Ball joints...

[Joopin]

How do I know I have bad ball joints? How easy are they to fix? I know that they are pretty pricey for a mechanic to do both sides but not sure if that is parts or labor.
Anyone replace them on thier own before?

 

[Junkpile]

Jack the front of the jeep up to take weight off the joints. Grab the top and bottom of the tire and wiggle it.

You have to strip the axle housing bare on both sides, that's why the labor charge is high. Brakes, hub assembly, axle shaft, and outer knuckle have to come off to change the joints. It's not hard at all unless you have a nut that doesn't want to come off, or something like that. Grab a service manual and tear into it!

 

[83mudjeep]

yea, it really isn't hard to do. i did both sides on mine is less than 5 hours, and that includes beer drinking and bullshitting

 

[jps4jeep]

RE: yj hard top black

Roger that, not hard, if you have changed your front U-joints before, this is only a couple more steps added in. when re-assembling don't forget to sand any rust off of where the axle stub shaft goes throught the hub and add liberal amounts of white lithium grease.

Took me a little longer to do mine, about 7 hours but that also includes the beer, and I had to drive 20 minutes away to get a Oxy/acc tourch to get the Hub nut off!