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The joint is done

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By Justin
No this isn't about drugs. About a bad ball joint on the Jeep.
Women beware: This post contains technical talk about cars

Cherokees are infamous for a something affectionately called Death Wobble. It's a condition where the front end of the vehicle shakes at high speeds when going over a bump. It can be pretty scary as it gets worse.
Well that has been creeping into highway speeds. I knew I had a bad ball joint and I was hoping that would fix the problem. Shops around Rexburg wanted $140+ just for labor. And then they were drastically over pricing the parts needed as well.

It took much longer than the expected 2 hours of labor, but I got the job done, and it only cost about $120. But most of that was buying new tools to help make the job easier. So that's just an investment right there.


Maybe I'm just out of shape more than I used to be, but working on cars is exhausting. My body was so sore the following couple of days. The palms of my hand probably hurt the most. I couldn't get the wheel bearing hub off. So I rented yet another tool (ended up renting over $200 worth of tools for free from Oreilly's) - this time it was a 5lb slide hammer. You attach a long rod to the lug nuts. There is a 5lb handle on the rod that is then slid back and forth to help it come off. That part alone took well over an hour to get done. It bruised my hands pretty well.

I guess at the rate that I've been buying tools we have a pretty good excuse to buy a larger toolbox, and a garage to store it in!

Comments

  1. R.MarkAugust 9, 2012 at 10:46 AM

    That's always been my logic for larger toolboxes, and more garage space...but then you have a box bigger than your needs, so you need to go out and buy more tools...

    ...I see you are beginning to understand why my hands feel no pain....after years of wrenching, smashing, and bruising them they become oblivious...

    ReplyDelete

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