HELP.. balljoint question..

plumkrazy1789

plumkrazy1789

New Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Location
Walnut Cove,NC
All help will be appreciated on this. This is my first Jeep period, its a 93 model XJ.. when i turn i hear the nastiest popping noise. Its not the axles (ive popped plenty in honda's and would know).. when i get under the truck and turn the wheel then the joint i have circled in the pic actually moves left to right and makes the popping noise. I noticed it had grease fittings, I am unsure if pumping grease into it will stop this. The reason I am unsure is, if the grease is in the joint then it will still move left to right (which it needs to be stationary) but will probably not make the popping noise. I know this is something simple to alot of you, but i have never experienced so many bars everywhere in my life.. lol. Honda's were so much more simple.. out of all the swaps and stuff I have done myself i pretty much know them up and down..

What i want to know is, What is this piece called? What is the bar that the joint is in called? I'm wanting to replace it, but i will look like a idiot if i go to the parts shop and not know what it is.. might as well make myself look stupid here first...


Thanks in advance!

THIS PIC IS TAKEN WITH ME LAYING ON THE GROUND ON THE DRIVERS SIDE AND LOOKING AT THE PART


ai116.photobucket.com_albums_o4_plumkrazy1789_DSC01625.jpg
 
think its possible that the castle nut on the balljoint may be loose?? if i get a minute here in a little while im going to go outside and see if the castlenut is loose and pump some grease in it and see if that fixes it.. i would think that a cotter pin would keep the castle nut in place though.. maybe the pin is gone.. hell, i wished i had more time now to work on shit.. 2 jobs + school is a bitch
 
exactly what i said, it wont stop moving.. will just stop popping probably..

thanks guys for the help.. im going to see if it just needs to be tightened up.. maybe there is a possiblity that just the castle nut lost its cotter pin
 
May or may not stop the popping.

Check to make sure the bracket the frame side of the trac bar goes to isn't loose, that will cause popping.

Also possible the hole in the bracket is wallered.

If those other things aren't the case, a popping TRE on that link means you want a new trac bar. That link centers your axle laterally and it wouldn't really be one that you want to let go on you. Stock trac bars are like $80 at Napa IIRC...

Edit if its a loose nut, then its likely the hole in the bracket will be slopped out. Possible to just weld the old hole closed and re-drill (drilling through weld is so much fun though), but maybe this is an excuse for some suspension mods.
 
man, i didnt even check it.. i bought a new one today at advance auto parts just because i would feel better if i replaced the whole thing instead of trying to fix it... if i have problems after installing the new one then i will check the things you said.. thanks for the informative post.

How hard is it to change a trac bar? what all does it envolve? no experience with a trac bar.. alot of control arm stuff back in the day and different bars for honda's..
 
its easy, unbolt old one, install new one. It can be done, I guess should be done, with the weight of the vehicle on the wheels. It can be slighty tricky when doing a lift and installing an adjustable one, then you could use a floor jack to raise/lower the rig until the frame mounted side lines up.
 
Before removing a track bar, I use 2 ratchet straps. Take one and go from passenger side of axle to driver side of frame. Take the other and go from driver side of axle to passenger side of frame (criss-cross them). Tighten both of them up. That will help keep your vehicle centered so you can get the new track bar in a lot easier.
 
ive never had so much help on a topic.. honda guys dont even help that much.. lol.. i appreciate it all, i guess it wouldnt be hard to find someone to help or install a lift kit around here... btw, we have 2 lifts, a wash bay, a paint booth and everything.. lol.. so the job would be easier to lift it with a actual lift.. im planning on getting one around christmas... need to upgrade tires first though..
 
VortecJeep said:
Before removing a track bar, I use 2 ratchet straps. Take one and go from passenger side of axle to driver side of frame. Take the other and go from driver side of axle to passenger side of frame (criss-cross them). Tighten both of them up. That will help keep your vehicle centered so you can get the new track bar in a lot easier.
Click to expand...


That had never occurred to me, I've had mine off and on countless times between adjusting to lift height, swapping front axles, etc... One time it was a little bit off so I just used the steering wheel a little and it moved the whole vehicle over the axle where I wanted it.

As I was doing that, I was thinking that it probably wasn't too good for everything else to be using the steering box to move the whole front of the vehicle around over the axle.

Shoulda used some ratchet straps!
 
plumkrazy1789 said:
ive never had so much help on a topic.. honda guys dont even help that much.. lol.. i appreciate it all, i guess it wouldnt be hard to find someone to help or install a lift kit around here... btw, we have 2 lifts, a wash bay, a paint booth and everything.. lol.. so the job would be easier to lift it with a actual lift.. im planning on getting one around christmas... need to upgrade tires first though..
Click to expand...


Don't put it on a lift, leave the tires on the ground and find a friend that can work the steering wheel while you're un-installing and installing it.
I personally would swap in a trac bar with a non-TRE end. As you've found out, not a whole lot of honda transfers to working on a heep.
 
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