Desperate need of help!

[TonyViv]

Well after a month, my original issues before the full on death wobble are back.
Back story
Little wobble in the steering wheel found bad drag link end at pitman arm.. replaced with flip kit and track bar relocation. then unbearable death wobble
Took to a shop, found bad ball joints, replaced all 4 added c gusset and new rancho steering stabilizer.

Damn Jeep drove so great for 2 weeks, tight steering, 0 bump steer, super smooth.... better than sliced bread

Suddenly one day it started feeling loose, kinda darting back and forth and pulling to the left, sloppy steering wheel. Then the other day over the RR tracks the steering wheel wobble was back(not death wobble), only happened once so far.

So back under I go, triple check all bolts, solid tight... bushings no slop

So here I am as of now....
Drag link and flip...... brand new maybe 300 miles. solid and tight
track bar...... put my stock one back on with the relocation bracket, it had 12k on it when I took it off. Solid tight bolts, move the wheel back and forth zero bushing movement
ball joints... brand new moog.... doubtful they would be bad out of the box?? But maybe? Since I back to the same place before they were installed ?
Rancho 5000 SS....... brand new...... thought it might be an issue with pulling, but supposedly ranchos will not pull or have dead spots
And with the steering wheel wobble, Im afraid to take it off and try with out it after what I went through before
control arms... all solid, good joints and greased

When it was in the shop the tie rod checked out fine although its stock original with 35k miles on it... unit bearings fine.

So unless something else went bad or something fixed went south, I cant figure out what happened since everything was so great for 2 weeks after I left the shop.
Im just frustrated with all the cash Ive got into it with it going south again

Any thing I might be missing or ideas??

Thanks again

Tony

 

[madstiles]

Do you have a drop pitman arm? If yes take it and throw it in the garbage....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using WAYALIFE mobile app

 

[WJCO]

Have someone do the steer test again while you actually put your hand on parts and feel for a popping, not just look. Especially near your drag link adjustment sleeve. Make sure that thing is tight and the clamp seam lines up with the opening in the clamps. Those can loosen up. Check for play in steering box and where pitman arm splines meet the box. Also, if you raised the track bar, and used a bolt on style bracket, check those bolts.

From what it sounds like, your DW hasn't returned correct? Just a shimmy at this point that you're afraid will turn into DW ?

 

[jeeeep]

as mentioned, is there a drop pitman arm on your Jeep?

Are you using a torque wrench to make sure everything is properly torqued? checking for tightness is not enough as some of those torque requirements are pretty high.

do you have a weld on track bar bracket? with your jeep running and foot on the brake, turn your wheel full passenger to full driver and watch the front, does it rise up and down noticeably?

If the front rises and falls as you steer from one side to the other your trackbar is loose somewhere - either the track bar itself or the bracket if it's not welded on.

 

[madstiles]

"with your jeep running and foot on the brake, turn your wheel full passenger to full driver and watch the front, does it rise up and down noticeably?

If the front rises and falls as you steer from one side to the other your trackbar is loose somewhere - either the track bar itself or the bracket if it's not welded on." That's a nifty trick thank you jeeeep!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using WAYALIFE mobile app

 

[jeeeep]

"with your jeep running and foot on the brake, turn your wheel full passenger to full driver and watch the front, does it rise up and down noticeably?

If the front rises and falls as you steer from one side to the other your trackbar is loose somewhere - either the track bar itself or the bracket if it's not welded on." That's a nifty trick thank you jeeeep!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using WAYALIFE mobile app

There should be a little movement but not much when everything is tightened properly.
If you have someone doing that while you look at the track bar & brackets you'll see where the movement is. Good luck!

 

[TonyViv]

Have someone do the steer test again while you actually put your hand on parts and feel for a popping, not just look. Especially near your drag link adjustment sleeve. Make sure that thing is tight and the clamp seam lines up with the opening in the clamps. Those can loosen up. Check for play in steering box and where pitman arm splines meet the box. Also, if you raised the track bar, and used a bolt on style bracket, check those bolts.

From what it sounds like, your DW hasn't returned correct? Just a shimmy at this point that you're afraid will turn into DW ?

No drop pitman arm, drag link is flipped with raised bracket I checked all bolt and impacted them. Ill get the wife to steer for me again and get hands on.
Its now just a shimmy but im afraid if I take the SS off it will be death wobble.... that's what happened before. The SS was masking my ball joint and bad drag link issue, showing me a shimmy in the wheel...So I replaced and flipped the drag link and relocated the track bar, took it for a drive and I got one of the worst scares of my life.

Its just so odd after the ball joints were replaced the jeep drove so so good, I mean amazing like Ive never felt in either of the jeeps Ive had.
Then to have it go to shit is just depressing.

Ill do some more looking sorry to be a pain in the ass but thanks for all your advice

Tony

 

[Heavyhaul07]

Make sure the nuts on ball joints are tight.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app

 

[TonyViv]

Make sure the nuts on ball joints are tight.



Funny I haven't checked but thought of that.... and said to myself, no that couldn't be the problem I paid someone to fix that, and the paint marks still line up(he painted every bolt nut with a line for easy checks)...... probably a foolish thought
It does make a good possible sense though
Ill pull the pins and check that tomorrow

 

[jeeeep]

Make sure the nuts on ball joints are tight.



Funny I haven't checked but thought of that.... and said to myself, no that couldn't be the problem I paid someone to fix that, and the paint marks still line up(he painted every bolt nut with a line for easy checks)...... probably a foolish thought
It does make a good possible sense though
Ill pull the pins and check that tomorrow

check them with a torque wrench, if the castle nut doesn't line up with the cotter pin hole at the proper torque, go a little tighter until the castle nut opening and cotter pin hole line up.

don't make them tighter for the sake of making them tighter, it is possible to make them tighter but you want them at the proper torque.

get someone to turn the steering wheel while you watch the track bar, any excess movement in it will give you grief. also get your tires balanced again.

I don't care for the on rim weights as they were always getting knocked off. I've also had stick on weights fall off when the surface doesn't get cleaned properly and they don't stick as well.

 

[TonyViv]

check them with a torque wrench, if the castle nut doesn't line up with the cotter pin hole at the proper torque, go a little tighter until the castle nut opening and cotter pin hole line up.

don't make them tighter for the sake of making them tighter, it is possible to make them tighter but you want them at the proper torque.

get someone to turn the steering wheel while you watch the track bar, any excess movement in it will give you grief. also get your tires balanced again.

I don't care for the on rim weights as they were always getting knocked off. I've also had stick on weights fall off when the surface doesn't get cleaned properly and they don't stick as well.

I had them balanced shortly before the ball joints but since I have the stick ons, it seems like they are way off every time I get them done. Seems like I get them done every couple months.. Thanks Discount... I need to check and see if a Discount around here has a road force balance machine and if its covered under the unlimited balances

Ill recheck the track bar again, I removed the adjustable one when I put on the raised bracket and put the stock(12k miles on it) back on.

Looks like Ive got lots of stuff to do on my 1 and only day off tomorrow

 

[madstiles]

Did you replace with the factory plastic joints? Or upgrade

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using WAYALIFE mobile app

 

[jeeeep]

I had them balanced shortly before the ball joints but since I have the stick ons, it seems like they are way off every time I get them done. Seems like I get them done every couple months.. Thanks Discount... I need to check and see if a Discount around here has a road force balance machine and if its covered under the unlimited balances

Ill recheck the track bar again, I removed the adjustable one when I put on the raised bracket and put the stock(12k miles on it) back on.

Looks like Ive got lots of stuff to do on my 1 and only day off tomorrow

There have been a few times I've had to go back to Discount a couple of times to get mine rebalanced right after I left, really depends on who does it.

Once you let them know to check for weights that fell off cause you think they are falling off, they tend to do a better job of making sure they clean the surface better to get a good sticking area.

In my experience with Discount, it's covered under the unlimited balances.

 

[TonyViv]

Did you replace with the factory plastic joints? Or upgrade

used moog

 

[TonyViv]

Well spent a couple hours under the jeep today driving my daughter crazy moving the steering wheel back and forth and heres what I found..

New ball joints...... bolts solid and tight. I missed them bad before I guess my pry bar isn't long enough but they are brand new any chance they are shit out of the box

New drag link flip.... bolts solid and tight

Tie rod... Someone before mentioned getting hands on it to feel clunks and movement, thank you.... Felt a clunk but removed my SS and it went away. reinstalled SS and nothing felt, SS must have been slightly loose

Control arms... all solid, greased and looking good

Drag link.... I put the stock(12k) back on when I did the relocation bracket.... both bushings look solid, no movement The one thing I did notice is the bar itself seems to be flexing slightly, I don't know if this could cause issues?? I though about putting my adjustable(rough country) back on and seeing what happens. It collapses small enough to the stock size.

Sector shaft.. Not really sure what to look for but didn't see or feel anything odd or loose with it moving around.

The tires were just balanced recently but Ill go and have it and a rotation done again.. I called Discount, one close to me has a road force balancer but they say its not covered under unlimited balance plan.. He also said my tires(metric 35s) were to big to fit in the machine, its meant for sport or small truck tires...I call bs, but what do I know

So again im back in the same place as before, If I can get my day off Friday Ill try to go back to the shop that did the ball joints and c gussets
Ive never had troubles like this before that I couldn't figure out and am so lost
Again everything was so great for those couple weeks..... I can only imagine something that was fixed went to shit or something new went
But I cant figure it out
I appreciate all your help

 

[WJCO]

Did you check unit bearings?

 

[jeeeep]

odd Discount would tell you your tires are too big to balance on the road force. the Discount near me balanced my 315's regularly no issues, they now balance my 37's on beadlocks with no issues.

 

[TonyViv]

Did you check unit bearings?

no movement with the unit bearings

 

[TonyViv]

odd Discount would tell you your tires are too big to balance on the road force. the Discount near me balanced my 315's regularly no issues, they now balance my 37's on beadlocks with no issues.

Im guessing/hoping I got the wrong guy on the phone who may be "new"
He also said RF balancing isn't part of the normal tire purchasing balance package

 

[WJCO]

Im guessing/hoping I got the wrong guy on the phone who may be "new"
He also said RF balancing isn't part of the normal tire purchasing balance package

Road force balancing is much more time consuming. Most shops charge more.