American Iron Offroad Balljoint Deletes

I've lost track, so please excuse the question, but what's the goal of the balljoint deletes? Is it just to extend service life?

Some claim that by using a spherical bearings and make it like a king pin you can run 37s on your 44. All the JK kids are doing it.
 
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Some claim that by using a spherical bearings and make it like a king pin you can run 37s on your 44. All the JK kids are doing it.

On the same Dana 30 inners where the yokes can stretch before the actual ball joint fails?
 
Just a thought, could be done with some care and add some caster while at it.

You mean cut off the inner C's from the tube? That's different and more plausible. Do we want to retain the outer knuckles?
 
(sarcasm on)Must have forgotten to add knuckle gussets.(sarcasm off)

I'm just highlighting the flaw in the overall plan.

Sorry I’m confused you we talking about axles, I was thinking of replacing the c’s with something with a stronger ball joint.

The BJ yokes that can stretch are stuck to the axle. 😉
 
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When I ran 37's, it was every 6k miles.

Ya that was similar for me, I should’ve stated miles not years. Spicer went bad fast. Rare parts has lasted 8k. Little bit of movement now but no wobbles. I have some deletes to try next.
 
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So from what I'm hearing, these aren't going to last long on 37s. That makes sense as a TJ axle isn't up for 37s due to many other factors.

I'm on 35s and have busted Spicer BJs before. Will these BJ delete's offer more strength? I like that I can perform a repair on the trail without a BJ press.

Let's say you go on a week long wheeling trip and you want to have as many spare parts at least back at the tow rig. These seem to allow you to replace a broken joint while not having to carry a BJ press in the rig when I wheel. That might be worth the price, it may not be. hat's what I'm trying to gather if that makes sense.
 
I'm on 35s and have busted Spicer BJs before.
Is your TJ getting air on your trails? As in have you ever jumped your TJ? I've been wheeling a TJ since 1996, been on a LOT of trails with many that many could consider "extreme" and I have yet to see a broken ball joint with 35" or smaller tires.
 
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Is your TJ getting air on your trails? As in have you ever jumped your TJ? I've been wheeling a TJ since 1996, been on a LOT of trails with many that many could consider "extreme" and I have yet to see a broken ball joint with 35" or smaller tires.

No catching air, just trying to climb up a steepish rock face after a long day on the trails. I don't think I had any bouncing either:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/sj’s-tj.16571/post-923026

Those are pictures from that trip. Nothing out of the ordinary outside of hard PA trails.
 
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Was that initially a ball joint failure, or did the u joint break apart and take out the ball joints?

That is a great question. I'm not sure really. However, I break the short side every now and then and the ball joints haven't failed on that side.
 
That is a great question. I'm not sure really. However, I break the short side every now and then and the ball joints haven't failed on that side.

I ask only because my understanding of how things tend to break in there is that the axle shaft stretches and breaks apart the u joint. After that, the two halves of the shaft misalign and rip apart the ball joints.

I have seen this happen in front of me twice. And I caught it early on mine when I broke an axle shaft at the u joint a few years ago. The overlapping shaft ends where just starting to push the knuckle down and pull out the lower ball joint with it.

In these instances, the ball joints were not the first thing to go, but were the victim of the broken axle shaft