Bad Camber and tire issues, help please

[LilRedRover]

Well my wife and I went house hunting today and I parked up the street from one of the ones we were looking at. Walking back to the heep I noticed the top of the tires was leaning in 1/2 or so more than the bottom.... kinda like this

01110
/------\

I know it's camber, but what causes that. Is it the tie rod needing adjusted? Could it be the ball joints failing. I noticed that the outside of my tires are also eaten up pretty badly. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, so I hadn't noticed them being eaten until today. Could both these issues be caused by the same thing. Help please.

[mack]

ball joints or hubs.

[beckXJ]

01110
/------\


Dude, that takes skill.

[LilRedRover]

ball joints or hubs.

I just changed my hub assemblies last month, could this be caused by the spindle nuts not being tight enough... we tightened them to 105 ft/lbs as the specs say, but could that be it? I was thinking ball joints too though.

[mack]

then i would check the ball joint, just it up, put a big prybar under the tire and lift, it should have no play in the joint.

[MrShoeBoy]

If the balljoints are good and the hubs are good then you may have bent the inner knuckles or the housing itself. Ever jumped your XJ? :D

AARON

[LilRedRover]

If the balljoints are good and the hubs are good then you may have bent the inner knuckles or the housing itself. Ever jumped your XJ? :D

AARON

nope, never jumped it... in fact never even had both front tires off the ground at the same time

[kubtastic]

I just changed my hub assemblies last month, could this be caused by the spindle nuts not being tight enough... we tightened them to 105 ft/lbs as the specs say, but could that be it? I was thinking ball joints too though.

175 ft-lbs for the hub
75 ft-lbs for the 3 on the back of the knuckle

[RCP Phx]

If you had a camber problem as you pictured,your tires would be worn on the inside.Ive seen the same thing many times,get the vehicle on some good level ground and check it agian.Caster and toe has alot to do with the look of it also.

[LilRedRover]

175 ft-lbs for the hub
75 ft-lbs for the 3 on the back of the knuckle

according to the manual I have the 97-01 is supposed to be 105 ft/lbs and the older are supposed to be 175 ft/lbs... can anyone confirm or deny this?

[LilRedRover]

anybody?

[mack]

i'm sure your right, what is your caster set at?

[LilRedRover]

i'm sure your right, what is your caster set at?

don't know... I am getting RE 5.5 UCA and LCA, they should be on the way. It's not going to move a whole lot until I get them on. Right now I mix matched upper and lowers so I am wondering if that is a problem, so I got a matching set from someone on here selling them.

[kubtastic]

anybody?

the infamous 2000 FSM says 175 ft-lbs. Every other jeep I could find says 175 ft-lbs (older ZJ's, '03 TJ specs, etc.)

[kubtastic]

don't know... I am getting RE 5.5 UCA and LCA, they should be on the way. It's not going to move a whole lot until I get them on. Right now I mix matched upper and lowers so I am wondering if that is a problem, so I got a matching set from someone on here selling them.

Examine where the zerk is on the top ball-joint. If there is an off-center appearance, you have an offset ball-joint meant to add caster - and if it has rotated due to wear and tear, then you've just given yourself a whole lot of camber instead. Lowers aren't offset (I don't think) so just check the top.

edit:
come to think of it, a bad upper ball joint will cause the tires to open up at top \-----/ not at the bottom as you described /-----\

[jonbob]

How much backspacing is on your wheels?

[ChiXJeff]

according to the manual I have the 97-01 is supposed to be 105 ft/lbs and the older are supposed to be 175 ft/lbs... can anyone confirm or deny this?

97-01? If that's anything other than the D/C Factory Service Manual (read: Chilton's, Haynes, etc.) do *NOT* believe it.

It's pretty easy to ruin a hub by not getting enough preload on it.