Can someone explain checking ball joint play....again.

[SoCalCruiser]

I jacked up the front of the GW and put a pry bar under the wheel and pushed it down and looked for play in the ball joint but I didn't see any.

The question is.....Doesn't the upper ball joint keep the lower from moving and vice versa?

There's still something funky going on in my front end. Feels like the passenger side. I just drove over some small potholes with only the passenger tire and the whole waggy shakes. Ball joints are one of the last things that haven't been done. I thought it might be from the rear, and I needed new rear bearings so I changed them. Drives better, but not the problem.

Thanks,

Craig

[SBJeep]

Craig - was that you driving around Hope Ranch this morning? I saw a green Wag with a rear wiper and faded paint on the tailgate.

My way of checking ball joints is not the typical way in the books. I have somebody else shake the wheel by putting thier hands at 12 and 6 o'clock and shaking back and forth. I put my hand on the ball joint with a finger on the shaft and a thumb on the body of the ball joint. Usually when they are bad, you can feel the play pretty easily this way. Have you checked front wheel bearings, too?

[SoCalCruiser]

That was me! What were you driving? I didn't see another GW, although I saw 2 on State St. this morning. Faded paint huh? I didn't think it was that bad. Were you behind me or going the other way?

I have a grinding sound also from what sounds like the passenger side, but when I jack up the GW and spin the tire, no sound. I think I'll change all the front bearings and the u-joints in the drive shaft and see what happens.

The thing is, the place on Milpas did a post-purchase inspection and didn't put down any of these things as needing to be fixed.

Craig

[SBJeep]

I was driving my '79 F150 as it was blocking the Jeep this morning. I was behind you crossing the freeway on La Cumbre. Some friends call the truck Smokey and the Bandit due to its' '70's paint job. I would have honked but I figured you would have wondered what the heck that Ford was honking for. The paint doen't look bad, btw, just your typical GW clear coat.

It doen't suprise me that Gene's didn't find any problems. They couldn't diagnose our common ignition module problems, they made a valve cover leak worse, they never heard of vapor lock problems when running a GW through the desert, and my transfer case problem with them is a long story.

As far as the grinding, remember wheel bearings will give a constant grinding sound while the sound of bad u-joints will vary with throttle and load. My u-joints made more a shudder when accelerating than a noise. At least the bearings and u-joints are cheap.

Good Luck

[dandy]

Ball joint loosness should be easy to spot by moving the tire around while the vehicle is jacked up.

I separated the steel core in a tire, and it made the front end wobble, and make funny noises, was kind of hard to find. Switch tires and see what happens.

[SoCalCruiser]

The thing is, my '89 did the same thing. I kept thinking it was in the rear because it seemed to be riding on marbles in the back. After a year of trying to find the problem, Gene's did tell me I needed a ball joint, and all was great.

That makes me think it's the same thing, but so far, I can't seem to get the ball joints to show me they're bad. Gene's didn't say ball joint and neither did Superior Break and alignment, although they did sell me a $200 tie rod end.

Between the shaking, the rattling tailgate and the squeeking of the loose headrests, I need to crank the stereo, which isn't all that bad.

[osceola]

use eyeballs to check ball joints .wiggle tire top and bottom.should be little or no play. watch them to see which one is sloppy. also wiggle side to side could be Tie rod end . shouldnt be sloppy or loose either

[SoCalCruiser]

I checked all of the above with all the methods described and no play at all.

I guess the only thing left that it could be is the springs have lost their spring, and/or the bushings are shot. The GW has saggy waggy syndrome, and I think the front is sitting a little low also. When BJ's gets the stock height springs I'll do those. Maybe that'll do it.

Craig