Trying to kill my DW once and for all. Advice on ball joints?

[Josh27]

Just a little update on my situation. Took it into my mechanic and I looked at the ball joints with him. Put a pry bar under the tire and there was a little bit of movement (very little actually) and he said thats what is probably causing my death wobble. I probably could have caught this myself but I just used my hands and didn't use a pry bar to check if there was any play. Get those replaced tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[wayoflife]

Just a little update on my situation. Took it into my mechanic and I looked at the ball joints with him. Put a pry bar under the tire and there was a little bit of movement (very little actually) and he said thats what is probably causing my death wobble. I probably could have caught this myself but I just used my hands and didn't use a pry bar to check if there was any play. Get those replaced tomorrow and see what happens.

Honestly, if you can physically see movement without the help of a dial indicator, they are definitely bad. For the lower ball joints, an axial (up and down) movement more than 0.050" is too much and would indicate that your ball joint . Any radial (side-to-side) movement of the upper joint showing more than 0.060" is too much too.

 

[Josh27]

Honestly, if you can physically see movement without the help of a dial indicator, they are definitely bad. For the lower ball joints, an axial (up and down) movement more than 0.050" is too much and would indicate that your ball joint . Any radial (side-to-side) movement of the upper joint showing more than 0.060" is too much too.

Yeah I knew any physical movement wasn't good but didn't realize even that small amount could cause death wobble. My mistake was I didn't use a pry bar and assumed they were good. I wasn't able to move the tire enough with my hands to make them move.