Last week it was like the jeep was doing the Harlem Shake down the highway. Ripped the steering wheel from my hand and had to stop and limp back home. The frame side track bar bolt was a tiny bit loose as well as the drivers side LCA on both ends. I tightened both and checked everything else to TQ spec and everything is good now. Still shimmying. Sometimes just bump steer sometimes it feels like the beginnings of DW but now I can either, usually, slow down or speed through it. I haven't used a micrometer or dial indicator, but I will be if I can't nail this thing down before the end of the week.I'd go earlier but the place I can borrow one at doesn't open back up until Wednesday. I did check the tie rod ends with a pair of channel locks and there was some up/down play.
Regarding your ball joints, here's what you do:
1. From the axle, use a good floor jack to lift one of your tire off the ground. If you don't have a good floor jack, set your axle on a jack stand to hold it up securely in place.
2. From the side, place a long pry bar under the tire and have someone lift it up and down while you watch the lower ball joint for axial (up and down) movement. Any movement more than 0.050" is too much and would indicate that your ball joint is bad. Of course, if you can see this movement with your eyes, it's definitely bad.
3. Next, grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and try to rock it back and forth while you have someone watch the upper joint for any movement. Any radial (side-to-side) movement more than 0.060" is too much. Again, if you can see the movement with your eyes and without any dial indicator, it's probably bad as well.
It doesn't take much for a ball joint to be bad. Same is true of your unit bearings.
.. It's back.. Moving on to replace the track bar now..
