Installing a new tie rod and drag link. What else should I check while I'm in t

MeatHead

New member
Ok here's an update...
Using the AEV procal today in the god forsaken heat here in Florida, I centered the steering wheel. It was off to the right by maybe 1/4 of a turn on the adjuster sleeve. Gonna see if it helps the bas/trac light problem.
 

kevinp

New member
I'm subscribing to this thread for it's teaching potential!

Kevin

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olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
Ok here's an update...
Using the AEV procal today in the god forsaken heat here in Florida, I centered the steering wheel. It was off to the right by maybe 1/4 of a turn on the adjuster sleeve. Gonna see if it helps the bas/trac light problem.

oh good, hopefully that helps with the light. i once forgot to activate the turn signal before i unplugged the procal and my turn signals stayed on. :doh:
it usually takes a couple tries to get it exact. but it's a handy feature.
also , what kind of lift do you have? maybe you're tire wear can be figured out with some adjustments.
 

MeatHead

New member
oh good, hopefully that helps with the light. i once forgot to activate the turn signal before i unplugged the procal and my turn signals stayed on. :doh:
it usually takes a couple tries to get it exact. but it's a handy feature.
also , what kind of lift do you have? maybe you're tire wear can be figured out with some adjustments.

I'm running the AEV 3.5" lift. Never had a single problem until I got new tires put on. On the way home from discount tire the trac control fired off on a mid speed left curve. I knew then this was going to be an issue. I hope this takes care of the that issue. Now to figure out if I really need new tie rod ends. I don't have and play left to right or up and down. Just a lot of rotational slop which I have been told is normal. I still will most likely replace with a HD tie rod and drag link just because. It is a jeep after all that's what we do! This forum is a god send.
 

olram30

Not That Kind of Engineer
I'm running the AEV 3.5" lift. Never had a single problem until I got new tires put on. On the way home from discount tire the trac control fired off on a mid speed left curve. I knew then this was going to be an issue. I hope this takes care of the that issue. Now to figure out if I really need new tie rod ends. I don't have and play left to right or up and down. Just a lot of rotational slop which I have been told is normal. I still will most likely replace with a HD tie rod and drag link just because. It is a jeep after all that's what we do! This forum is a god send.

i hear you, if it makes you sleep better at night, by all means upgrade. i probably didn't need bead lock rims, but i got a stack of them staring at me in my dining room. i still have the factory tires on my jeep, and i swear every time i rotate them it feels funny. but it sounds like your wheel was off just a tad and causing the light to come on.
 
I figured I would post this since it might help you understand what a bad tie-rod and drag link look like. Both of mine are bad. I've been gathering all the parts to rebuild my suspension. The only thing that won't be new are the control arms, since for now they seem to be fine... plus I really don't want to drop another $600-1000 bucks on them right now.

Anyway, I made a short video showing what my bad tie-rods and drag link look and sound like. The are both very loose. Thankfully my jeep is not my daily driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jntDXKuqstQ&feature=youtu.be
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I'm running the AEV 3.5" lift. Never had a single problem until I got new tires put on. On the way home from discount tire the trac control fired off on a mid speed left curve. I knew then this was going to be an issue. I hope this takes care of the that issue. Now to figure out if I really need new tie rod ends. I don't have and play left to right or up and down. Just a lot of rotational slop which I have been told is normal. I still will most likely replace with a HD tie rod and drag link just because. It is a jeep after all that's what we do! This forum is a god send.

A new HD tie-rod is always a great upgrade being that it gets hit so often on the trail and the factory one can bend very easily. Upgrading the drag link is totally unnecessary but, if you have money to burn, more power to you. As far as the TRE's go, as you yourself have mentioned, rotational movement is totally normal. You just do not want to see any shifting side to side or up and down. If you see that, they are bad.
 

MeatHead

New member
I figured I would post this since it might help you understand what a bad tie-rod and drag link look like. Both of mine are bad. I've been gathering all the parts to rebuild my suspension. The only thing that won't be new are the control arms, since for now they seem to be fine... plus I really don't want to drop another $600-1000 bucks on them right now.

Anyway, I made a short video showing what my bad tie-rods and drag link look and sound like. The are both very loose. Thankfully my jeep is not my daily driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jntDXKuqstQ&feature=youtu.be

Yup that could totally be my jeep in that video. Now I had someone tell me that rotational play is normal or is that excessive play. Cuz that is exactly what my tie rod and drag link do and sound like!
 
Well you need to have a little... I stress little... but mine are blown out. On hotter days when I drive the jeep a lot they are very loose by the end of the days. That was my jeep just sitting at home all day. If I go over a bump I can feel the front end is loose. I believe my ball joints are going bad as well, so those are getting replaced during this upgrade as well, yours could be fine. But I would check them out just the same.

On both of the new Synergy HD tiered bar and drag link the ball joints are so tight I can barely move them if at all. They are nice and tight the way they should be... not the loosey goosey mess I have on the jeep currently :cheesy:
 
Also my front end is loose to the point that if I hit a bump the wrong way the front shakes some. I don't have the death wobble per say... maybe a little... but not to the point that I would trust my daughter to drive it.

Thankfully everything needed to fix the problem is in my basement :)
 

MeatHead

New member
Also my front end is loose to the point that if I hit a bump the wrong way the front shakes some. I don't have the death wobble per say... maybe a little... but not to the point that I would trust my daughter to drive it.

Thankfully everything needed to fix the problem is in my basement :)

Yup same problem here. Jeep likes to drift to the left or right after hitting a bump. It like to dart left or right when coming to a stop on crowned or groved out roads. I replaced the ball joint just over a year ago and have only put maybe 15000 miles on them and they were easy miles at that. I had full on death wobble before the new ball joints. Never been so scared driving on the highway before. Took care of that right away. New ball joint and a new track bar and I was good to go.
 
Yup same problem here. Jeep likes to drift to the left or right after hitting a bump. It like to dart left or right when coming to a stop on crowned or groved out roads. I replaced the ball joint just over a year ago and have only put maybe 15000 miles on them and they were easy miles at that. I had full on death wobble before the new ball joints. Never been so scared driving on the highway before. Took care of that right away. New ball joint and a new track bar and I was good to go.

Yup that sounds just like mine.

But everybody here has pretty good ideas.


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