Knucklehead97 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Hey guys. Putting together the 94 XJ axle I'm building for my MJ and I was kind of concerned with this gap the upper balljoint has. Should I worry? I read up a little and apparently the gap is filled when you grease it. Just didn't have this with my Driveworks joints I put on my other MJ. Wanted to check with ya'll before I went further. Everything is torqued up and the cotter pins lined up perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Yeah that's how mine were when I installed new joints... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 As long as the axle tube and the hole for the wheel bearing are concentric you should be good. If they're far enough out to cause a problem, you'll likely have trouble getting the axle shaft in properly. The upper ball joint does have some vertical movement to it, so the gap allows it to move as needed. Why it needs movement I'm not sure. The lower ball joint keeps everything fixed in place... Maybe it's to account for casting differences in the C? Allowing for minor flexing in the C without binding the steering when you go over bumps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 It's a 2wd axle so axle shafts are not a problem. I'll check the levelness and how it lines up with the rest of the axle, anyways, to be sure it's right. It was like this on the other end as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Did you use Moog ball joints? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockfrog Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 As long as the axle tube and the hole for the wheel bearing are concentric you should be good. If they're far enough out to cause a problem, you'll likely have trouble getting the axle shaft in properly. The upper ball joint does have some vertical movement to it, so the gap allows it to move as needed. Why it needs movement I'm not sure. The lower ball joint keeps everything fixed in place... Maybe it's to account for casting differences in the C? Allowing for minor flexing in the C without binding the steering when you go over bumps? This is why the upper ball joint on the D30 is a sliding pin and not a true ball joint. It allows for a variance on casting flaw. The lower is the only true ball joint on a D30. IIRC the upper has almost an inch of travel allowance. Â Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 Did you use Moog ball joints? Spicer. Whichever part number was recommended by everywhere I researched haha. Everything seems to line up right. Had no trouble.installing everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016  Did you use Moog ball joints?Spicer. Whichever part number was recommended by everywhere I researched haha. Everything seems to line up right. Had no trouble.installing everything. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 All 6 sets of D30 ball joints I have changed resulted in the same gap. Spicer and Moog did the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big66440 Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Normal mine were the same way when I did them recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted September 24, 2016 Author Share Posted September 24, 2016 Great! Old front axle is now removed.. tomorrow the new one will be installed. Very happy about it because I found some brake problems as I dug into my old axle today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehead97 Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 Upon greasing it filled itself up. Everything lined up great and shes back on the road with a fresh axle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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