Ball Joint Replacement Advice

[LibertyFever]

A few years I replaced the stock UCA's with a pair of JBAoffroad UCA's on my 2004 Jeep liberty Sport with a 2.5" spacer lift.
They were a great improvement. Over the years I've only had to replace a single upper ball joint however I didn't buy a replacement from JBAoffroad, I substituted one from my local auto parts store.

Fast forward a few years and I am planning to replace both of the ball joints on my JBAoffroad UCA's but I am having difficulties finding the replacement ball joints.
I have looked on the JBAoffroad website however their ball joint repair kit doesn't look like it will work for me.
The kit doesn't appear to have the upper portion of the ball joint. Plus one of my ball joints isn't an original from JBAoffroad.

Would anyone know the part number of a compatible ball joint to use in my JBAoffroad UCA's?

Note that I am located in Canada. The price of the ball joint replacement kit is $69 USD plus taxes and shipping which totals $102 USD.
In Canadian funds that's about $130.

 

[duderz7]

I believe you can substitute a k6292 from moog or others. It will bolt up, but you will loose some range of motion compared to the jba ball joints.

 

[LibertyFever]

I believe this is a picture of one of my UCA ball joints.
or it could be a picture that I found on the internet.

Today I should crawl under my Jeep and inspect the ball joints.

 

[LibertyFever]

Well the repairs went well, didn’t encounter any big problems and completed the job in three hours.

One surprise was the discovery of what was causing the flutter in the brake pedal. The passenger side brake rotor surface had deteriorated.

The lower ball joints looked okay but were original to the Jeep. The upper ball joints weren’t in good shape. One ball joint was dry.

We discovered a badly worn sway bar bushing. I’ve ordered & received replacement bushings.
Once the weather improves I’ll crawl under the Jeep and replace them.

 

[tommudd]

Why in the world were the UBJs dry, never grease them or ?
Mine on the 04 have over 100,000 miles on them and still stock (JBA first set of 4.5 produced )

 

[LibertyFever]

Why in the world were the UBJs dry, never grease them or ?
Mine on the 04 have over 100,000 miles on them and still stock (JBA first set of 4.5 produced )

The ball joint on the driver’s side on the upper control arm had s poorly fitting grease boot. So it couldn’t retain the grease.
I think it’s a known problem with it.

 

[duderz7]

The ball joint on the driver’s side on the upper control arm had s poorly fitting grease boot. So it couldn’t retain the grease.
I think it’s a known problem with it.

Thick washer between boot and knuckle helps, then regular greasing keeps the crud out. The new style boots and housings are much nicer.

 

[LibertyFever]

That’s exactly what I did this time.

My JBA UCA’s are also an old style.
I don’t believe that I can get the correct replacement ball joints because the ball joint style appears to have changed.

 

[lfhoward]

That’s exactly what I did this time.

My JBA UCA’s are also an old style.
I don’t believe that I can get the correct replacement ball joints because the ball joint style appears to have changed.

Give them a call and see if yours can be retrofitted. JBA is pretty responsive to their customers.

Or, go for all new JBA ball joints rather than a repair kit. (About 2x the cost)

I was in a similar situation as you, replacing a bad JBA one with a chevy truck one in a pinch. When the time came to replace both, I had to go for full replacement. I can verify the boots are much nicer on the new ones, no washer needed to hold in the grease.

 

[duderz7]

That’s exactly what I did this time.

My JBA UCA’s are also an old style.
I don’t believe that I can get the correct replacement ball joints because the ball joint style appears to have changed.

I believe all that changed between old and new is the ball joint housings and boots. Everything else is the same, but you might want to confirm that with JBA. They are great to work with and reply quickly to emails.