88 Wrangler 4x4 ball jts...

It's not a job that can be done easily in a driveway. Those SOB's need to be pressed into the knuckle, I haven't seen any on a Jeep that could be 'sucked' into place.

You have to do a preload on that sleeve using a special notched wrench with the lower ball in place, then set in the top ball's nut.

On the last one I tried, when I tightened the top nut, it just sucked the ball joint out of the socket. Didn't matter the order of tightening. No amount of jacking, 8' pry bars with 2 big construction workers hanging on it, a 10 lb sledge or any amount of cussing would get those damn things to seat. One gent I know used a 40 ton press to get his to seat.

I recommend you get the cheap Haynes manual for your Jeep. It is about $20.00 and has the procedure outlined with the torque settings. The Haynes CJ manual is actually the better one for your engine bay and wiring, but the YJ one should do for the ball joints.

Mike