Am I doing this ball joint check right??

[mfrost]

With all of the talk about ball joints going bad I decided to check them out since I have 35,500 miles on her. I tried several different ways but couldn't get . 060" play out of them. This what I did. Let me know if I was missing something.



By the book trying to push and pull tire.

Top----. 015"

Bottom ---. 0"



By the book setting dial indicator at . 0 with wheel off ground then letting full weight (normal) weight of truck on tire.

Top -- . 022"

bottom ---. 009"



Each side were within a few thousands of each other.



With the bar method I got about . 010"



Tried to post some pictures but they were too big even after I resized them will try to get them smaller and post



Has anyone put zerks in these ball joints? How thick is the top? Have put them is VW ball joints and of course they are pretty thin.

 

[RDyson]

Jack it up untill the tire is about 3" off of the ground. Put a bar or 2x4 under the tire and try to push the tire up. If it moves vertically, there bad. I had 1/4" of play on mine at 25K. Service mgr said any movement means that they are bad.

That was 2 years ago. I think they have changed their tune and are allowing some amount of movement now. I think they got tired of replacing so many.



Mine are bad again. But since this time it's on me, I'll let them go a while. Do a search. There are quite a few threads on bad ball joints.



Randy

 

[JVolpe]

I had a 4 wheel drive shop and the dealer check mine and both determined they were all in the . 020 range(. 016 - . 022 ). That was around 50,000 miles, so I just have to check them before my 7/70 extended warranty expires and see where they are. Dealer says they will be covered under my extended warranty.

 

[CarlsonR]

I have not added zerks but I do use the same hypodermic needle adaptor on my grease gun that I use to lube the front drv shaft, and just inject grease into them through the rubber boot until they start swelling. Once you retract the needle a small amount will ooze out.

 

[mfrost]

Took it to the shop and they said they couldn't get any movement out of them. When I asked the mechanic how they did it he said he tried to move the tire in and out. When asked if he tried to bar it up under the tire he said no but you could do that also. At that time I could tell that he was getting upset with me challenging him. :-{}

 

[mfrost]

I have not added zerks but I do use the same hypodermic needle adaptor on my grease gun that I use to lube the front drv shaft, and just inject grease into them through the rubber boot until they start swelling. Once you retract the needle a small amount will ooze out.

Thanks for the idea. What type of grease do you use? How many miles do you have on your BJs?

 

[RDyson]

Yea, repair shops just hate informed owners. :-laf



That's one good thing about this site. We can do research before we take it in. When I first took mine in for the balljoint issue, I told the serv. mgr that i had read about it on here. He just nodded and said, alright we'll see what we can do. They replaced all four of mine.

 

[steved]

Jack it up untill the tire is about 3" off of the ground. Put a bar or 2x4 under the tire and try to push the tire up. If it moves vertically, there bad. I had 1/4" of play on mine at 25K. Service mgr said any movement means that they are bad.

That was 2 years ago. I think they have changed their tune and are allowing some amount of movement now. I think they got tired of replacing so many.



Mine are bad again. But since this time it's on me, I'll let them go a while. Do a search. There are quite a few threads on bad ball joints.



Randy

According to what I have read, vertical movement in the AAMs is acceptable, horizontal movement isn't... they are different than the previous Dana axles...



The readings posted seem well within dodge specs to me... I believe they allow 0. 25" in and out before considering them bad IIRC... and to me that seems excessively bad for a balljoint...



steved

 

[DPKetchum]

Recall out on Jeep Libertys for ball joints.

 

[GaryCarter]

A quick look at the service manual for the '05 shows a procedure to use a dial indicator to measure movement while prying both directions on the knuckle. Add the both directions motions together to get the total movement in the joint.



Bottom ball joint tolerance 0. 090 maximum, and this is measured vertically (pry down then up).



Top ball joint tolerance is 0. 060 measure side to side, first by pushing top of tire inward, next by pulling out.



Gary

 

[MChildress]

I'v always done the needle through the boot to get grease in the ball joints about once a year or 15,000 to 20,000 miles. Both my Ford Powerstrokes are still tight with original ball joints at 170,000 and 180,000 miles. The needle I use is like a syringe needle made for a grease gun.

 

[JVolpe]

A quick look at the service manual for the '05 shows a procedure to use a dial indicator to measure movement while prying both directions on the knuckle. Add the both directions motions together to get the total movement in the joint.



Bottom ball joint tolerance 0. 090 maximum, and this is measured vertically (pry down then up).



Top ball joint tolerance is 0. 060 measure side to side, first by pushing top of tire inward, next by pulling out.



Gary

That is the testing the dealer did and the tolerance they quoted acceptable before replacement.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I'v always done the needle through the boot to get grease in the ball joints about once a year or 15,000 to 20,000 miles. Both my Ford Powerstrokes are still tight with original ball joints at 170,000 and 180,000 miles. The needle I use is like a syringe needle made for a grease gun.

YUP - I do the same thing on all steering joints:



#ad




NAPA, for one, sells the hypodermic grease adapters - 45K miles on my '02, steering as tight as new so far...



#ad

 

[mfrost]

Took it to the shop and they said they couldn't get any movement out of them. When I asked the mechanic how they did it he said he tried to move the tire in and out. When asked if he tried to bar it up under the tire he said no but you could do that also. At that time I could tell that he was getting upset with me challenging him. :-{}

Well to follow up on this I called a 4x4 tire and alignment place and they said there shouldn't be any play when barred up. Then I called another Dodge dealer and they said that if you squeezed the ball joint with pliers and get more that . 010" they need to be replaced. Never heard of the squeezing thing. Must do that with the tire off or have some might big pliers. I'm going to that place.



As it's been said many time on TDR, its different at every dealer.

 

[mfrost]

YUP - I do the same thing on all steering joints:



#ad




NAPA, for one, sells the hypodermic grease adapters - 45K miles on my '02, steering as tight as new so far...



#ad

I will definately use this if I get new BJs or start using them on the old ones. Thanks for the information.