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SUVs Jeep Liberty and Jeep Liberty Diesel Jeep Liberty Diesel Maintenance and Repair
332 messages, Last post on Dec 07, 2009 at 8:47 PM
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Today I rotated my wheels, measured the disks (thickness varies between 28mm [new] and 26mm [worn]) and inspected the ball joints. Well, I discovered that disk wear is not really proportional to the mileage. It seems that once wear reaches 2/3rds of the way it is no longer predictable. The same applies to the ball joints. They had 1/3 of the play they have today after only 5000 miles. To conclude, it's time for 2 disks and a set of ball joints at 57,500 miles (92,000 KM). I have a bit more than 1mm play both sides. To those who don't know how to recognize a worn ball joint: - Lift the truck as described in the manual and let the complete wheel stay 3" off the ground - By lifting the wheel you can feel, see and hear the play! I did this once by hand and once with a lever. It's easy to do and a long depth caliper helps to measure the travel of the wheel against the fender. |
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Replying to: farout (Feb 20, 2007 4:06 pm) Boiler |
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Downloading of the image should be done separately because of it's large size. http://richard.fortin.free.fr/KJ_diesel/wornballjoint.tif Notice the following: - The protective boot is not altered and made from PUR translucent material (best known so far for this application), - There is a lot of black grease inside the spherical chamber that looks like "Molykote", - There is a plastic liner around the ball, and this is deteriorated at the neck of the ball, - A fold of the protective boot is deteriorated over 1/2" or less and this gave way to humidity that you can see on the picture (where the grease is shiny), - The groove of the ball assembly where the protective boot is fixed shows traces of rust but no corrosion got through yet. To my understanding, the plastic liner of the ball didn't support the combination of grease and humidity. The only deterioration I can observe is the "collar piece" that is fixed onto the stem is chewed by compression against the outer wall of the spherical housing. When new, the plastic liner is an anti friction material inserted like a sock along the stem of the ball joint and protects the side of the sphere where the pressure is applied. Conclusion: It's the plastic liner around (and below) the ball that broke possibly due to the acidity of the grease and water mixture. Only the boot shows a 'pinch' that can let humidity in. The play of 1mm that I observed was in fact the thickness of the 'missing' plastic material. The ball itself is still in perfect condition and full of grease. But for how long? |
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I put the ball joint on a lathe and removed the deformed steel material that keeps the assembly together by the top. This picture is taken when the top piece (steel pusher cap) is removed. You can see the plastic lining: http://richard.fortin.free.fr/KJ_diesel/wornballjointtopoff.tif This picture is taken when the upper plastic pusher is removed: http://richard.fortin.free.fr/KJ_diesel/wornballjointinsidetop.tif Here is the sphere with it's chewed collar and damaged lining of the housing. The lining is shaped like a barrel and the sphere is held captive in the grease just by pressing it in. It's difficult to see everything in detail because I'm doing this with a flatbed scanner  http://richard.fortin.free.fr/KJ_diesel/wornballjointliningbelow.tif Finally here is the plastic lining seen from above. Notice the grease distribution slots: http://richard.fortin.free.fr/KJ_diesel/wornballjointlining.tif I'm keeping this stuff for the sake of curiosity. I'm pretty sure someone out there will be as interrested as I was  I think we can assume the cause for excessive play of these ball joints is that the plastic sleeve 'gives in' and flows until it hits the 'collar' piece mounted on the stem that is used for keeping the boot from collapsing and letting humidity in. Do you have any other ideas? |
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cleaned the boost sensor with acetone and compressed air. saw an immediate improvement in fuel mileage around town. From 19 mpg to 24 mpg. Just returned from 300 mile highway trip and got 29.5 t0 32 mpg's  1800 rpm (approx. 64 mph). Sensor was extremely dirty so I guess that was my problem.
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Replying to: jamesl76470 (Mar 01, 2007 4:56 pm) If your rpm's and mph are correct that means ours is really way out of normal. Let me know please. I will double check ours today to make sure that I may be messed up, as we older citizens get older the memory sometimes plays tricks on the recall part. Farout
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Replying to: farout (Mar 02, 2007 11:59 am) Gary |
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Replying to: jamesl76470 (Mar 01, 2007 4:56 pm) Farout
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Farout, I will check rpms mph next time out and let you know.
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Replying to: farout (Mar 03, 2007 1:40 pm) RPM----Calculated-Observed 1800--------62.8---------62 1900--------66.2---------65
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