Batman33165

hey guys...


I need to pick some brains, I tried to get my jeep aligned today and they told they couldn't because I needed adjustable ball joints.


Does that sound right?


If that does sound right can anyone point me to a website or a place that might help.


THANKS!!!

jbsjunk

Anything is possible. Any specs of what they had to work with? It could be worn bearings or bent housing.

Batman33165

bearings??? the hub...


a bent housing... everything looks fine, how can I check for that?


what do you mean by specs?

Batman33165

the people at the shop told me I needed to purchase a ball joint kit... but there talking over $500, I could put the ball joints in them myself. And then pay for an alignment

aka"dude"

Why? What was out of spec that they felt they needed to adjust? the only thing that a offset ball joint would be needed to adjust would be camber, caster is better set with adjustable control arms. The XJ is allot closer to a Farmall than a Ferrari. Sounds like your getting taken for a ride.

aka"dude"

also lack of caster will cause your jeep to wonder if that's the issue you are trying to resolve.

toasterknight

I would want to see the numbers. My camber is -.4 degree on the passenger side and -.8 degree on the driver I bit a 3 inch tree at 40mph on that side. Short of bending the entire housing I don't think it's bad enough to worry about unless your numbers are way out. My driver side is borderline to much negative. You can see the wear over the life of the tire.

Bugout4x4

I found this was the problem with ours. Both upper Quadlink bushings are shot at the housing and they were hard to see because of the rock shield.

SeriousOffroad

Take it to another shop and don't leave without a print-out of the alignment.

madmanmarty

Yep.

Fred/N0AZZ

Yup This doesn't pass the smell test very well but...........

autosurgeon

You guys are overly paranoid most solid axle vehicles with over 100000 miles need offset ball joints on one side or the other to get CAMBER corrected. If stock ride hight CASTER is handled by moving the lower control arms in the uniframe bracket. A printout would be nice but don't assume they are taking you for a ride. Ball joints likely pay a couple hours per side plus parts. Depending on labor rate 80 to 90 in my neck of the woods 500.00 isn't bad.

Batman33165

alright cool thanks guys... I will take it somewhere else on Monday, appreciate it!!!