Omg Have You Checked Your Lower Ball Joint Nut

[Oak]

Been reading Bout noises and the cotter pin tsb. Had some noise on the passenger side I've been trying to trace down.

So decided to see if my lower not was ok. Cotter pin was fine and after 27k miles the nut hadn't ever been removed.

As soon as the cotter pin was out the nut literal spun in my hand. Absolutely no torque on it at all. Torqued to specs after putting blue lock tight and checked everything else on Noth sides.

Driver side lower nut needed torqued up but it wasn't lose like the passenger side.

Have to wonder if jeep found out that there was a missing torque check during assembly on the passenger side by they're calling it a cotter pin issue.

No more noise or clanking on the test drive.

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[Lunentucker]

It's one of the first things I checked on mine, after reading so many forum posts about overlooked proper torquing on the vehicle and having one of my rear sway bar link bolts simply fall out.
Check everything.

 

[KQL]

With the cotter pin there, what is the role of adding loctite? I ask since adding any lubricant to the threads can impact the effective torque you’re applying. Now it may not matter with loctite (not really a lube and dry torque spec is followed still) but unless you’re thinking that cotter pin might shear off, loctite seems superfluous and possibly affects torque? Either way, thanks for the tip on this. Had seen some older mentions of those castle nuts being loose, but good to bump it up to the top of people’s check lists.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

With the cotter pin there, what is the role of adding loctite? I ask since adding any lubricant to the threads can impact the effective torque you’re applying. Now it may not matter with loctite (not really a lube and dry torque spec is followed still) but unless you’re thinking that cotter pin might shear off,? Either way, thanks for the tip on this. Had seen some older mentions of those castle nuts being loose, but good to bump it up to the top of people’s check lists.

Agreed - the torque spec is for dry threads. LT adds a "lube" of sorts.
Once the nut is torqued and if the hole doesn't line up, moved tighter to the next hole line-up, then the pin put in place, it can't go anywhere. The Loctite doesn't do squat but add lube to the threads when tightening.

loctite seems superfluous and possibly affects torque?

Yes.

Cotter pins don't sheer.

 

[Oak]

With the cotter pin there, what is the role of adding loctite? I ask since adding any lubricant to the threads can impact the effective torque you’re applying. Now it may not matter with loctite (not really a lube and dry torque spec is followed still) but unless you’re thinking that cotter pin might shear off, loctite seems superfluous and possibly affects torque? Either way, thanks for the tip on this. Had seen some older mentions of those castle nuts being loose, but good to bump it up to the top of people’s check lists.

It had a pin there before and although it can't fall off I don't want to deal with it getting lose...even a little lol

 

[Liftr]

I’ll bite. Does anyone have a convenient list of torque specs?

 

[chorky]

wasn't this issue fixed by 2021?

 

[SoCal Gunner]

I’ll bite. Does anyone have a convenient list of torque specs?

...and a current list of items I need to go out and check? Ugh, the anxiety now!

 

[KQL]

I’ll bite. Does anyone have a convenient list of torque specs?

Looks like 35 ft-lb for the lower and 55 for the upper ball joints.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It had a pin there before and although it can't fall off I don't want to deal with it getting lose...even a little lol

Trust me, the Loctite is 150% redundant. It won't matter a lick. With the proper torque and a properly fitting cotter pin, it can't budge even a bit, and it won't. A correctly set joint like that has nothing to make it move.
I've worked with many hundreds of such parts on trucks bigger than these.
The problem with yours was that it was either not torqued properly to begin with - OR, there's a problem with the taper.
The problem is that the connections are misunderstood. Once the cotter pin is in, it can't move or come loose - not from the nut moving on the threads. That means there were other issues.

This nut - 250 pound/feet of torque, then the cotter pin. They hold up to 400-500 hp (sometimes more) drag racing. They don't come loose.

 

[bd100]

On first oil change I discovered the oil drain plug was slightly more than finger tight from the factory.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

On first oil change I discovered the oil drain plug was slightly more than finger tight from the factory.

Engine assembled in Mexico................. let's blame the correct factory LOL

When my 2022 was built, I got info from an FCA employee in that plant who dug into the details of my build and said "it was a clean build, 1 bolt and one clip were flagged and taken care of" or words to that effect, but it was otherwise clean going through inspection.
So far, that's been pretty true. The only issues were related to things that could have never been caught in any inspection, no matter how deep or thorough the inspection. And at this point, it looks like even those two things have been resolved by the dealer.

 

[Casique]

Same here lower ball joints were loose.

 

[ChadM]

Cotter pins don't sheer.

Challange Accepted! :-D

 

[chorky]

Engine assembled in Mexico................. let's blame the correct factory LOL

When my 2022 was built, I got info from an FCA employee in that plant who dug into the details of my build and said "it was a clean build, 1 bolt and one clip were flagged and taken care of" or words to that effect, but it was otherwise clean going through inspection.
So far, that's been pretty true. The only issues were related to things that could have never been caught in any inspection, no matter how deep or thorough the inspection. And at this point, it looks like even those two things have been resolved by the dealer.

that would be something pretty cool for owners to get access to. That way they could rest assured in some aspects. Although I bet they dont provide that publicly as it would cause a lot of worry or concerns when folks saw quality flags on their vehicles. But I wish I had something to that effect to know what, if anything, needs to be looked at closely. Like the bed misalignment lol

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