Worn Out Tie Rod Ends and Ball Joints

They get religiously rotated every oil change. I cross the fronts to the rear, and roll the rears straight forward. I can't afford to wear these puppies down any faster than they naturally will. I love the tire, but the price tag of new 33's is a tough one to swallow.
 
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Don't be afraid to tell the tire balance shop you need them to spend enough time to get them perfectly balanced. The bigger the tire the more important it is. I sometimes tell the guy who will be doing the actual balance an extra tip is guaranteed if he gets it perfect the first time and I don't have to come back.
 
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Don't be afraid to tell the tire balance shop you need them to spend enough time to get them perfectly balanced. The bigger the tire the more important it is. I sometimes tell the guy who will be doing the actual balance an extra tip is guaranteed if he gets it perfect the first time.
Absolutely. When I first had these balanced, I brought them back to the shop the next day and asked to have them rebalanced. They told me they had gotten them "pretty close" and that I just needed to let the lift and tires settle in. Well just about the time I looked that guy straight in the eye and said in a calm and respectful way that that "close" isn't good enough for me, the owner recognized my jeep and had the mechanic rebalance them right then and there until they were perfect. I've since built a relationship with that shop and they know I'm willing to pay for their service as long as they continue to meet that standard. Perk of living in a small town.

Unfortunately, that shop is in my hometown. So I'm hoping that the local goodyear shop will be able to balance a goodyear tire the right way. There's also a Sears in town if they have a good reputation of balancing mud tires.
 
For my own knowledge and anyone else reading through this, how much weight on a tire is too much for a 33" MTR? I want to have it done right and make sure to ask them to rotate the tire on the wheel to get a better balance with less weight, but I have no idea of what the general upper limit of that should be.
 
Also, is it possible to balance these MTR's with weights only on the inside? I'd prefer none to be on the outside where they could get ripped off by stuff on the trail.
 
More than 5oz is a lot. They can use clip on weights on the inside Rim and stick on' s for the inside front edge without sticking any on the outside.
 
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More than 5oz is a lot. They can use clip on weights on the inside Rim and stick on' s for the inside front edge without sticking any on the outside.
Gotcha. I only have the sticky weights now. And I thought I remembered reading somewhere that sticky weights should be enough. I also realize I live in mississippi, but my wheels get rubbed on the side of ruts a lot here, and I also like to go to other states that actually have rocks to go wheelin.

Just wanted to confirm so I could be confident telling them I don't want weights on the outside.
 
I have been having the tire shops use stick-on weights placed on the inside of the wheel for probably 15 years now. Ever since I learned that the clip-on weights were being scraped off by rocks etc. while offroading.
 
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Once again, @Jerry was right about getting the tires balanced. Frame side of my trackbar was also a little loose and the shop tightened that and checked my ball joints while the jeep was off the ground. They said it all looks good. Steering is much tighter and hasn't wobbled yet after a 20 minute test drive.
 
Yep, not surprising. Seems like tires is something that people really overlook when it comes to vibrations. I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% of all the vibrations (if not more) that people are experiencing are due to tires.
 
Yep, not surprising. Seems like tires is something that people really overlook when it comes to vibrations. I'd be willing to bet that at least 50% of all the vibrations (if not more) that people are experiencing are due to tires.
That's right. After having a small handful of problems with my Jeep lately, I now see how easy it is to overlook the obvious things. Glad that Jerry and @bobthetj03 saved me from buying ~$300 worth of ball joints, tire rod ends, and ball joint press.