D30 Refresh list

My passenger side ball joints are toast, as shown by the off-camber wear pattern on my passenger front tire that showed up in the last year.

I've never replaced those before, but looking at youtube it looks pretty straightforward.

Unfortunately for my bank account, I'm watching these videos and thinking "Hey, this would be a good time to do the brakes...and the hubs...and the axle seals....and the tie rod ends...."

I'm pretty sure it's all original, and I've got 215k on it.

So what all should I really do while I'm in there? I should also add that sometimes but not always I get this weird sensation at full lock that my wheels are hobbling. It's kind of hard to describe, but they feel like they're ovals instead of circles.

U joints are toast.

While the shafts are out to do the ball joints, you might as well replace the u-joints. Spicer parts are preferred for both ball joints & u-joints and less expensive than some of the poorer quality alternatives. It can take a lot of persuasion to get the unit bearings (hubs) out because they tend to rust in place. I like to coat the mating surfaces with anti-seize so its easy to remove them later for any other work. Axle seals require pulling the shafts and unit bearings, but also pulling the differential out of the axle... I'd say brakes and steering are separate jobs because they only require pulling the tires off, but go at it if you want...

I did the same job last year. My unit bearings were seized in solid. Set up a puller to put some tension on them then went to town with a BFH. One came out the other came out in several pieces. Spray everything liberally with penetrating fluid and get yourself a small mapp torch.

How convenient, I was going to be posting this exact same thread :laugh: I've got a loud grinding/rubbing noise when turning the wheel ~60deg from 0 in either direction - using a digital stethoscope the noise seems crispest/clearest on the upper pass. balljoint.

RockAuto lists a Spicer 706944X for "Front" and a 706944 for a "Front, Reverse Rotation; 27 Spline". Which is the correct application for a 1988 HP D30?

Is that THE Royal Nonesuch?

Royal Nonesuch said:

How convenient, I was going to be posting this exact same thread :laugh: I've got a loud grinding/rubbing noise when turning the wheel ~60deg from 0 in either direction - using a digital stethoscope the noise seems crispest/clearest on the upper pass. balljoint.

RockAuto lists a Spicer 706944X for "Front" and a 706944 for a "Front, Reverse Rotation; 27 Spline". Which is the correct application for a 1988 HP D30?

Click to expand...

Your High Pinion D30 should take the reverse rotation set.
This is in assumption due to the Ring and Pinion being reverse cut.

wizardPC said:

Is that THE Royal Nonesuch?

Click to expand...

Aye :cheers:

91Heep said:

Your High Pinion D30 should take the reverse rotation set.
This is in assumption due to the Ring and Pinion being reverse cut.

Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, but started overthinking how the cut on the ring/pinion could possibly affect the orientation of the balljoint. I suppose the two part numbers would be more of a axle mfg. date changeover hence the reverse-cut specification?

I did find this thread about CJ/YJ HP D30s which seems to suggest the DS 706944/X are at least backwards compatible.