Have you checked your ball joints lately?
- Thread starter MtnT4R
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KidVermicious
New member
That's not yours is it Mtn?
Just swapped the lbjs on the Wiferunner last weekend. No trouble getting them aligned three months ago, but when her tires started cupping I figured it was time. The old joints flopped around like rag dolls when I took them off.
Check your ball joints!
Just swapped the lbjs on the Wiferunner last weekend. No trouble getting them aligned three months ago, but when her tires started cupping I figured it was time. The old joints flopped around like rag dolls when I took them off.
Check your ball joints!
KidVermicious
New member
206xxx, and they looked oem. Couldn't say if they were original.
MtnT4R
New member
Unfortunately it is. I was going through my phone and realized I forgot to post this. Happened a week after I replaced the driver side CV shaft and a bunch of other doodads, which is to say this mess effectively ate the money I had saved for new tires.
Being out in the middle of damn near nowhere, the fact that a scruffy redneck named Wild even bothered to help me is based predominantly on the facts that I had enough cash to bribe him, and that I also happen to be a scruffy redneck.
Apparently, there was some sort of force on the castle nut that stripped the whole bolt and sheared the cotter pin right off. We monkeyed around with 2 big ass crowbars and a sketchy aluminum jack for about an hour and managed to(barely) get a spare nut on that somehow kept it together for an hour drive to the nearest shop.
Neither Wild or the shop had ever seen that before, so I'm wondering whether it was a defective bolt or reckless disregard for mechanical upkeep on my part. The big positive to come out of this is, this happened about 5mph- if it had happened on the highway I probably wouldn't have walked away from that wreck. I had a few drinks when I finally got home that night :beer:
The most common cause for what you described is over-torquing. My money would be on someone over-torquing the castle nut, which deformed and weakened the threads past their elastic point.
MtnT4R
New member
Interesting, good to know. I found out after I bought the truck 2 years ago that its had several insurance claims filed on it- front end collisions. So evidently whoever worked on the car nearly killed me. Nice. I had the shop go over everything else on the front end, but they said it looked okay. Still makes me want to get rid of the damn thing though.
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KidVermicious
New member
I was wondering if you installed OEM or aftermarket LBJ's. I should've typed more clearly.
OEM for sure. It was never a question.
Most likely they just zipped them on with an impact wrench with no concept of proper torque, or concern for the problems that can cause. If tight is good, then tighter is better, in their uninformed minds. I refer to those types as 'Parts Changers', as they are not qualified to be referred to as Mechanics.
