[Amc-list] XJ axle joint saga.

[Wrambler242@xxxxxxxxxxx]

I had my dad do the front axle joints on the 97 as he could use the money more than a shop.
  We picked it up and headed home last night. 
My wife drove it, mistake one, I followed in the WJ.
It "wobbled" We stopped and I went back and checked lug nuts. I found a few loose ones and tightened them up.
I left her continue to drive it, she calle don the cell and said it still wobbled but was better.
 When we got closer to home. I stopped an took over driving it to see what it was doing.
It seemd OK, but not right, some vibration, worse on braking. 
I had it up to about 80 to see what it would feel like , knowing the lugs were tight.
I put it in the garage and jacked it up. here are the findings.
He left the axle nuts loose!
He left the lugnuts loose!
He flipped one needle bearing out into the end of the ujoint and did not get that locking clip in place, cause it would not fit :[
  What I started to do was simply tighten the axle nuts as the bearings were loose causing the wobble.
Thats when the ujoint cap walked out, from the vibrations of the impact. I tightened the nut and checked play, well it was fine, but when i turned the hub it only turned an 1/8 turn and locked, I thought WTF?   Took me a few minutes to find the cap had dropped out! If that thing had not been facing down when I did that it would have stayed in place till later on the road!
  I got up this morning and tore it down, stopped and picked up another new joint on the way to work.
I'm going home at 4 to reassemble it. My 17 year old is getting a lesson in cars 101. He wants to drive them, he is going to help me fix them! 
  I guess dad is a little too old to do this stuff anymore. I know he doesn't do it at the shop, he just manages it.
I'm not telling him about this, no way. I'm just going to fix it myself, well, Nate is!
  Can anyone tell me if it is safe to rotate the carrier on the front diff with one axle pulled? I want to triple check the other side by spinning it and checking the clips with this side out, so I can see if all the clips are installed and if it is binding or anything else may be wrong.
   I also have to grind off some mushrooming around the face of the hub where he beat on it :[ The hubs still turn smooth, so I'm hoping he did not hurt them to bad. It's possible he may have distorted them and I'll have to replace one or both. I hope not. I think it is minor.
  I'm really bummed. It's kind of hard to realize someone who used to do this so well , now is not able to do a decent job.
  At least he has it all loosened up for me to fix!
  Good note on yesterday, The WJ gets awesome highway mileage! 21.3 on the interstate! With 4.7 and Quadratrac II I did not expect nearly that good. 
   Bad note is my wife wants it now, I'm not giving it up!


--
Mark Price
Morgantown, WV
1969 AMC Rambler, 4.0L, EFI, T-5
" I was different before people dared to be different" 
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