Jonny Joints???

[tj97jeepster]

Whats the pros and cons in a Jonny Joint? Someone told me that they are not good... But never told me really why. I need new up Control arms in the front and rear and I see alot of jonny joint products. Is there anything else out there besides a jonny joint

thanks
steve

 

[xjmark]

I've had Johnny Joints on  my front longarms for over a year now, and have had no problems with them. The stock style rubber bushings wore out, but the JJ's are still good. My current suspension build up will have 12 JJ's altogether. They have a lot of angular motion, and poly ball races to help isolate vibrations.

I'm currently working on a set of service tools to assemble and disassemble large and small JJ's without the use of a press, and could be used on the trail if need be. I'll be testing out the small joint version as soon as it's finished.

It's important to keep them greased up at all times.

 

[cjshloman]

I know nothing about johnny joints, but keep me in mind when you test out the small  joint......... imp:    :afro:

 

[BrokenXJ]

Johnny Joints Suck!

My Tomken lift has 4 Johnny Joints, and I am on my third set (7 years). I look at those Sky Jacker lifts with 14 Johnny Joints and lmao. They are a PITA to rebuild also, because you need a press to crush all of the contents into the joint. (Rubicon Express has a special threaded joint with a wench to tighten them when they are wasted).

What happens is mud gets into the joint, and acts like sandpaper which loosens the joint. Then you start to get knocking noises. This is why some people say my lift is noisey. The rebuilt kit is $25 bucks a pair and only includes new poly, washers and clips. The last time I rebuilt I needed the Balls because of rust, so I had to purchase the whole joint which included steel cylinder.

Also any wheel hit hard enough to take-out the hub, will also take-out the johnny-joint. Did I even tell you about the time, I came through a bog and into a hill climb when the front wheel fell into 38" bogger hole. Well the front-end didn't turn upward and I crashed straight into the hill! Header panel, ball-joint, hub, and both Johnny joints were wasted.  But the wheeling was great  :grinyes:

BTW: Rubber wears out after about 150,000 miles. My next lift is rubber all the way.

 

[Marty]

Marty Joints are better  :splif: :sombraro: imp: :mega: bj:





Sorry BTT  :wink:

 

[cjshloman]

So if I order a RE lift they will send me my very own wench to work on it.......thats HAWT!!!....so, Hawt.  Bull.

 

[xjmark]

I finished welding up the johnny joint to the trackbar tonight, and decided to try out my prototype JJ assembly tool even though it's not completly done yet.

Joint assembly is effortless. :mrgreen: A couple twists of a wrench, drop the c-clip in place, and you're done.
I'll try to throw a few together when I catch up with my work..................that probably means next December.

 

[tj97jeepster]

Yeah but if JJs arnt good or wont last, what else is out there???

 

[kakirubi]

Jonny Joints are good only if you maintain them properly.  That means lots and lots of grease.  Keep the dirt out at all costs! :sad:

Now rubber on the otherhand, you can put rubber through just about anything! :mrgreen:

 

[BrokenXJ]

Johnny Joints have a grease zerk for greasing them from the outside. This usally works pretty good ( that is if it hasn't been broken off yet.  ) Sometimes you need to drill a little hole through the poly from the zerk hole. This allows the grease to travel into the socket and into a hole in the ball which eventually travels to the bolt. I have found that sometimes grease fails to travel in this path, (like a u-joint when it doesn't come out of all the caps). So greasable grade 8 bolts are good for greasing JJ's from the inside out.

 

[xjmark]

The lower rubber bushings in my Clayton arms wore out in a year and a half.
1/2" of play of the sleeve within the rubber. They use factory parts for all of their lower bushings.
Talking with Adam at Clayton's, I found out that Daimler/Chrysler started farming out some of the bushing manufacturing to save money on replacement parts. It's luck of the draw which ones the dealer gets sent.

The good ones are made by Clevite, and have the name embossed right into the rubber. If you're replacing your factory bushings, look for the "Clevite" name on the bushing. It's also easy to tell then apart by looking at the sleeve. The Clevites have a split in them similar to a large roll pin, the cheap ones have a sleeve without the split in it.
Big difference in quality.