Perdue’s JT build

Ugh that sucks. Not JT but pertaining to the joint, my old rear lower control arm mount put the zerk pretty much in a spot where they tend to snap. I tried the EZ out method, but when I switched to the hi clearance I pulled the joint and drilled through with something like a 7/32 or 15/64 IIRC, then ran a tap through. Just an idea.
It was great to meet you and your wife at the NY run. Hope to see you on the trails again soon, with all zerks in tact!
 
KevinG said:
Ugh that sucks. Not JT but pertaining to the joint, my old rear lower control arm mount put the zerk pretty much in a spot where they tend to snap. I tried the EZ out method, but when I switched to the hi clearance I pulled the joint and drilled through with something like a 7/32 or 15/64 IIRC, then ran a tap through. Just an idea.
It was great to meet you and your wife at the NY run. Hope to see you on the trails again soon, with all zerks in tact!
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Thanks for the info on what bits to use when I relocate the zerk or just try to redrill it out. Also how well does zerk fittings with a 90 degree bend last, do they snap off easier that the strait ones?
 
KevinG said:
It was great to meet you and your wife at the NY run. Hope to see you on the trails again soon, with all zerks in tact!
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Thanks it was great meeting you also. If we can make my way out to Northern California or Oregon we’ll let you know.
 
Lperdue said:
Thanks it was great meeting you also. If we can make my way out to Northern California or Oregon we’ll let you know.
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Yes please do!

Lperdue said:
Thanks for the info on what bits to use when I relocate the zerk or just try to redrill it out. Also how well does zerk fittings with a 90 degree bend last, do they snap off easier that the strait ones?
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Not a prob. I was able to use the same hole on mine by drilling through super carefully with the 15/64ths (totally going off memory from a year ago, but I think it was slightly smaller than what size the zerk was) and then running through with a tap. Obviously make sure you take the joint out before you do this. :D
With your arms, you could probably do the 90 and not worry about it as long as you have clearance. Mine was on a jk with the evo dd long arm, which puts the zerk in an awkward spot with the gas tank skid bolt, basically any flex and it snapped. I ended up swapping it out with flush type fitting. Keep in mind the JJ's don't need a lot of grease and very often.
 
KevinG said:
Yes please do!


Not a prob. I was able to use the same hole on mine by drilling through super carefully with the 15/64ths (totally going off memory from a year ago, but I think it was slightly smaller than what size the zerk was) and then running through with a tap. Obviously make sure you take the joint out before you do this. :D
With your arms, you could probably do the 90 and not worry about it as long as you have clearance. Mine was on a jk with the evo dd long arm, which puts the zerk in an awkward spot with the gas tank skid bolt, basically any flex and it snapped. I ended up swapping it out with flush type fitting. Keep in mind the JJ's don't need a lot of grease and very often.
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Thanks how often do you have to grease yours?
 
TrailHunter said:
Bunmer! Sometimes tack welding a small nut to it works really good.
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Thought crossed my mind, sadly I don’t have a welder anymore but I keep running into situations where one would be perfect. 😩 Guess that means I better save up and buy one.
 
Lperdue said:
Thanks how often do you have to grease yours?
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There are a bunch of threads on this, with some people doing it every oil change and some that never do anything to them. I imagine the biggest thing is not to "force" too much grease in to them, as I think the clip can pop or you can get the cup pressing past the washer (hope that makes sense).
Basically once a year I take the arms off, use the same JJ press you have and clean them out completely. The first time I did it I figured I would be replacing at least a few of them so I had new joints ready to go. It turned out that the inner races, cups etc looked just fine, so put them back to together with fresh grease. I still have the spare inner parts for the joint in my bench in case I find one that looks suspect.
This might be a better way to gauge it. With me being up here in the PNW, I get just two or three trips a year down to places which put the suspension to work, so that's realistically 10-15 days a year of "trail" use plus the 2000 mile round trip. I know where you are at you have the opportunity for more fun, so I would probably pull them after 15 trail days and see how they look.
In no way am I saying this is right, but it's what I have done for the last three years and 30k or so. Hopefully one of the more experienced guys can chime in and say I'm steering you in a good or bad direction.
 
KevinG said:
There are a bunch of threads on this, with some people doing it every oil change and some that never do anything to them. I imagine the biggest thing is not to "force" too much grease in to them, as I think the clip can pop or you can get the cup pressing past the washer (hope that makes sense).
Basically once a year I take the arms off, use the same JJ press you have and clean them out completely. The first time I did it I figured I would be replacing at least a few of them so I had new joints ready to go. It turned out that the inner races, cups etc looked just fine, so put them back to together with fresh grease. I still have the spare inner parts for the joint in my bench in case I find one that looks suspect.
This might be a better way to gauge it. With me being up here in the PNW, I get just two or three trips a year down to places which put the suspension to work, so that's realistically 10-15 days a year of "trail" use plus the 2000 mile round trip. I know where you are at you have the opportunity for more fun, so I would probably pull them after 15 trail days and see how they look.
In no way am I saying this is right, but it's what I have done for the last three years and 30k or so. Hopefully one of the more experienced guys can chime in and say I'm steering you in a good or bad direction.
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Thanks I was originally greasing them twice a year one in January and the other July. I made the mistake of putting to much grease in them and that’s why I tore them down to fix my mistakes. Plus I had gotten bad advice and used non molly grease once when they was new. Also thanks I’ll make it more of a regular habit to pull them apart to clean and re-grease.
 
Lperdue said:
Thanks I was originally greasing them twice a year one in January and the other July. I made the mistake of putting to much grease in them and that’s why I tore them down to fix my mistakes. Plus I had gotten bad advice and used non molly grease once when they was new. Also thanks I’ll make it more of a regular habit to pull them apart to clean and re-grease
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Not a problem. They really don't need too much love. Take good care of that JT. I snapped a pic of it while I was behind you at some point. My wife is not a fan of the Gladiator but when she saw yours she said "yeah I would drive that". Between seeing pics of yours and a pic I got of Eddie's at the nugget, we may be shopping soon!
 
KevinG said:
Not a problem. They really don't need too much love. Take good care of that JT. I snapped a pic of it while I was behind you at some point. My wife is not a fan of the Gladiator but when she saw yours she said "yeah I would drive that". Between seeing pics of yours and a pic I got of Eddie's at the nugget, we may be shopping soon!
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Thanks, and I will :cool:
 
Update!
Ordered KMC Beadlocks 3.5 inches of back spacing
Rugged Ridge Fender Chop
Dynatrac Ball Joints (Sadly, I couldn't find any from synergy that wasn't on extreme back order and currently under a time crunch)
Wayalife Decal

Best part: I found everything in stock and was shipped same day. :cool:

Next project determine a way to carry a spare 38

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