I took my truck (02 FX4, XLT) in to get an alignment done. The front end felt like it was shaking, as well, so I asked them to check it out.

The garage told me I have a bad ball joint (lower left) and the drive shaft U-joint has a lot of play. They also said that my left front tire seems to be separated. I have no idea what that means and they didn't take too much time to explain it too me.

I can fix all of this myself, but I don't know if I can trust what they told me. Is there any way to check this stuff out for myself? I can hear a clicking coming from the rear end when I give it gas from a near standstill so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with what I was just told.

Sorry if I sound like an idiot. My problem is, I can wrench on anything at all but I don't know the names of the parts, lol.

This is a 5 speed 4wd with just over 54K.

Any suggestions welcome.

Sounds like a heck of a lot wrong. All can cause a shake. Good to check yourself.

Yeah, that "click" can be a ujoint. You can put it in nuetral, snug the parking brake, crawl under the back of your truck and grab the shafts on both sides and turn in oppsite directions. You shoudl find the cluprit easily.

The ball joint you can test by jacking the truck under each front control arm (like by the bottom of the shock)--make sure its good and secure--then grab each wheel at 12 and 6 o clock and try to wiggle it. If it has play in it you can lean your head around the wheel as you wiggle to see what's loose. 12 and 6 will likely be ball joints, 3 and 9 will likley be your tie rods. If there is play anywhere you grab it you likely have a loose wheel bearing.

While its jacked you should turn it slowly first to see if a belt is sticking out. Be careful when you spin it because if a steel belt is sticking out they can be as sharp as a knife, If it looks good then spin it quickly and look at it from the front. If its separating it should have a wow in it as it spins. If it is indeed separating you should change it right away as it can cause a blowout.

Good luck! Let us know what you find.

Sounds like a heck of a lot wrong. All can cause a shake. Good to check yourself.

Yeah, that "click" can be a ujoint. You can put it in nuetral, snug the parking brake, crawl under the back of your truck and grab the shafts on both sides and turn in oppsite directions. You shoudl find the cluprit easily.

The ball joint you can test by jacking the truck under each front control arm (like by the bottom of the shock)--make sure its good and secure--then grab each wheel at 12 and 6 o clock and try to wiggle it. If it has play in it you can lean your head around the wheel as you wiggle to see what's loose. 12 and 6 will likely be ball joints, 3 and 9 will likley be your tie rods. If there is play anywhere you grab it you likely have a loose wheel bearing.

While its jacked you should turn it slowly first to see if a belt is sticking out. Be careful when you spin it because if a steel belt is sticking out they can be as sharp as a knife, If it looks good then spin it quickly and look at it from the front. If its separating it should have a wow in it as it spins. If it is indeed separating you should change it right away as it can cause a blowout.

Good luck! Let us know what you find.

Replies like this is EXACTLY why I come here! Thank you, budgie! I have a wedding to go to tomorrow (not my own), but if I get out of that in time, I'll be under the chassis checking all this.

I'm not sure what you mean by:


If its separating it should have a wow in it as it spins.

A wow?

Ha, yeah, I mean like a warp in it. When you spin and look at it straight on, a separating tire will be warped or have an obvious bulge in it. Or even, as I said, be splitting open and have belts sticking out of the tire. It should be pretty obvious if it really is separating.

Oh and by the "grab the shafts on both sides and turn in opposite directions" I meant with one hand on the shaft on each side of the u joint you're checking.

Glad to be of help! I'm curious if your truck really needs all those things or if the shop is being a little overzealous. Any one of those things can cause a shake, but all at once seems a little unlikely.

Hmm. Sorry it took such a long time to reply. I wish, that when I bought my truck, I would have known I would so little time to actually put work into it. Between the shiddy weather we have here in NEPA (no garage), and working 12 hour shifts on a near daily basis, this past month FLEW by.

It still wobbles. That "click" I've been hearing is still there but doesn't always happen.

I'm going to have to get under there some time and really attempt what you said about checking U-joints. I still don't fully comprehend what you mean but I'm sure I can keep researching it and I'll understand.

Thanks for your reply. I'll post back when I have some damn time/weather to check these things.

Doesn that model have a Torsen locking/limited slip in the rear? I believe they click when the lock... that's normal.
I'm sure someone else can add details or call me an idiot, either way I think that part is okay.

Indeed it does have a Torsen rear. I'm still a bit of a noob to rwd and the whole limited slip scene.

So are you saying that when the rear locks, both tires have full traction and that's the click I'm hearing?

If so, that's cool but I don't think that has anything to do with the shimmy I'm feeling at 60+ mph.

The last time I had a shimmy at 60+ it was indeed the steel belts seperating on my left rear tire.....one 200 mile trip...Almost made it home...and had a blow out at 70mph.....You dont want to experience that...I would Check for yourself on the tire...see if theres any Odd Bulges in the sidewall or if theres wires exposed...also LIke said if you spin it and the tire appears to wobble out of the norm....then Yeah Get the tire Replaced very soon...or if you have a full size spare..throw the spare on in place of that tire and see if you still have the shimmy.

crawl under that thing and wiggle the driveline, i have a bad u-joint, it makes a ping-ping sound when i take off, but im goin to wait until it gets pretty bad, lol

The last time I had a shimmy at 60+ it was indeed the steel belts seperating on my left rear tire.....

Ya know, it' weird you should say that. I don't recall that shimmy occurring before I had bought 2 used tires for the rear. My OEM BF Goodrich tires were bald as a babys ass, so, I bought two Wrangler something-or-others with like 55% tread left (I only needed them to last for 2 months). Yeah that shimmy has been there ever since.

OTOH, the pieces of garbage at Lehigh Tire said it's my FRONT driver side tire that's separating, not the rear. I guess IF I get a chance this weekend (we are supposed to get enough snow to put the U.S. back into the ice age), I'll be out there checking each tire one by one.

I'll let you guys know what I find if I can get out there.

OK, sooooooooo I FINALLY got the time/weather/motivation to go out and look at some the aforementioned suggestions in this thread. I looked at all four tires. I checked for belts sticking out, any wobbling when spun, and checked for play at 12-6 and 9-3. 12-6 was rock solid on the both the fronts. 9-3 had about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of play on both tires. Both back tires looked good and were rock solid.

On to the u-joints. I still wasn't 100% sure what to look for here. I tried to reference back here before I went out and looked but the forums were down (Saturday morning). I did, however, take my camera out there. So, for your viewing pleasure, I hope this link works...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJHFlrTF7ls&feature=channel_page

Change out those u-joints.

If they will solve my shimmy problem, then, by all means I will change them.

Just out of curiosity, what looks wrong with them?

If they will solve my shimmy problem, then, by all means I will change them.

Just out of curiosity, what looks wrong with them?

Ok, well I suppose the proper answer is ... you need to drop the driveshaft and remove the bearings inside the assembly. Simply jacking the truck up and looking at them and spinning the driveshaft proves nothing. Until then I retract my previous statement.

Saw this in the related videos on the YouTube page from your video. The link below goes to the Expert Village site where there is a whole series by this one guy on replacing a rear axle u joint on a Ford Explorer. If you can get over this guy saying "the proper service procedure" for every freakin step of the process, it is done properly and presented very professionally. The videos arn't in order so you'll have to just try and watch them the right way.

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/95773_rear-axle-u-joint-inspect.htm

I'll keep those links in mind. I've already had to remove both drive shafts before. I had to remove the transmission to replace the clutch slave cylinder. What fun that was :-(

Great video but you did not do what buggie ask (and his answer was perfect)

Grab the shaft in one hand and the yoke in the other. Turn in opposite directions. (Like your trying to open a jar) If there is any play at all replace the ujoint

I have had bad U-joints before that were so shot that they had no play the needle bearings had locked up not allowing for any movement. Wow did i have a lot of fun driving it to the shop to replace them. Since you live in a moinst environment then i would definately look into them even if they are not loose. And if they are stock. When you put in the new ones make sure you get the greasable kind with a grease fitting built in. That will really help with the moisture. It will keep it out and the u-joints happy for a very long time. Just make sure you do a regular lube on them to keep them free of the moisture.

Moinst?

Oh you mean moist. Yeah well I was out there checking everything the day after an effing snow storm. I HATE NEPA weather....