Front end noise

[Dan_G]

Hi all. Dropped the Liberty off at the dealership for a lower real control arm recall and asked them to check a few things. The front has been making noise going over speed bumps and large bumps. Gets louder the colder it is. Also had the oil light coming on on cold starts when its super cold out. Anyways I had a chance to talk to the tech thats going to work on it. (Forgot my house keys so he took me into the shop to get them when I went back). He claimed the sound was from loose balljoints. He was able to get a light squeak to happen by pushing down on the nose. I had read in the past of people hearing noise from the sway bar endlinks. Waiting to hear the official word tomorrow. The only option is to rellace the whole control arm right? Can’t press new ball joints in? Oh and he claimed the oil light is cause by a leaky oil sensor. I hope its that simple.

Also, the tech recommended replacing the struts. I told him I wanted to upgrade instead of sticking with factory parts. I said I was looking at Old Man EMU and he claimed he could price that. I’m new to this area and this dealership so who knows if they would actually price aftermarket parts.

 

[tommudd]

Hi all. Dropped the Liberty off at the dealership for a lower real control arm recall and asked them to check a few things. The front has been making noise going over speed bumps and large bumps. Gets louder the colder it is. Also had the oil light coming on on cold starts when its super cold out. Anyways I had a chance to talk to the tech thats going to work on it. (Forgot my house keys so he took me into the shop to get them when I went back). He claimed the sound was from loose balljoints. He was able to get a light squeak to happen by pushing down on the nose. I had read in the past of people hearing noise from the sway bar endlinks. Waiting to hear the official word tomorrow. The only option is to rellace the whole control arm right? Can’t press new ball joints in? Oh and he claimed the oil light is cause by a leaky oil sensor. I hope its that simple.

Also, the tech recommended replacing the struts. I told him I wanted to upgrade instead of sticking with factory parts. I said I was looking at Old Man EMU and he claimed he could price that. I’m new to this area and this dealership so who knows if they would actually price aftermarket parts.

Sway bar busing located near the middle of the KJ in front, takes ten minutes to change
Could be loose ball joints, make sure you use the moog greaseable ones
If UBJs then get the jeepinbyal ones, much better
Don't buy OME coils and shocks they will be super expensive through them, again jeepinbyal
Oil light is most likely the oil sending unit, only use MOPAR one
AND never just replace the shocks, SPRINGS AND SHOCKS all around.
By the way blow his mind when you tell him KJs do not have struts in front, they have shocks, cars with no upper control arms use struts, we have upper control arms so coil over shocks up front

 

[Dan_G]

Thanks Tom. I tried to tell them it sounded like bushings to me. I’ll call in the morning. I forgot about the lower ball joints I was worried about the upper ones. Thanks for the info. I’ll ask for the mopar oil sending unit.

I was planning on replacing the springs and shocks myself. The only thing holding me back was the front. Specifically having to compress the springs myself. The last time I compressed some stiff springs they were Strano Performance lowering springs for a Camaro I had. 550lb spring rate for front. It was not fun. My current Corolla springs were not that bad.

 

[Dan_G]

Well received a call back 20 minutes after they opened. Getting the oil switch replaced. They claim the front end is jacked. That it needs upper and lower ball joints and new “struts”. That “should get rid of the noise”. I find it a little hard to believe that at 62k miles all the ball joints are bad. They quoted $1500 for all that. I’m going to have another shop inspect the ball joints. I should be able to use that same amount of money on better parts doing some of the work myself.

 

[Charlesthe2nd]

Well received a call back 20 minutes after they opened. Getting the oil switch replaced. They claim the fron end is jacked. That it needs upper and lower balljoints and new “struts”. That “should get rid of the noise”. I find it a little hard to believe that at 62k miles all the ball joints are bad. They quoted $1500 for all that. I’m going to have another shop inspect the ball joints. I should be able to use that same amount of money on better parts doing some of the work myself.

Don't let them rip you off. The ball joints are notoriously bad from the factory, so much so that they did a recall on the LBJ. Not sure if you've done that recall yet.

It really is worth it to do it yourself, if you have the time and tools (or a friend w/ tools). For $1500 you can do new JBA UCA, new LBJ, new springs/shocks up front, and new springs/shocks in the rear. If you had to buy the tools, and only bought the necessary tools, you could still do everything I listed for the front end.

 

[tommudd]

Well received a call back 20 minutes after they opened. Getting the oil switch replaced. They claim the front end is jacked. That it needs upper and lower ball joints and new “struts”. That “should get rid of the noise”. I find it a little hard to believe that at 62k miles all the ball joints are bad. They quoted $1500 for all that. I’m going to have another shop inspect the ball joints. I should be able to use that same amount of money on better parts doing some of the work myself.

Have a shop compress the springs, out of 56 KJ lifts we have done here, we tried to compress one set, never again !
Plus anyone knows you never just replace shocks ( struts ) when weak springs are involved
These KJs are notorious for sagging at 50-60,000 miles the way it is.

 

[Dan_G]

Thanks guys. I’m going to another shop to have the ball joints checked. The lbj recall was done back in 2006. It’s just how fast they replied with their answer makes me leery of them. Who checks all that and the alignment in less than 20 minutes?

I’m going to call around and ask which shops will compress the springs for me. Might as well get quotes to do the OME install if they’re willing to do it.

I have a coworker thats offered to let me use his power tools and garage before. I don’t really want to try it with hand tools.

Just to decide between the medium springs and heavy duty springs. I’m trying to stay comfortable.

 

[Charlesthe2nd]

Thanks guys. I’m going to another shop to have the ball joints checked. The lbj recall was done back in 2006. It’s just how fast they replied with their answer makes me leery of them. Who checks all that and the alignment in less than 20 minutes?

I’m going to call around and ask which shops will compress the springs for me. Might as well get quotes to do the OME install if they’re willing to do it.

I have a coworker thats offered to let me use his power tools and garage before. I don’t really want to try it with hand tools.

Just to decide between the medium springs and heavy duty springs. I’m trying to stay comfortable.

I did the LBJ recall and their replacement completely sheared off and sent my then girlfriend, now wife, off the side of the road. Happened less than 100 yards off the freeway too; it would have been a catastrophic failure at higher speeds.

Look for a mom/pop style shop to do the spring compression, the bigger shops might not want to do that without installing them too. Power tools will speed the job up, just one more reason to DIY. I'd go with medium springs if you're not planning on adding a steel bumper anytime soon.

 

[tommudd]

Thanks guys. I’m going to another shop to have the ball joints checked. The lbj recall was done back in 2006. It’s just how fast they replied with their answer makes me leery of them. Who checks all that and the alignment in less than 20 minutes?

I’m going to call around and ask which shops will compress the springs for me. Might as well get quotes to do the OME install if they’re willing to do it.

I have a coworker thats offered to let me use his power tools and garage before. I don’t really want to try it with hand tools.

Just to decide between the medium springs and heavy duty springs. I’m trying to stay comfortable.

Trust me you do not need power tools to install a lift
Done over 50 out of all the ones I have done with hand tools. Power tools were in the tool box
HD fronts ARE comfortable , all that we install here