Ball joints ????

kamakazi bush bum · May 1, 2013

Hey guys! Hoping u all could help me out. I've done a bunch of searchs and have come up almost empty

Is there a ball joint size differance between pre '89 D30s and '90 and up? Cause I bought a used d30 off a local board that came with new upper and lower ball joints still in the boxs. So I got them pressed in and now my steering knuckles won't go on. I was told that it was a '98 axle but he got it from a guy and never used it soooo u know how that goes

I'm wondering if the ball joints might be for another vehicle or earlier xj. I just don't know though so any help would be appreciated

thanks oh ya I can find new steering knuckles for sale that are for '90 and up that's why I'm wondering about stud size difference.

Vanimal · May 1, 2013

should be the same. i know my pre 89 ball joints worked on my 91 knuckles. maybe you have jk/wj ball joints.

joe_peters · May 2, 2013

Ball joints--upper and lower--are 1984 to 2001.

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

Cool thanks for the info

I wonder why my knuckles won't fit :/ grrr the joys of buying used stuff

kastein · May 3, 2013

Got any pictures? I don't know how it wouldn't fit.

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

kastein said:
Got any pictures? I don't know how it wouldn't fit.

Sorry no pics yet. It seems to be the upper ball joint that doesn't work. I just took some measurements and the new ones shaft is 2" long the one still on my xj is only 1 3/4" long. The tapper doesn't match the tappered hole in my steering knuckle either that's why it won't fit. There is about a 16th of an inch difference. I'm wondering if the ball joints were for a tj, yj, wj or jk with a hp d30

kastein · May 3, 2013

Well the TJ never had an HP d30 (it had an LP one) and HP vs LP doesn't matter for balljoints or steering parts, so you can cross that off. Also, the WJ upper balljoint is the same as the XJ/YJ/TJ one AFAIK, it's the lower that is different, so that's not it.

The taper being wrong is the part that worries me, that's rather odd. Does the passenger knuckle have a single steering arm on it, or are there two steering arms on it?

rockclimber · May 3, 2013

they could be either JK or CJ balljoints.

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

kastein said:
Well the TJ never had an HP d30 (it had an LP one) and HP vs LP doesn't matter for balljoints or steering parts, so you can cross that off. Also, the WJ upper balljoint is the same as the XJ/YJ/TJ one AFAIK, it's the lower that is different, so that's not it.

The taper being wrong is the part that worries me, that's rather odd. Does the passenger knuckle have a single steering arm on it, or are there two steering arms on it?

Thanks for clearing that up

it only has one steering arm. I just took some pics ill try and upload them

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

Mine

New stuff

Look how much longer it is and it's not even on all the way but that's as far as it will go

kastein · May 3, 2013

Can you do some closeups of where the taper goes into and comes out of the knuckle in that last pic? basically from above and below.

Have you tried pushing up harder? The upper balljoint is just a locating pin on XJ axles, it isn't an actual ball. The stud will slide in and out of the balljoint socket a bit without issue.

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

I swivelled the bottom joint over and it will except the steering knuckle :|

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

I just try using a dead blow hammer to make it go back in an it didn't budge. Here's some more pics.

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

I'm wondering if I should slowly tighten the large lower nut and see if it will help push the upper joint into the ball???

kamakazi bush bum · May 3, 2013

Or do I have the wrong knuckles??? Used parts right! Maybe they mixed some parts up. The knuckles look the same as the ones on my 99xj though

Runnin'OnEmpty · May 3, 2013

Something is wrong. There should be no need to
force it; my guess is that the ball joints are for the
wrong application.

rockclimber · May 3, 2013

is there enough thread on the top balljoint exposed to tighten it to the taper and have the cotter pin through the nut?

Talyn · May 3, 2013

What brand are those joints? There are some crappy aftermarket joints that fit like that. I wouldn't run them though.

kamakazi bush bum · May 4, 2013

rockclimber said:
is there enough thread on the top balljoint exposed to tighten it to the taper and have the cotter pin through the nut?

In the third pic. It shows how far I can get the knuckle on. When I put the castle nut on with it like this the nut spins way past the cotter pin hole. So it's way to long or needs to be pushed up but I tried that and it didn't seem to move

kamakazi bush bum · May 4, 2013

Talyn said:
What brand are those joints? There are some crappy aftermarket joints that fit like that. I wouldn't run them though.

Can't remember the brand name on the box but I do remember them saying OEM on the box

Ball joints ????

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