how do i check for bad ball joints?

[johnnybgood74]

whats a good way to see if my ball joints are shot? i have never driven it yet because its tore down. is there a way to check them by inspecting them?

 

[DirtDonk]

Shouldn't be too hard. If you can get the front end (or at least one wheel at a time) off the ground, grab the tires at the 12 and 6 positions and try to rock it. If you can feel/hear some movement, then you "may" have some play in them.
That's a standard test, but the way I see it, the problem with that one is that it's hard to differentiate between ball-joint and wheel-bearing play. That's why you don't do it with your hands at 3 and 9 however. That way, you'd also have steering linkage play to mess up your readings.

If you, or someone, can watch and feel the ball-joints when you're wiggling the wheel, you should be able to detect movement.
Another way I've found that works is to do the test that we perform to check for looseness in the steering links. It's pretty much able to show you any movement in the front end that's not supposed to be there.
For this one though, you have to have the full weight of the vehicle on the ground.

Is your Bronco in one piece and sitting on it's tires? If so, I'll run you through that other test as well.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and if you're Bronco is more than 32 years old and has more than 125k on the clock, I'd just change them anyway. Just because...
If there's a good time to do it, it's while it's all apart and waiting for other stuff.

I've seen plenty of ball-joints last for many hundreds of thousands of miles. But I've seen them wear out in 50 thousand too.
So, my mantra is, "when in doubt, swap 'em out".

And, while we're on that subject, how are your rear wheel bearings????

Paul

 

[johnnybgood74]

Thanks DirtDonk for the info! i did just what you said to do. i went to NAPA and got upper and lower premium ball joints, rotors, wheel bearings, spindle bearings, studs, bore seals, calipers and premium grease! figured since it was tore down for the disc swap that i should get new ball joints and axle u joints just for piece of mind. also bought rear axle bearings and seals. i think they are seeping. bought new rear adjusters, wheel cylinders and shoes for the rear. spent way to much money but it needed to be done. now if i can figure out how to change my front u joints, i will be set!

 

[DirtDonk]

Sounds like a good plan. Expensive... but good. Sorry 'bout that!

And here's something to consider too, just in case you want to spend another 30 or 40 bucks or so. Hey, you own a Bronco, get used to it.
Do you know what your alignment specs were? Expecially caster angle, since lift kits change that in a negative (literally) way. What I'm thinking is that now is the time to install some eccentric ball-joint adjusting sleeves. They take the place of the standard preload collars that come with the ball-joints.
The standard ones just set the preload tension on the upper joint, but the eccentric ones, as you can guess, can be adjusted to also modify your caster and/or camber angles for better alignment. Only good fo up to 1.5° max, but hey, with our Broncos, anything is an improvement!

Just thinking out loud here. Read some other threads on alignment and you'll get a real snoot-full.

Oh, and when it comes time for the u-joints, just ask here. It's actually pretty straightforward as long as they're not all rusted in. And even then, it's not that bad. The first time's a pain, of course, but you'll get the hang of it.
Or is that, the "swing" of it, when you decide to use a bigger BFH?

Have fun.

Paul

 

[Madgyver]

Peace of mind.
If you haven't installed new joints while owning your rig,
Now is the time to change them out.