xj ball joints

[Pookapotamus]

when i got my xj a year ago it had the death wobble which led me to repace everything in the front end. january 19th national replaced the unit bearings all ball joints and the ujoints in the front diff. and all was well untill about 2 weeks ago while driving down glenmore i could feel the death wobble trying to come back from the right front. now Pookapotomi tend to be lazy creatures and i lifted the front up (left the tire on)and gave it a shake and was sure it was the unit bearing that was worn out. so i called dean at national and explaned my problem and he told me that the unit bearings should not be worn out but not to worry they are under waranty. so i got the new bearings and went to install them saturday but when i got the tire off and wiggled the bearing there was about a ¼" of play in the ball joint and the unit bearing  was nice and tight. well i felt pretty stupid specially after i called special k and arranged for him to pick up a 36mm socket to take the axel nuts off. (sorry johnny its not a 32mm like you told me) but at least kev is a good sport and only cussed me out for a couple of minutes then helped me blead my brakes. i called national up and after dean stopped laughing at me said not to worry the ball joints are probly under warranty to.

so i now have a couple of questions...

firstly how the heck does a ball joint on my lowrider go so quickly? (its both uppers and yes i was under there regularly to grease them)

secondly since pookapotomi are also notoriously tight assed, does anyone have a ball joint press i can borrow to do these myself? or perhaps come help me do these some weekend soon? or would it be better just to take it to someone?

[JackstandJohnny]

sorry for the typo on my list o' parts i gave ya. yes its 36mm. i carry mine in the glove box;) (not really) 

your balljoints should not give out on a stock XJ in a year.  possible. maybe.  National should fix it under warrenty right?

if not, ask to borrow a tool. i borrowed Doms, had it done over thanksgiving (-15. bleck)  but its straight forward actually.

[BlackYJ]

secondly since pookapotomi are also notoriously tight assed, does anyone have a ball joint press i can borrow to do these myself? or perhaps come help me do these some weekend soon? or would it be better just to take it to someone?

Talk to Dom, he is the ball joint replacer master.

[Pookapotamus]

national will replace the ball joints under warranty but they want me to pay for the labour to install them. which i kinda dissagree with but i am willing to do the work myself so its really not that big of a deal to me.

[rws]

If National supplied the ball joints then there should be no charge to replace them.  Ball joint are not that bad to do on a Dana 30 as long as you have the correct tools.  Read the Adjustable Ball Joint section here http://www.madxj.com/ and it will show you what you have to do.  do not use the adjustable ball joints unless you are trying to correct some sort of problem.

[cLAY]

That is actually pretty typical, the parts are covered under the warrenty offered by the part manufacture labour insn't usually covered as it technically isn't the shop's fault that the part failed. Unless they used crap parts or damaged them puttign them in.

I would like to know what brand they used to I can stay away from them......

[Layback209]

Dude!!! don't tell me these things I killed myself a few months ago changing mine.  Man the dana-30 ball-joint halfs aint that sturdy (flex realy easy when using the press).  IF your not care full you can easily tweek the "heavey iron."

If you can get the manufacture to send you replacements you can rent the press from part source for around $15.  Or buy some top quality ones, should last longer.

P.S. - I can give you my recipt if things don't work out either... should be able to get the press at no cost.

Regards,

D