Upper & Lower Ball Joint Install

[Lefty23]

So I took the JK in for an oil change yesterday at the local Conrad's and asked them to check the ball joints. When paying my bill I asked about the ball joints and the dude didn't seem too sure if they were checked. Instead of having them put it back on the rack, I left as I had other errands to do before the wife got home.
So right now I'm still at trying to figure out what the deal is. Sounds like I need to get my floor jacks and jack stands out to check myself.
I'll keep you posted...

[ShutterBug]

Watch these Death Wobble videos. He goes over the diagnostic process to determine if you have worn components and which ones are worn.

[Jcap]

Checking ball joints and wheel bearings is pretty simple jack up one side and wiggle the tire if you got any play up and down chances are need new ball joints for leverage can put a 2x4 under tire and use that but if they are really bad will be able to feel it with out it side to side movements will indicate a bad wheel bearing but be sure the movement You feel is not the tie rod moving changing ball joints is not a hard job only reason it cost so much is the labor of stripping it down to knuckle if u don't know how to do that be good to learn owning a jeep. With the knowledge of doing ball joints will know how to pretty much change rotors wheel bearings pull axel shafts change knuckles.

[PBeabout]

I will be doing my own soon. Just ordered the Teraflex ones for my 2010. If you change your own, be sure to get the axle spacers out with the axles. I had to change seals because I didn't know the spacers existed when I replaced a u-joint on the passenger side. When I put eh axle back in, there were no problem for a while, then the seal started leaking. Like others have said, it does not take a lot of tools for the job, and I just wish I had done the ball joints at eh same time as the seals. Now I get to take it all back apart to do the ball joints. There are some good you tube videos showing what to do, and Tereflex even has a good video. I recommend you watch a few and you will get the idea. I wouldn't pay $1000 for someone to do the job. It shouldn't be more than a weekend job.

[ShutterBug]

Depending on how rusted your current ball joints are, you should be done in an afternoon. Have a good breaker bar handy or better yet, an impact gun. The hardest part will be getting the ball joint press properly setup for the extraction and insertion. The issue I had was the set that I had used did not have the right cup for the upper joint. I needed one with a slight angle to it. So I modified one of the cups to work. Be careful, too, the cheap ball joint presses from HF and Autozone can bend.

Removing them, if you've never done it before, can be a bit disconcerting. They typically don't come out gradually. The press will build up force until it eventually POPS! I jumped the first time I had this happen. LOL!

Just make sure you orient those lower Teraflex joints properly so you can get to the spot where the grease fitting attaches. Grease these joints with every oil change and you'll be covered under warranty. You shouldn't have to remove your tires to do the maintenance, but on mine, one is accessible from the front and the other from the rear. Not sure if that would always be the case.