Kinarfi

Yes, it still needs snap rings. I plan to make at least 4 for the upper and lower ball joints and if I have enough parts & pieces to make more, I will and then choose what I think are the 4 best.

Not replacing the tie rod ends, yet, but I am rebuilding the ball joints. I take the ball joint and grind the weld off, most of the welds are broken any way, and unscrew the cap off and then, using a Dremel, I remove all the burrs from the weld marks. I then grind down body so the cap can be screwed down a little tighter on the ball, thus removing some or all of the excess play in the ball joint. I also use my Dremel to grind a very small channels in the ball so grease can pass from the zerk that I mount in the cap to the rubber boot so the ball is surrounded by fresh grease which should increase it's life span considerably, if I had new ball joints from Joyner, I would do the same to them also, zerk, groove the ball, etc. When I'm all done, I weld the cap a bit more solidly than it was originally. I also plan to use a generous amount of Loctite to secure the ball joint. Because I have a few extra ball joints, I plan to take the most damaged one, and grind it down so it is flush with the top of the ball joint mount and then drill a small hole between the mount and the ground down ball joint so I can put a small pin between the bracket and joint to keep it from being able to turn. Kinarfi

Yes, I bought 8 heim joints from McMaster car and I have them screwed into the A arms and right side is mounted. Smooth motion and no play.

Like you, I'm am having no luck with the internet, Unlike you, one of the local O'reilly's employees let me go look at brake cylinders when I needed to, but he was probably in trouble because the manager escorted me out of the back soon after. Oh welllll, I'll figure something out, Kinarfi

My heim joint problem is solved, Now on to the ball joint problem, any one have any good sources or leads as where to get them?

This and the other photos ought to have you covered

This and the other photos ought to have you covered

Josh, here are 2 photos that should help, the 4 x 4 unit is doide protected against being hooked up backward, if you get the control wires backwards, you can just reverse them.

I'll look & take photos today

Hey Lenny, can you explain these ratings for Ball Joint Rod Ends, the McMaster-Carr joint I bought say "Static Radial Load Cap., lbs. -- 21,966" The VBX POS16 Bearing says "Basic Dynamic Load Rating: 2,140 KGF & Basic Static Load Rating: 2,590 KGF" ( 4717 lb & 5709 lb) Does this mean that the McMaster-Carr Heim joint will handle aprox 4 times what the VBX will handle? If so, maybe thats why McMaster cost's a little more than twice the VBX. Thanks

is it possible that you disconnect all the gauges and the hook the wrong plugs to the wrong gauges. Do the back lights come on when you turn on the key.

a full tank has 3 ohms to ground, empty has 110 ohms to ground, so if you just ground the wire to the fuel tank, the gauge will show full and hit the pin, 50 ohms will be near center. Look at the part & pieces & info, there's schematics of the fuel sender unit for the early and later 2008 model troopers

The specs on this particular joint is that it can handle a 23° movement, so if the tie rod is 18"(an aprox guess) you could only have 18" time (the tangent of 23°) 0.42447481620960474202353206294252=7.6405466917728853564235771329654" of wheel travel if the bolt through the ball is vertical, if the shank is vertical, the max turn angle from full left to full right would be 23° I Don't think they would work, IMHO.

does the light in each of the gauges come on

FYI, Ball Joint Rod Ends AKA Heim Joints 16 x2.0mm thread, 16mm ID, 21 mm thick, I got mine at McMaster-Carr 4483T36 PTFE/Kevlar Insert, M16 x 2.0 x 40.mm shank, 21,966 lb static radial load capacity, 23°, $25.60 ea. or $204.80 for 8 + shipping---thats $200 more than having Lenny do the compressing thing, Charlie , a lot cheaper, but it wouldn't have worked for as long as these will.

schematic is already attached, computer wiring isat the bottom of part, pieces & info, down load them and print them. Just looked at the schematics, oil, fuel, water temperature, electric gauges definitely DO NOT have anything to do with the computer. Speed and tach signals do appear to come from the computer as a pulse width modulated signal on wire 66 (engine speed) and 39 (vehicle speed)

pulled all the heim joints with the plan to have Lenny do the compression thing on them, but as I was cleaning them, I found a piece of wire hanging out of one of them and then on the next one, I had a patch of mesh come out, SCRAP that plan. Where have others found heim joints. Thanks! photo removed, needed the space elsewhere, Kinarfi

computer has nothing to do with gauges. the gauges have the same power and the same ground, try running a new ground from frame to - of each of the gauges, one at a time. If that doesn't work, try it on the + side with a + wire

do you have a cell phone? what type, some smart phones have a gps built in and with the right app, you have a good gps that you can load you map onto for the area you plan to play on if it is in an area with no service. I have an app called MyTrails and if I know where I'm headed for, I tell the phone to create an offline map and it downloads the info from google maps or who ever else I want it load from, then it creates and records where I go and show where I can go.

did you get your problem fixed? On the trooper, the fan and fuel pump run for a few moments, then shuts off until you start and run continuously while the engine is running, If the renegade is supposed to be the same way, you may have a stuck or welded relay, swap the fuel and fan relays and see if that problem moves from one to the other.

Cabela's has some on sale.

do you have the schematic? if you look at the power for all the gauges, it comes from the key switch as ign2 or 2nd gear on some schematics, check to see if you have power to the + of the gauge and that you don't have it to the - of the gauge. Where you have power on the ground like you stated, it means that the ground wire is loose, so the voltage is passing through the gauge and showing up on the ground. you might try using a brake light filament as your test light because it will pull enough current to power up your gauge. another test would be to put one end of you tester on + and then test the ground of you gauges, if it does not light, you definitely have a loose ground. Another problem area is inside the fuse block, look at where the fuses plug in and see if any of the plastic appears to be melted nearly melted. You may want to pull the fuse block and look at the back side for discolored wires and connectors.

Hi Newfietrucker, Welcome to the forum. Would you please fill out your profile so we can all get to know you a little better, who knows, maybe your just around the corner from someone who can help. I moved your post that was in the Pinned technical to here, that's why it looks like a double post. It sounds to me like you lost a fuse, If you don't have a manual with a wiring diagram, you can get it from www.jmcmotors.us,

where are you at? you may want to post a photo of it,

I am taking on a nasty problem I have, the noisy clunking front end, the play in the steering, the looseness of the front end in general and more dampening on the shock rebound. I am going to try Lennys suggestion of reshaping the brass in the heim joints via compression, the ball joints are so loose that they fall out when the snap ring is removed and I can also feel play in them, My plan is to weld some heavier steel onto the end A arm and then cut through the two of them and then cinch it down on the ball joint like my doctored parts drawing. I could use 2 nuts and drill out one of them so I can thread into the second one or drill through a block of steel and use bolt & nut. If anyone has some input about making the ball joint socket into a clamp type socket, I would like to hear your comments. I also plan to change the bearings and I already the shims to stiffen up the rebound and the bearings. photo removed, needed the space elsewhere, Kinarfi