Hi all,

I just figured out that my front left u-joint is busted (the one by
the wheel). It is the bearings that are broken and not the actual u-
joint. The other one is binding up a little bit. The jeep is a 93
cherokee sport (v6 4-wheel drive) with 130k in Massachusetts (rust!).
The guy who was looking at mentioned that there was a little bit of
play in the front right left ball joint when leveraged with a crow
bar. I proceeded to get a quote and it totaled up to 1300 dollars for
the both ball and u-joints. Does this sound reasonable (approx. 650
parts and 650 labor)? I'd try to handle the u-joins myself (I've done
water pump, brakes, suspension, etc.) but I do not have any air tools
and I've heard getting the hub/bearing assembly off is really
difficult. Can anyone recommend a good garage in the boston area? I
bought this jeep for a few hundred and I really can't spend so much on
it considering the body has some rot etc. Any help would be
appreciated. I'm not so concerned about having it run like a dream.
I'd just like to make sure it is safe on long drives.

Thanks!!
Breton

On 26 Apr 2007 14:12:46 -0700, breton <bretonh (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:


This is just a though but you might be money ahead to swap out the
whole front axle with a good one from a bone yard. It would only take
maybe a few hours of labor at most if mech knew what they were doing
and it would likely cost you less overall. You could tea into that one
and find damage in hub assemble and cost more money to fix and those
ball joints are a pain to change and could cost more in a rust belt
area if they are fused in there with rust.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

breton wrote:
Sounds high. Even with new spindles both sides you should be under $300
for parts. Try "Cheap Jeeps" in Framingham. To him a favor by bying a
couple cans of Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster (not wd-40) a couple weeks
before the job and soak everything in the hub area down from the back
side of the wheels several times.

--
jeff

breton wrote:
Hmm.. on the 93ZJ it's three bolts and the whole axle slides out.

http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/
A new OEM Right shaft is $473
If you have ABS the shaft is only $409
If you have disconnects the shaft is $348

--
DougW

Have a weekend and a mechanically incline friend?
http://www.billhughes.com/Dana30WheelBearing/index.htm
http://jeep.off-road.com/jeep/articl....jsp?id=257794
Use lots of penetrating fluid, and maybe a couple extra hub bolts to beat
on, to drive the hub spindle out of the knuckle
http://www.4x4wire.com/tech/axle/ujoint/
God Bless America, Bill 0|||||||0
mailto:LWHughes3rd (AT) aol (DOT) com http://www.billhughes.com/


"breton" <bretonh (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Sounds pretty spendy. The XJ should have the standard U joint, not the
cardigan. Replacement U joint runs $10 to $15 plus labor. If the bearing
hub comes out easily, about an hour labor in a good shop. If it comes
out hard (plan on it given the salted roads!!) , a GOOD shop can handle
it without too much extra time. If they don't do these very often, they
might try to get you for 4 hours. That is per side so $200 to $250 for
both sides would not be out of line.

I'm showing $185 for a ball joint set (per side) from
http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/ . Expect half that at NAPA. No idea
on the labor cost.

I'd expect some play in the ball joints, no idea if yours is minor
expected wear, serious wear, or don't drive it until it's fixed wear.

breton wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:34:27 GMT, RoyJ <spamless (AT) microsoft (DOT) net> wrote:


I doubt that in Boston as I am sure labor cost more for everythime up
there and going rate is likely at least $100 a hour plus repair a
front end that has issues or failures is not the same as normal tear
down plus someone mentioned a 10 or 15 dollars joint up there but not
me, no cheap joints there.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

The hubs tend to rust themselves into the steering knuckles.

"DougW" <post.replies (AT) invalid (DOT) address> wrote

Real Jeeps protect their Universal-Joints via enclosed knuckles:
http://www.billhughes.com/dana25knuckle.jpg And of course being a Dana 25 it
has a bigger ring and pinion than your rear axle Dana 35c.

"L.W. (Bill) Hughes III" <billhughes (AT) cox (DOT) net> wrote



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Hi all,

Thanks for all of your opinions. I'm trying to get things together.
I'll give the suggested shops a call and see what happens. I really
would prefer not to get rid of this ride... I have to make the sound
choice though...we'll see.

Best,
Breton

On Apr 26, 9:13 pm, "L.W. \(Bill\) Hughes III" <billhug... (AT) cox (DOT) net>
wrote: