Sometimes I wonder if my truck is out to get me...
Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:33 pm
Seriously!!!
So lately I've been noticing that my front end feels a little "loose"... And i've also started hearing what most people would call "The typical Nissan front end clunk". Could be anything from ball joints, to front cross member needing to be retorqued, to sway bar bushings, to you name it...
At first, my suspicion was that the noise was coming from the front sway bar bushings, but it's gotten a bit worse in the past couple of weeks, so I decided to take a look at the front end this evening after work.
I jack up the truck, put it on the stands, and then start pulling on the tires to see if there is any play. I get a bit of movement, but I can't tell if it's just the steering wheel moving, or me thinking it's moving but it really isn't.
Anyways, I decide to take the tires off and further inspect everything. I get the tire off the driver side, and start monkeying around to see what I can find. Sway bar bushings on that side seems to be alright, no exessive wear that I can visably see, no play in the bar iteslf etc.
So now I start poking around and I notice my Upper ball joint looks a little *funny*... I say funy becase there appears to be an exessive amount of grease caked around the rubber gasket, and it just didn't look right to me. I give it a bit of a tug to see of there is any play, but I get nothing. The suspension was at full droop, and it still doesn't look right to me, so I decide to stick a jack under the LCA and compress the suspension a bit to try and get everything closer to it's normal resting angle (as in, truck on the ground), instead of at complete droop. A couple of pumps on the jack, and I get a bit of compression. I start pulling on the UCA again, and the whole ball joint pops up at least half an inch! Loose as a goose in a moose's caboose!
Great, so now I have to replace the ball joint in the driver side UCA. I hop over to the p-side, same thing. BOTH BJ's are completely SHOT. Not an overly expensive job (Napa sells lifetime warranty ball joints for about $70 a side), nor will they hard to replace, but a serious pain in the ass!
The kicker for me is that these ball joints are less then a year old! Of course, they came with my lift kit from AC, so I should have known they would be garabage from the start. If i recall, a LOT of people have to replace he garbage BJ's they get from various aftermarket companies...
So anyways, that is my current state... One thing after another, I swear. Off to Napa in the morning to get the ones from the Hardbody. Hopefully one of the shops close to me has them in stock!
Note: On a happier note, I installed my JWT pop-charger on Tuesday afternoon last week. Talk abut an easy install! 30 minutes in the driveway, stock air box out, now cone in. Done. More on that one later though...
So lately I've been noticing that my front end feels a little "loose"... And i've also started hearing what most people would call "The typical Nissan front end clunk". Could be anything from ball joints, to front cross member needing to be retorqued, to sway bar bushings, to you name it...
At first, my suspicion was that the noise was coming from the front sway bar bushings, but it's gotten a bit worse in the past couple of weeks, so I decided to take a look at the front end this evening after work.
I jack up the truck, put it on the stands, and then start pulling on the tires to see if there is any play. I get a bit of movement, but I can't tell if it's just the steering wheel moving, or me thinking it's moving but it really isn't.
Anyways, I decide to take the tires off and further inspect everything. I get the tire off the driver side, and start monkeying around to see what I can find. Sway bar bushings on that side seems to be alright, no exessive wear that I can visably see, no play in the bar iteslf etc.
So now I start poking around and I notice my Upper ball joint looks a little *funny*... I say funy becase there appears to be an exessive amount of grease caked around the rubber gasket, and it just didn't look right to me. I give it a bit of a tug to see of there is any play, but I get nothing. The suspension was at full droop, and it still doesn't look right to me, so I decide to stick a jack under the LCA and compress the suspension a bit to try and get everything closer to it's normal resting angle (as in, truck on the ground), instead of at complete droop. A couple of pumps on the jack, and I get a bit of compression. I start pulling on the UCA again, and the whole ball joint pops up at least half an inch! Loose as a goose in a moose's caboose!
Great, so now I have to replace the ball joint in the driver side UCA. I hop over to the p-side, same thing. BOTH BJ's are completely SHOT. Not an overly expensive job (Napa sells lifetime warranty ball joints for about $70 a side), nor will they hard to replace, but a serious pain in the ass!
The kicker for me is that these ball joints are less then a year old! Of course, they came with my lift kit from AC, so I should have known they would be garabage from the start. If i recall, a LOT of people have to replace he garbage BJ's they get from various aftermarket companies...
So anyways, that is my current state... One thing after another, I swear. Off to Napa in the morning to get the ones from the Hardbody. Hopefully one of the shops close to me has them in stock!
Note: On a happier note, I installed my JWT pop-charger on Tuesday afternoon last week. Talk abut an easy install! 30 minutes in the driveway, stock air box out, now cone in. Done. More on that one later though...