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Has anyone replaced their own upper and lower ball joints?

F

FleXJ96

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Chuluota
I am getting quoted about 5 hrs for this job @ average of $70 plus parts. 3 shops were almost $500. Is it really that hard?!? I need it bad, my tires are leaning in like my old lowrider, but damn I hate to spend that much on non modded maintenence! ANyone have any insight on the job? thanks
 
I did all 4 of mine several years ago without air tools in around 4 hours. Most of the expense in this job is labor.
 
I'm with ChiXJeff. I did all four of mine (actually 8...because I took four good ones from a bent axle and replaced 4 bad ones in a straight axle) in a couple hours with a rented press from Advance Auto Parts and some air tools.

Last time I had them done and didn't do them myself, I had a shop press the old ones out and the new ones in for $100. I supplied the ball joints myself.
 
Guess I will be a Debbie Downer....Mine were a pain in the ass to change. Had to heat them up with a torch and tap the knuckles with a hammer to get the old ones to pop out and the new uppers were sort of a pain to put in. Might have been easier if I had the right tools instead of the cheap press I was using. You can find presses with fittings that are cherokee specific but they are pricey. There are threads on here about the tools if I remember right.

I would do it myself again, but only because I coated the new one with antisieze before I pressed em in.
 
I did all four of mine by myself also. I know my way around cars but had never replaced ball joints before. I just rented the tool from autozone cause they just have a deposit and you can keep for as long as you want then just return for all your deposit back. Basically in the end its free!
 
For the price quoted you could stake yourself to some pretty nice tools. Buy or rent the right tools for the job, save yourself a bundle. I wouldn't try it with a cheap Chinese press, though. Either buy or rent a good press, and try to get the right adapters if you don't have a shop full of scraps and the ability to cut them to order. I did a couple some years ago, with a good K-D press and home-made adapters, and it went fine.
 
nope, never its impossible




actually... i did mine by myself in a day with a press and hand tools. job sucks but can be done
 
I recommend Spicer ball joints, I have had great luck with them.

If you have some general mechanical knowledge this isn't a bad job at all. Just rent a ball joint press from Advance Auto or Oriellys, read the procedure a few times then dive in. I recommend the "two hammer" method for removing the knuckles, it makes that PITA a relatively painless process.
 
I have done my own with a proper press three times, with a harbor freight press once, and with a 3lb sledge and a chisel once. The last set was on the trail with no spares on hand except a used set I happened to have with me.

In no case did it take longer than two hours to do each side. With proper tools (good press, press adapters, 3lb sledge, 12pt 13mm or 1/2" socket, breaker bar, etc) it takes about an hour, if that. Hell, it took an hour to get it back together on the trail, and about 2 to redo it mostly-properly when we got back to camp.

I live in the rust belt and have never had to use more than one hand on the wrench tightening the press since I use the hand sledge trick - crank the press down till it feels pretty tight, then tap the side of the inner C where the balljoint is pressed in and it'll 'pop' loose. Rinse, lather, repeat.
 
Note from DJ
This is some of the posts I have saved
Ball joints site naxja.org
Replacing ball joints site naxja.org
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1032432
I found a good write up here: http://jeephorizons.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9287.
Will this help?
http://jeephorizons.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9287
------------------
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=938422
Post # 7 by WB9YZU
1st, make sure you have them in right.

Top one goes in from the top and points down.
Bottom one goes in from the bottom and points down.
The flanges should be flush with the inner knuckle.

Put the boots on, align the outer knuckle, and hold it up with some pressure from a floor jack. The tapered pins of the ball joints, fit into the tapered holed in the knuckle.
Install the nuts. These should spin on easily. If the bolt side spins, add more upward pressure to get the tapers to seat.

If you get a case where you absolutely cannot get the tapers to seat, you likely have a wallowed out knuckle. On some XJs, there is a tapered insert you can replace and it comes with the ball joint. But IIRC, it is only for the lower.
 
I did mine recently and have a mild case of PTSD....I used a harbor freight press and the bottom ones just would not come out, top ones were not too bad. I ended up using a die grinder and air chisel to get the bottom ones out. That being said, my Jeep is a frequent flyer on the beach, so maybe that had something to do with it?
 
I would do it myself but I have the tools to do them. Make sure you have a 30mm deep impact socket for the axle nut. That is going to be the hardest part of the job if you don't have air tools. I had to use a 3/4" drive 48" railroad bar to get mine to break it loose that was after breaking three 36" 1/2" drive bars and one chrome socket. I dunno if anyone ever had it off and way over torqued it but it was the most frustrating and painful thing I have ever had to do to any vehicle. Just use plenty of antiseize when putting it back together
 
36mm for the axle nut, not 30mm.
 
1985xjlaredo said:
I would do it myself but I have the tools to do them. Make sure you have a 30mm deep impact socket for the axle nut. That is going to be the hardest part of the job if you don't have air tools. I had to use a 3/4" drive 48" railroad bar to get mine to break it loose that was after breaking three 36" 1/2" drive bars and one chrome socket. I dunno if anyone ever had it off and way over torqued it but it was the most frustrating and painful thing I have ever had to do to any vehicle. Just use plenty of antiseize when putting it back together
Click to expand...

Why not remove the 3 bolts that hold the unit bearing assembly in place, and just pull out the whole unit bearing / axle shaft assembly out as a single unit....lot less work.
 
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