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Broken Axle= Broken Ball Joint?

J

jrowell

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bakersfield
I lost a u-joint on my D30 (it didn't break, I think I lost a cap) which in turn broke the ear on my Drivers side long shaft. While swapping it on the trail, we noticed that the knuckle had slipped down about 1/4 an inch on the ball joint. After swapping in a spare axle, we put a little weight on it and smacked it a couple times and it reseated. Dove it home and it was fine. Jacked it up and tire does not wobble, so it seems lick the ball joints are tight. They only have about 2000 miles on them. Could the force between to ears grinding together cause the ball joints to sperate like this? Should they have seperated? Is it normal?
thanks for any info,
Jeremy
 
I've seen it where the shafts bind with a broken u-joint and actually pop the lower ball joint out of the knuckle. I'd double check everything to be sure nothing was broken...especially the upper ball joint as it would have been pulled apart somewhat if the lower was pushed down 1/4" as you say.
 
Bender said:
...especially the upper ball joint as it would have been pulled apart somewhat if the lower was pushed down 1/4" as you say.
Click to expand...

Yea, both upper & lower were "gapped" like 1/4", if that makes sense. with a little effort, they reseated. I looked them over, there does not seem to be any crackes or broken metal.

That's my guess, the binding of the broken axle forced the ball joints to unseat. If they are tight and there is no play, should I be good to go?
 
it's certainly possible. Sgt Mack had the drivers side of his axle just about destroyed when his U-Joint let go. I think the total carnage for that was both balljoints and the knuckle.
 
By the way, I was on flat ground going very slow when I heard sounds that just weren't right. I hardly moved 5 feet. I'm guessing a u-joint cap came off. stub ears are good.
 
The problem is both ball joints don't press in the same way...the lower goes in from the bottom and the upper from the top so for your entire steering knuckle to drop down 1/4" the lower would have to pull out of the ear and the upper ball joint would have to move inside itself since there is no way for it to slip out of the ear in a downwards direction. It's possible there is no permanent damage but I'd keep a close eye on it.
 
I sounds to me like the ball joints were not installed properly and thats what caused the U-Joint to fail, got to be some keepers/c-clips missing in the ball joints.
On second thought I can see where that could happen.

d-30.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've seen that happen twice now. both times we hammered them back together on the trail. The first, he drove home on and has the jeep parked there to replace them later. The second broke again a couple of hours later.

A broken balljoint on the trail or on the road is a big pain in the ass. I'd replace them, and keep the ones you pull off for trail spares.
 
langer1 said:
I sounds to me like the ball joints were not installed properly and thats what caused the U-Joint to fail, got to be some keepers/c-clips missing in the ball joints.
On second thought I can see where that could happen.

d-30.jpg
Click to expand...

Maybe, but they have been in about two years now, and I've run a lot of trails on them, but I did expect to get more then a couple thousand miles out of them!

I've never seen one apart, so I don't know about the keepers and such. I didn't think it was normal for that to happen... I just want to make sure before I brake into this front end and change it when I might not need to.
 
it happens when you bust a ujoint, and the ears for the inner shaft contact the ears for the stub shaft. As they clearly cannot fit in the same space, one gets forced 'down'. when its the stub shaft, it pushes the outer knuckle down with it, seperating the balljoints. Its entirly possible you could wheel out the remainder of your jeeps life on them after that, but $70 in parts isnt worth wheeling on something that you know is damaged .. or driving on the highway on them.
 
jrowell said:
1.Could the force between to ears grinding together cause the ball joints to sperate like this?
2.Should they have seperated?
3.Is it normal?
Click to expand...

1. yes, it's common
2. not under normal operation, but when you break the ears on the shafts, the ball joints on that side should probably be replaced now
3. when you break shafts, it can be

HTH
 
I would, if spicer wasnt on national backorder, making me buy moog from the local parts house ;)
 
This should more or less explain it to everyone who's questioning.

Look, and then replace the balljoints. :)

balljoint2.jpg
 
cal said:
This should more or less explain it to everyone who's questioning.

Look, and then replace the balljoints. :)

balljoint2.jpg
Click to expand...
That is exactly what happened. thanks for the pic! I will replace them.
Thanks for answering my questions.

Jeremy
 
the u-joints? a hammer and a couple sockets.

the balljoints require some special cups and a balljoint press. You can find a writeup on it here easily enough, or backchannel me and i'll write something up for you, with urls on where to buy the tools.
 
jrowell said:
Yea, Ball-Joints... That's what i meant. I'll look for a write up, if I need more info I'll Back channel you...
Thanks a TON

Jeremy
Click to expand...


Every problem addressed here is one less we need to address on the trail later. ;)
 
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