I jacked up my Jeep under the front axle. I stuck a pry bar under the tire and I’m getting quite a lot of up/down movement on both sides. Noticeably more on the passenger side. .090” pass .035” driver. Visible movement with a noticeable clunk when going up/down.
So I’m thinking “Great! I found my wobble/shimmy/vibration problem!”
I did a little research online before I decide to order new ball joints and it looks like that is NOT the sign of a bad ball joint. Then I see there are different types of ball joints- loaded and unloaded. Now I’m confused.
What is the proper way to check for bad ball joints? I saw a thread where Mr. Blaine checks the upper joint for lateral play and replaces both upper and lower if the upper has lateral play? Am I understanding that correctly?
I put a dial indicator on the edge of the rim at the top 12 oclock position and I’m getting about .060” lateral play on the passenger side and .040” on the driver side when I push/pull the top of the tire with the ball joints unloaded/axle jacked up/tire off the ground. No visible movement to the naked eye though and no clunking, unlike the up/down movement.
Is that the acceptable way to check the ball joints? If not, how do you do it? What, if any lateral play is acceptable? I suppose it could be the wheel bearings, or rim deflection contributing to the lateral play they way I tested it so I haven’t necessarily isolated the ball joint as the sole factor using that method. Maybe stick the indicator on the inside of the knuckle?
So I’m thinking “Great! I found my wobble/shimmy/vibration problem!”
I did a little research online before I decide to order new ball joints and it looks like that is NOT the sign of a bad ball joint. Then I see there are different types of ball joints- loaded and unloaded. Now I’m confused.
What is the proper way to check for bad ball joints? I saw a thread where Mr. Blaine checks the upper joint for lateral play and replaces both upper and lower if the upper has lateral play? Am I understanding that correctly?
I put a dial indicator on the edge of the rim at the top 12 oclock position and I’m getting about .060” lateral play on the passenger side and .040” on the driver side when I push/pull the top of the tire with the ball joints unloaded/axle jacked up/tire off the ground. No visible movement to the naked eye though and no clunking, unlike the up/down movement.
Is that the acceptable way to check the ball joints? If not, how do you do it? What, if any lateral play is acceptable? I suppose it could be the wheel bearings, or rim deflection contributing to the lateral play they way I tested it so I haven’t necessarily isolated the ball joint as the sole factor using that method. Maybe stick the indicator on the inside of the knuckle?