HELP!!!!! Dynatrac Ball Joints

Thatredjeep

Thatredjeep

New member
Alright everyone I need so help fast.
I just installed Dynatrac Ball Joints on my parents JK and then drove it from work which is about 35 miles from my house. and the whole time at any speed the steering wheel was walking all over the place. and then if I didn't have the traction control off, the traction control would kit in and make it even worse.

Is it normal for the Dynatrac Ball Joints to behave this way at first? I was reading some other threads about different ball joints, and people were saying that there is a break in period? Is this true for the Dynatrac Ball Joints?

And I think the reason for the traction control nonsense, is that the system is seeing that the steering wheel is moving back and forth more than it should (as if i was driving on ice) and so it is applying the brakes so that I slow down to a safer speed maybe? correct me if I'm wrong.

I need responses fast though. I need to know if i should take it back to work or not
 
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Heavyhaul07

Heavyhaul07

New member
I just installed some synergy ball joint in my 12 jku. Same thing. Tight steering feel. Flighty and wonders. I do need to do an alignment. I've read the same thing about tight, stiff ball joints that need break in. I've done dynatrac o. Dodge diesels and havent had that problem before.
 
SFNick

SFNick

New member
Thatredjeep said:
Alright everyone I need so help fast.
I just installed Dynatrac Ball Joints on my parents JK and then drove it from work which is about 35 miles from my house. and the whole time at any speed the steering wheel was walking all over the place. and then if I didn't have the traction control off, the traction control would kit in and make it even worse.

Is it normal for the Dynatrac Ball Joints to behave this way at first? I was reading some other threads about different ball joints, and people were saying that there is a break in period? Is this true for the Dynatrac Ball Joints?

And I think the reason for the traction control nonsense, is that the system is seeing that the steering wheel is moving back and forth more than it should (as if i was driving on ice) and so it is applying the brakes so that I slow down to a safer speed maybe? correct me if I'm wrong.

I need responses fast though. I need to know if i should take it back to work or not

P.S. I'm a tech at an off road shop. Also First time dealing with Dynatrac BJ
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I just installed a set with no issues at all. What's your castor set at?
 
SFNick

SFNick

New member
Thatredjeep said:
Hmmmm..... are the dynatrac BA have caster adjustments?
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No, not that I'm aware of. They are a spherical bearing ball joint which could be giving you smoother steering vs a wore out ball and socket joint. I don't know any details on your jeep but if its lifted with no castor correction, the smoother steering could be exaggerating your alignment issues.
 
Thatredjeep

Thatredjeep

New member
SFNick said:
No, not that I'm aware of. They are a spherical bearing ball joint which could be giving you smoother steering vs a wore out ball and socket joint. I don't know any details on your jeep but if its lifted with no castor correction, the smoother steering could be exaggerating your alignment issues.
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So I pulled it on the alignment rack and the caster is at 4.3 right at spec.
 
MattAlpha

MattAlpha

Caught the Bug
I would re-torque all of your steering components to see if anything is loose. If everything is properly set, move on and verify that the ball joints are fully pressed in and have no gap or movement.
 
JoeB-JKURX

JoeB-JKURX

New member
I had Dynatrac Prosteers installed in my 2014 JKUR the middle of last month. When I first drove them around at neighborhood speeds, it seemed nice and tight but no control issues. However, when I got it out on the freeway, it got really freaky - wandered all over the lane, seemed to track in the semi ruts, and darted around on bumps of any appreciable size. None of this occurred with my stock ball joints (though I did have shimmy issues and found the old BJs to be very loose). The day after, I was going about 75 on the freeway under cruise control and hit a concrete strip across the asphalt. The Jeep jumped right, then left and the ESC kicked in and turned the cruise off. With about 450 miles, now, it seems to be getting better though I believe it is still harder to control than stock. Presumably (and I've seen this posted on other forums) it will be all but normal at about 1000 miles.

Bottom line is that what you are seeing is probably at the bad end of normal for new Prosteers.
 
utiadam

utiadam

LOSER
I've had my dynatrac ball joints in for almost a year now i think but i really don't remember having any handling differences afterwards, especially anything negative.
 
DWiggles

DWiggles

Caught the Bug
Thatredjeep said:
P.S. I'm a tech at an off road shop. Also First time dealing with Dynatrac BJ
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OverlanderJK said:
Not sure why you would admit that.
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Thatredjeep said:
So people don't assume I installed them wrong or something like that. That's what my thought process was.
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Berzerker said:
Hahahahaha that is damn funny!
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Thatredjeep said:
Hmmmm..... are the dynatrac BJ have caster adjustments?
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This is why we cant have nice things... or pay for labor... or take our jeeps to ANY offroad shop outside of a few select jeep shops who have EARNED trust... Your a TECH at an OFF ROAD SHOP and you don't know how to adjust CASTER?!

Asking for someones advice is one thing, but you should probably ask your MANAGER, so hopefully he will put 2 and 2 together and have you working under someone you can learn from before you send people off with parts incorrectly installed... :doh:

Sorry for the vent, It just pisses me off when I see people PAY for someone to "professionally" fuck up their vehicle... :naw:
 
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hinrichs

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
Was just thinking about this earlier, and this seems like a dumb thing to even ask. But are they greased?
 
Havoc40

Havoc40

New member
I've had mine installed for about 3,000 miles now. Nothing but positive things to say about them. Install was pretty straight forward, IMO.

I'm wondering if they were installed correctly? After seeing mine, I had a buddy decide to upgrade to these. He didn't pull the e-clips off before installing the upper, using the install rings I had bought for mine. Needless to say, it cost him another $500 and I had to do the install. These could also get messed up if you didn't have the proper "cups" for the ball joint press.
 
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JoeB-JKURX

JoeB-JKURX

New member
Out of curiosity, was your friend's rig driveable after being installed with the e-clip in place? I recall from when mine were installed that trying to install the upper with the e-clip in place would probably screw up the e-clip but it doesn't seem like it would do much else to the ball joints. If it were damaged, it seems simple to just get another (from Dynatrac or locally). If he pulled the e-clip after damaging it and tried to drive before replacing it, the upper would probably be loose.

I expect your friend's biggest problem was that he can't read (removing the e-clip is the first thing that Dynatrac says to do before installing the upper). What was the extra $500 for?
 
AlStew

AlStew

New member
Maybe check the torque specs? I almost made a mistake by over-torquing and this would have caused me issues.

I also have nothing but positive things to say about these ball joints. With a little help from this forum and following instructions the install went well.

I have had the ball joints on both stock and now 37's with Evo bolt on's and steering was noticeably more tight and the steering tracked straighter.
 
Havoc40

Havoc40

New member
JoeB-JKURX said:
Out of curiosity, was your friend's rig driveable after being installed with the e-clip in place? I recall from when mine were installed that trying to install the upper with the e-clip in place would probably screw up the e-clip but it doesn't seem like it would do much else to the ball joints. If it were damaged, it seems simple to just get another (from Dynatrac or locally). If he pulled the e-clip after damaging it and tried to drive before replacing it, the upper would probably be loose.

I expect your friend's biggest problem was that he can't read (removing the e-clip is the first thing that Dynatrac says to do before installing the upper). What was the extra $500 for?
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I was going to edit my post...figuring somebody would say just this lol. He could have got away with just buying the rebuild kit. He didn't want "rebuilt" brand new ball joints. Perfect example of more $$ than sense. He chalked it up as "paying for education at the school of hard knocks". Anyway, he bought brand new ball joints before bringing it to me.

When he pressed them in with the clip, it somehow altered the joint preload causing it to pop and have super tight steering. He never took it over 35mph getting it to my shop. Tomorrow I'll look to see if he took the old ones with him...I'm pretty sure I saw them the other day. If he didn't, I'll pull them apart and snap some pics.
 
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