Ok so I took my jeep to firestone for alignment and get it back and its still all messed up, i have them redo it and i still have to crank my wheel left to drive straight. So I take it back a 3rd time and the guy tells me it needs camber bolts lol So I call the only 4x4 shop around and they want 125 for a front end alignment. My ball joints look worn as hell so my question is, what should I do? replace the ball joints? buy off sets, pay ANOTHER 125 for the other alignment? Here are some pics
Driving straight.

 

Go to a alingment shop .

 

I'm going to go fight with Firestone and try to get my money back and I'll take it to the 4x4 alignment place.

 

Why did it take 3 times before they said anything? Get your money back from those fools and take it to someone who knows what they're doing.

 

I have no idea. I had to call their corporate office to get help cause of how ****ty they were. I was surprised though when The other shop quoted me 125 for an alignment.

 

Did corporate at least authorize a refund? That's a shady business practice to charge people then not complete the job.

 

how pathetic. its really not that hard to fix the problem either. all they need to do is set the steering wheel straight and lock it in and then set the toe.

 

Yes they did. My question is, the camber is whats causing the outside of my drivers tire to wear rapidly yes? If so, can the 1.2 Degree Negative be fixed by new ball joints? I mean can they be bad enough to be out to that degree? I know the paper says 1.4 but that's from the first try, the 2nd try they got it to 1.2

 

I hate that you are having this trouble. I know how bad it sucks I am running into the same type of problems. But to answer your question about camber: To the best of my knowledge, replacing ball joints should return the camber to near factory conditions.

Your photo shows negative camber; in at the top and out at the bottom. That should cause the inside of the front tires to wear excessively not the outside of the tire.

Your signature line says you have a 3 inch lift. Is that still the case? Regardless, you may have other worn suspension parts if you are getting excessive wear on the outside edge of the driver side tire. In addition, your front driver side tire is showing negative toe or toe out; front of the tire away from the center line of the vehicle. Again, this would indicate excessive wear on the inside edge of the DS tire.

Also your picture of the steering wheel has you holding to the left in order to track straight. Again, this would indicate excessive wear on the inside of front DS tire.

How are the joints/bushings on your track bar? Are you running an aftermarket/adjustable track bar? Are you still running factory control arms? If any of the bushings/joints on these items are worn or failing, as the front suspension gets under a load, like when you are driving, the problems will be amplified.

I don't know if I answered any questions, maybe only added to the confusion. So yes, replacing the ball joints should return caster to a more neutral position. No, negative caster should not cause excessive wear on the outside edge of the front DS tire.

Oh yeah, I would pay the $125 and have someone that knows about alignment on lifted vehicles work on your rig.

 

Yes its still lifted, I am running the factory track bar, havent checked bushings. Factory control arms. I'm going to take it to the 4x4 shop on Saturday and have it checked out. It's weird that everything leans towards the inside of the tire wearing but its the outside that is lol

 

So the 4x4 shop quoted me 726 to replace the 4 ball joints but they can't do it during the week and I can't take off from work for this.

 

Any mechanic can do this for you, don't limit yourself to 4x4 shop prices. Call around.

 

Balljoints are a snap.
Yes it takes some special tools....rent them at your favorite parts house.

Use the SEARCH button above and you'll find a few write-up's here on how to do it.

Get your balljoints right here.

 

I once paid over 900 for new balljoints on my Ranger with IFS. Never again. They look easy enough to do on the Cherokee D30. If you know that they are bad, definitely start with replacing those first. After you get your money back from the first shop!

 

Thats because you replace the whole control arm and not just the ball joint on those. Yeah, its a stupid design.