Ok, I'm wondering if I should keep driving this truck. My '96 Zj 5.2 Quadratrac (131,000 miles) has been making a "clunk" out of both front knuckles for the last week, and is now leaking and flinging grease off of the DS front wheel. The quantity of grease is enough that it is making a sheen on the fender. I should be able to dig into the front end this weekend, but should I find another way to work tomorrow? Is my DS front tire going to come off? My last question is: Does this sound like ball joints or wheel bearings to y'all?

Thanks,
Andy

 

its not either of those things the CV axles in your jeep have a rubber boot on them to hold in grease it sounds like they have ripped or rotted away time to either upgrade them to ujoint style shafts and get away from the stock cv style ones most 4.0 jeeps came with u joints shafts and can be found in the junk yards fairly easy. I personally wouldnt drive it till you have installed new shafts as the cv joint could break completely it wont leave you stranded but its not smart. I might can grab you a set at my local jy this weekend if you need them.

 

well, I thought about that, and the boot looks pretty much new. I see no tears or cracks, though I haven't crawled underneath the gove it the microscope treatment. I'll take a look tonight and make sure that's not the source of my leakage.

Thanks!
Andy

 

there is nothing else up there that will let grease go the wheel bearings are a sealed unit and so are the ball joints the only thing up there capable of slinging grease would be a shaft due to it spinning

 

agree with biggoofy on the cv boot, but not with the "upgrade" to u joints, unless you are a seroius off roader. U joints are stronger, but cv axles provide better handling and ride qualities for street and occasional wheeling.

 

well i hope that's all i need to do. The more i think about it, the more I think you're right about the boot. I'll keep the CV setup until I start my lift kit/tires/offroad stuf.

 

cv axles are easy to change to. hardest part is cracking the axle nut loose if it hasnt been removed in a while

 

Well that was odd. loooks like it was someone else's grease. I pulled the wheel to check things out and nothing is out of place. The boots are in perfect condition. I do have to replace at least the driver's side ball joints, as they are looser than I care to accept.

Thanks for the input, I know it will come in handy down the road.

Andy

 

Ok first ist not a truck its a JEEP and if your inner seal is bad in your diff. It will leak into your axle tube making it look like a cv it would be best to pull your cv and check