I put a two inch leveling kit on my 96 4x4 i took it to les schwab for an alignment and they told me they can't align it because the ball joints were bad they also said the front u joints were bad. they gave me oem limits and how far my ball joints had worn and showed me the movement, but when i asked about the u joints they changed the subject, how can i check those for myself, they're quoting 800 for ball joints u joint and reallignment. i saw ball joint boots on line for $4 a pair will that work for the ball joints?

 

If the ball joints are bad you need to replace them, the boots are the rubber pieces that seal out dirt and water and seal in grease. You should get good quality ball joints, cheap ones do not last very long. If there is any slop in the front u-joints you should replace them when you have the front end torn apart to replace the ball joints.

 

yeah ball joints and u joints are generally expensive. moog has good ball joints. ball joints are something you can replace by yourself. but you need to be mechanically inclined at least enough to know slightly what your doing.

 

To check the u-joints like you asked, you can try to push or pull the front drive shaft by the u-joint and if there is any side to side play, then it needs to be replaced. I would also recomend moog ball joints.

 

thanks, i ended up having them replaced, i was going to do it myself, but time was a bigger issue than money, first time for everything i guess.

 

just got back from the alignment, and they're saying they can't put it into specs without i beam drop brackets, i didn't think I'd need drop brackets for a 2 inch lift. the camber is out of specs 1 degree on the left and .5 on the right. caster and toe are fine, is it off enough to worry about anyway?