Ball Joints

[hole]

The axle shafts are held in with snap rings inside the hub assembly IIRC, Once the hub is off you pull the spindle and the shafts should pull right out. Inside the hub (and spindle too} is where you may find your bearings need replacing after clean up, or not and just repack with new grease and re-assemble. The seal at the back of the hub will need to be replaced if you do completely disassemble the hub, but I've seen plenty of guys be lazy and just pull the hub and re-install it without fully taking it apart to clean and check the bearings because their mindset is they didnt hear any noises, so the bearings are just fine.

 

[jp360cj]

So, is it agreed that you have to pull the axles to replace the ball joints?

I'll be changing mine very soon...

Also, what bearings/seals are we talking about as far as being exposed when pulling the axels and maybe needing replacing?

What is involved in pulled the axles? Does anything in the differential/pinion need to be removed/loosened to pull the axles?

thanks.

Yes, you have to pull the axle shafts to change the ball joints. You don't have to do anything inside the differential to remove the shafts. You'll remove Tires, brake calipers, hub/rotor, spindle, then shafts just pull out.

Right now I am just planning on replacing my spindle bearings and tie rods at the same time as i do the ball joints. I have no reason to think that the axle bearings have issues right now and I am wary of falling down the rabbit hole ordering parts. I am worried that before i am done I will end up reconditioning my whole front axle just to replace bad ball joints. That is not necessarily a bad idea but not what I am looking to do right now. I have inspection in April so want to get this done before then.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Spindle bearings tend to get neglected much more than the wheel bearings and you have to pull the spindle anyway. And if the TRE's need replacing, might as well while you have to remove them anyway.

I'm not sure what you are referring to as "axle bearings". There are the wheel bearings that go inside the hub and ride on the spindle. These are pretty easy to change later if needed. If you leave the seal on the back of the hub in place, you can reinstall everything. If you want to inspect/repack the inner bearing, you'll need a new seal. As long as they aren't overtightented and stay greased (and you keep water/mud out), the wheel bearings last a long time. If nothing else, you'll be able to fully inspect the outer bearings and get a pretty good feel for the play in the inner bearings when you pull the hub off. Then you can decide if you want to order the bearing and replace later. If you aren't experiencing issues (noise/wobbling wheel) now, they should be fine while you wait for new ones to arrive.

The bearings at the other end of the axle shaft are actually on the carrier (inside the diff) and is a lot more involved in replacing (have to remove the carrier and check gear patter afterwards). Definitely not a MAW (might as well) job while you are doing ball joints. Also, the "axle seals" go inside the diff and you have to remove the diff to replace them. No need to mess with them, just be careful when reinstalling the axle shaft. There are also "spindle seals" that go in the backside of the spindle between the axle shaft and and the spindle. These seals are for the spindle bearings and will need to be replaced since you are replacing the spindle bearings.

 

[Scout1067]

I'm not sure what you are referring to as "axle bearings". There are the wheel bearings that go inside the hub and ride on the spindle.

Sorry, yes I was referencing the wheel bearings. I don't see where I need to take the hub apart. I am giving serious thought to ordering new wheel bearings anyway JIC. Hell, then I would have them down the road if I need them and wouldn't have to wait for them.

The spindle seals I ordered are the SBK-1 from Timken that are supposed to have bearings and the seals in them.

 

[cglax6]

There are also "spindle seals" that go in the backside of the spindle between the axle shaft and and the spindle. These seals are for the spindle bearings and will need to be replaced since you are replacing the spindle bearings.

Scout,

These are the seals I was talking about. If you're careful re-installing the axles in the diff, then you won't have to worry about the diff seals.

Good call on getting the Timken bearings...that's what I use on my CJ.

Also make sure you have the big socket for the nut holding your hub on. A lot of folks will use a screwdriver and bang on it with a hammer to get those nuts off. Watched a couple videos of guys doing it and it made me cringe. When I swapped in disc brakes up front, those nuts were tore to hell from the PO taking a screwdriver to them...I guess he didn't want to spring the $5 for the right tool.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Scout1067]

Scout,

These are the seals I was talking about. If you're careful re-installing the axles in the diff, then you won't have to worry about the diff seals.

Good call on getting the Timken bearings...that's what I use on my CJ.

Also make sure you have the big socket for the nut holding your hub on. A lot of folks will use a screwdriver and bang on it with a hammer to get those nuts off. Watched a couple videos of guys doing it and it made me cringe. When I swapped in disc brakes up front, those nuts were tore to hell from the PO taking a screwdriver to them...I guess he didn't want to spring the $5 for the right tool.

Let us know how it goes.

I will. Parts probably won't be here until mid-March. Depends on how fast the pigeons from the USPS get them to my APO.

 

[Scout1067]

Just a quick update. I was all set to tear my front end apart last Saturday when I realized I did not have all my parts on hand while laying everything out to get started. A planning failure on my part. Now I have to push the ball joint replacement back by two weeks while I wait on the carrier pigeons from the USPS with my parts. My wife is starting to get a little irritated that my room in the basement is filling up with Jeep parts. I had to gently remind her that it is MY room and thus I can fill it up with whatever I want Jeep parts, guns, hunting/camping gear, etc. She was still not happy, LOL.
In bright news, my wife is starting to enjoy working on the Jeep as much as I do, she was asking me the other day about when I plan on doing the dashboard light upgrade since I have all the LEDs now, she is also warming up to the idea of getting a new coat of paint slapped on it and getting my old bumpers blasted and powder-coated.
I have already started hitting the ball joints and tie rod ends with PB blaster daily so hopefully the job will not too super hard.

 

[Scout1067]

Did the ball joints and Tie-rods this past weekend. The ball joints were the definition of not fun to gat out of the knuckle and the new one's in. One side did not have an axle seal in it at all. But now the job is done and I got everything back together no problem. Next up for me is redoing my instrument panel lights with the LED upgrade and replacing my diff covers once the weather warms up a bit more. I am super curious to see what my rear diff looks like since the gears there were a little rusty because of a bad seal when I replaced the oil last fall.

 

[Scout1067]

Here is a question. I tightened the upper and lower nuts according to spec from the manual, 85 ft/lbs jamnut and 100 ft/lbs castle nut and the knuckle is seriously hard to move by hand where previously it was fairly easy. I also notice that it drives slightly different, steering response is stiffer.

Is it possible that the jamnut and castle nuts are too tight even though I tightened them to spec or is this something that will work itself out as i drive a little more?

 

[mtnwhlr]

I think it just needs to be broken in.

 

[Posi]

You torqued them to proper specs
If all the seats were cleaned good (rust removed) before installing the ball joints you should be fine as mtnwhilr suggested.

 

[Scout1067]

You torqued them to proper specs
If all the seats were cleaned good (rust removed) before installing the ball joints you should be fine as mtnwhilr suggested.

I was just curious. It is starting to settle down and feel more less stiff the more I drive.