Yesterday on my way home the steering wheel started shaking violently, and then I heard a loud pop. I was able to limp home, but don't think I should have. When I got home I found a busted passenger CV, and half the ball bearings were missing. I was able to pull the CV, and this is what I found. Note that this picture was taken after I cleaned the shaft, and degreased it.
With having one CV now toast, and I'm sure the other is right behind. I decided to go ahead with the front end rebuild starting today. This is something that I already had planned on doing just not this soon. I had everything on hand that I needed for the complete front end rebuild with the exception of the CV's, and the UBJ's. After a quick trip to Napa I had those parts coming, and they'd be in by 2:00. After getting the passenger side completely pulled apart I found something that I was not happy about.
For everybody that considers replacing LBJ's with something other the OEM you might want to take note. I replaced my LBJ's in July of 2014 with some Napa LBJ's. With about 18 months of being on the vehicle, and about 12,000 miles they were toast. The boots were in perfect condition, and none of the grease had leaked out. However, that LBJ's were dry as a bone. I could hardly move them hand, and when I did you could hear the grinding. That being said I will be running OEM from this point on. I also found that UBJ's, and TRE's were toast. I'm replacing the UBJ's, innner TRE's, and outter TRE's with Senki 555's that I picked up from Low Range.
This is the list of what I'm replacing:
UCA's w/OEM bushings
UBJ's
LCA's w/Whiteline bushings
LBJ's
New Cam Bolts
Inner TRE's
Outter TRE's
Rubber boots
Sway bar links
Spindles w/OEM bearings
CV shafts
Here's the progress so far.