I have a 2005 Jeep Wrangler with just under 40,000 miles on it . My dealership tells me I need to have the ball joints replaced. Is that normal wear for that age and amount of use?

Ball bearings or ball joints? Ball joints do go bad about that milage on your truck.

Hi there,

By any chance is the transfer case engaged?

A locked drive train could account for the noise being made only on turns.

Bring the transfer case to neutral then back to 2-high.

Or try to duplicate the problem by putting it into 4-high. THAT way the dealership would know exactly what to look at.

BEST REGARDS
Mike

That may be normal with 7 inches of lift and large tire. If it has not been in for an alignment after the install I would do that ASAP. 35" tires are expensive to burn up.

you should service them about every 75,000 miles under normal conditions and 50,000 miles under severe conditions

The factory u-joints use plastic injection for retainers so when it comes time to replace the factory u-joint use a torch to heat the u-joint cups and you will see a melted plastic worm come out the side of the drive shaft, now you can drive out the old joint.
The replacement joint will use inner c-clips.

it doesn't "unbolt" it is pressed in and out with a special ball joint press tool, about $150 to buy a decent one.

Good excuse! You need to find a shop that does alignments and have special attention to caster. However, did the shake happen from when you first got it or did it develop over time? Check all front components for wear (by all I mean all) especially ball joints and steering damper (the sideways shock on the linkage) All can cause this condition.

It could be lash in the differential which is normal, but it could also be a loose u-joint in the driveshaft. Check the rear driveshaft u-joints.

HAVE YOU CHECKED THE BALL JOINTS ? jack it up and raise one of the wheels off the ground putting a bar under the tire raise and lower the bar to see if there is movemement in the ball joint..

Go back to the dealership and SCREAM, that may fix your problem.