left ball joint hole is stripped or the ball joint is stripped. I'm not sure which. I just know I pressed that ball joint in as tight as I dared with my 20 ton press and could gently tap the stud from the bottom with anything and it would pop right back out. So, it's time to start weighing my options. I'm hoping the ball joint is just stripped and its not actually the axle housing hole. I'm going to talk with the guy at my local 4x4 shop and see if he's heard of a possible sleeving process. I really dont want to scrap my old dana 30 housing because its had trussing welded onto it and my HD LCA mounts. And its had the right side UCA mount boxed. I do have the stocker 96 D30 thats in the Jeep now to start over with but I'd rather not have to do all of that work over again.

 

Was that the factory ball joint or a newer one u put in? Was it a good quality one like moog?

 

Its a newer one Nathan, made by xrf. That really sucks buck sorry to hear about that=[ If it ends up being the hole messed up, you should sell off all the stuff from your d30 and use the money and throw a d44 in there.

You will be off making tons of money for 8 months you can afford it!

 

It very well could be the joint. U could unpress the other side and try it before buying new ones. If it is the housing i bet ur sol. Sleeving it would also mean having a matching slightly smaller ball joint too, i just don't see them making one. I agree if its junk and u can swing the funds step up to a waggy 44 still narrow enough to run on the street

 

I'm going to my local auto parts store here in OH and I'm going to buy a left side upper ball joint and try it out. I'm sure it won't be much for just the one. I will give a new ball joint a test fit. If it's also loose I have to decide if I want to build the stocker D30 that is in Great White now or throw all of the 4x4 goodies I have at it and sell it for cash to put toward building a D44.

 

I really hope u havnt installed the autozone (if thats where u went) ball joint! I have a warning autozone sells there ball joints slightly over sized. Just enough to F you over! After running an autozone ball joint u can never run another normal brand or spicer joint again. I learned this the hard way.
Proof stock ball joint



Here's an autozone pos



Not much difference but enough!! Found this out after spending the money on spicers to replace the cheepos..

 

Hey Guys, Greetings from the USS Harry S Truman (CVN-75) US Navy aircraft carrier. We are currently sailing around down off the Atlantic coast of Florida. Staying just outside of the tropical storm. We are rocking and rolling as the sea is very rough right now. Anyhoo, I will cut to the information I actually want to put out to you guys. I know I talked some pretty mad smack about XRF Ball Joints, as 2 of the 4 on my Jeep failed within a years time. After thinking it over I have come to realize I think the Ball Joints on that side of my axle failed due to the "Duracrap" knuckle U-joint being jacked up and me driving my Jeep like that all the way home from Rimrock Lake 200+ miles. The vibrations coming from that Effed up U-joint must have been absolutely insane at highway speed and for 200+ miles. I'd say rather than the XRF ball joints being junk, that them being as tough and reliable as they are is probably what kept me from having a catastrophic failure and having my whole wheel, knuckle and all cut loose from my Jeep on the way home. XRF has what they call their "Million Mile Warranty". So, I contacted Jacob at The Tire Club, the guy who I bought them from on Ebay, and asked him what the Million Mile Warranty would get me in my case. He is sending me a brand new set of 2 upper and 2 lower XRF Ball Joints to my house with no questions asked for free. All he is requiring is that when I receive them in the mail, he wants me to send the bad ones back to him. I must say I was pretty amazed at that. Also he contacted me the very next business day after I e-mailed him telling me my new replacement ball joints were being shipped out. So, fast and good customer service. So, my new Hubs and my new ball joints should be waiting at the house when I get home from the boat det.

 

hey, you're down in my neck of the woods. i'm in the miami ft. lauderdale area. have fun out there on the water..... good to hear you're being taken care of with the ball joints. looking forward to seeing more of your build when you get home. be safe while you're out there.

 

So, in planning for the work on my Jeep I have coming up when I get home and the fact that the weekend I come home will be my birthday, I have been doing some looking on Harbor Freight's website. They have a Ball Joint Press on sale for $80, a 14 piece Master Ball Joint Apaptor Set with everything required to do 2WD and 4WD Ball Joints of all shapes and sizes on sale for $70 and a 50-300 ft. lb. torque wrench on sale for $80. I think I'm going up to Bellingham to do me some Birthday shopping when I get home. It would, I'm sure, help out my Hub Wheel bearing Assembly situation to actually be able to know I'm torqueing my front axle nuts to the required 190-200 ft. lbs. rather than just guessing with a torque wrench that only clicks to 170.

 

I have heard bad things about the HF ball joint press. Works great for u joints and stuff but sucks for what its made for, breaks easy. Thats all hearsay of course. I just rent the ones from the parts store.


The adapter set on the other hand, WTB that!!

 

Hey Buddy, thanks for the heads up. Your opinion always matters to me because I know you know what you are talking about. Maybe I'd better look online for a Craftsman or Snap On Ball Joint Press. I do want to get my own. I've come to realize between me and the boy we do enough Ball Joints that it's worth it to have one in the tool box....Plus if I'm going to keep on wheeling with you and with Alex....AND I damn sure am!!!! You guys are hard on Ball Joints...LMAO!! And i guess it appears that I am hard on them too. I just found a good source with the XRFs and they are tuff enough to take a lot without coming apart on the trail.

 

Just throwing in my .02 I have a habit freight press and have use it alot! And always has worked and never broken. Pressed in maybe 6 sets of ball joints in buddies rigs and mine, along with plenty of u joints. Plus if I remember right it has a life time warranty. Just me .02