Steering seems flighty after ball joint install

B

Blkfenderslookbetter

New member
NFRs2000NYC said:
Figured I'd update. After taking a cross country trip and getting the mileage up to 11K, I can say all is well, steering is normal, and Jeep drives great. No complaints at all. I would say steering returned to normal after around 1000 miles or so. The key isn't mileage. Some guys that drive 95% highway might take a lot longer than a city guy because it's not the mileage that matters, but the constant turning back and forth, since that's what rounds out the metal. To me it only makes sense. If your balljoint is metal, and it is nice and tight, it will have to be a little stiff on the steering until it wears in.
Click to expand...

I've got a new D44 Rubicon axle at the local shop having sleeves, gussets, and the Synergy ball joints installed right now.... so I'm reading this thread with great interest. Hopefully, I'll be one of the lucky ones and have no issues from the start,... Is their anything to do to help the break in process go faster? More grease? Slalom course runs? LOL
 
jeffj

jeffj

Caught the Bug
Blkfenderslookbetter said:
I've got a new D44 Rubicon axle at the local shop having sleeves, gussets, and the Synergy ball joints installed right now.... so I'm reading this thread with great interest. Hopefully, I'll be one of the lucky ones and have no issues from the start,... Is their anything to do to help the break in process go faster? More grease? Slalom course runs? LOL
Click to expand...

Run the hell out of it.
 
NFRs2000NYC

NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
Blkfenderslookbetter said:
I've got a new D44 Rubicon axle at the local shop having sleeves, gussets, and the Synergy ball joints installed right now.... so I'm reading this thread with great interest. Hopefully, I'll be one of the lucky ones and have no issues from the start,... Is their anything to do to help the break in process go faster? More grease? Slalom course runs? LOL
Click to expand...

IMHO, the more 90 degree turns you make, the faster they will break in....so take local roads and make as many turns as possible. Curvy roads work well also. :D
 
ERAUGrad04

ERAUGrad04

Caught the Bug
Blkfenderslookbetter said:
I've got a new D44 Rubicon axle at the local shop having sleeves, gussets, and the Synergy ball joints installed right now.... so I'm reading this thread with great interest. Hopefully, I'll be one of the lucky ones and have no issues from the start,... Is their anything to do to help the break in process go faster? More grease? Slalom course runs? LOL
Click to expand...

Might be too late, but if you can, I might recommend going with Dynatrac ball joints right from the start with your 37" Nittos. I spent a lot of time researching ball joints and the Synergys seem to do well up to 33 maybe 35" tires. When you get to the heavy 37" tires, and possibly less backspacing, the joints seem to wear our pretty quick.

I don't think you'll have any issues right off the bat, but its possible they start getting sloppy in a couple of years.

FWIW, most new ball joints are going to tight for a little bit as they break in. I think my Dynatracs took 500-750mi to really feel broken in.
 
BigPrince

BigPrince

New member
Just an update for those that may read this thread - I was in the process of installing synergy ball joints when I read this thread and was dreading what I may find after install. I'm happy to say that the steering is great after 600mi. It was a tad flighty to start but is very smooth now. I do have Reid knuckles, synergy draglink flip, tie rod, and Trackbar as well so not sure if those variables would change the result if you just replaced the ball joints on a stock setup but for me, everything seems good to go. I'll go with dynatracs when I swap axles next year.
 
maragon5

maragon5

Member
Thanks for this thread. I just finished a synergy ball joint a C gusset install and the sticking / delay symptoms described here are spot on! Glad to know it won't last long. I can wait it out 1,000mi if I have to. Also didn't want to install prosteers until I'm ready to swap axles. Happy Jeeping.
 
Lil Nasty

Lil Nasty

Member
maragon5 said:
Thanks for this thread. I just finished a synergy ball joint a C gusset install and the sticking / delay symptoms described here are spot on! Glad to know it won't last long. I can wait it out 1,000mi if I have to. Also didn't want to install prosteers until I'm ready to swap axles. Happy Jeeping.
Click to expand...

Bump for future searches. I've installed the Crown HD ball joints which are the same as synergy and alloy. I'm here to report the same steering sticking issue that has been mentioned here. Hopefully they "free" up after some use. I have some used prosteer's that need rebuilding waiting for a pro-rock to install them in.

UPDATE: My ball joints did break in as predicted. Roughly 500 miles of shitty roads and they are back to normal, plus the steering is better and quieter.
 
Last edited:
O

OkstateJK

New member
Another bump for the thread. I am really glad I found this, I installed Alloy ball joints last weekend and they feel pretty awful right now. Luckily the guy who helped me had put Synergy in his Jeep and warned me about the odd steering feel they have. He said his wife refused to drive it after the install until they broke in, but within 1000 miles he said they were all good.

I've only put maybe 100 miles on them so far and they feel very "sticky". The same issue of the wheel not wanting to return to center and a slight delay in steering is happening with mine. Everything was torqued to spec (or within 5 lbs since right at spec I couldn't get the cotter pin hole to line up). I am taking a trip this weekend around the Ouachita Mountains in Western Arkansas so lots of curvy gravel/dirt roads. I will post back with how they perform once they've warn in. I'm hoping all is good before my overlanding trip on Route 66 to the Grand Canyon next month. I can say 2200 miles of driving with the way they feel right now would be a chore.
 
PrestonBarringer

PrestonBarringer

New member
Wish I would have seen this two weeks ago I just installed alloy ball joints and I can barely drive on the highway. Jeep becomes uncontrollable at 60 mph it bounces from line to line. Tire shop said its because my caster and camber is off that will be fixed at the end of the week. I'll be praying that fixes it.
 
O

OkstateJK

New member
PrestonBarringer said:
Wish I would have seen this two weeks ago I just installed alloy ball joints and I can barely drive on the highway. Jeep becomes uncontrollable at 60 mph it bounces from line to line. Tire shop said its because my caster and camber is off that will be fixed at the end of the week. I'll be praying that fixes it.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping that mine sorts itself out shortly. I haven't spent much time at highway speed, only when I drove home after the install. It felt pretty sketchy then, I guess I will see as I'll be driving 2.5 hours on the highway Friday to get to our camping spot. I've got a little work to do with my drag link so once that part comes in, I'm going to have my shop do an alignment.
 
dwvninety

dwvninety

New member
It took me about 1200 miles for my Dynatrac ball joints to break in. Now I can even drive 80mph on 37" without feeling flighty.
 
cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
PrestonBarringer said:
Wish I would have seen this two weeks ago I just installed alloy ball joints and I can barely drive on the highway. Jeep becomes uncontrollable at 60 mph it bounces from line to line. Tire shop said its because my caster and camber is off that will be fixed at the end of the week. I'll be praying that fixes it.
Click to expand...

You can adjust your caster yourself and save yourself some money. As for camber you have a solid axle so you can't adjust it so you would just be wasting your money.
 
PrestonBarringer

PrestonBarringer

New member
cozdude said:
You can adjust your caster yourself and save yourself some money. As for camber you have a solid axle so you can't adjust it so you would just be wasting your money.
Click to expand...

The camber can be adjusted with adjustable ball joints if I understood correctly but I've already replaced them with apparently horrible ball joints and I'm not too excited about spending all that money all over again and all the sudden my caster is out so bad I needed a "caster kit" the tire shop I go to is very honest. I know that's rare but it is. $200 parts and labor to get my caster back in the green but not perfect. With that being said I would like to learn how to adjust my caster for future problems if you have a link handy
 
cozdude

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
PrestonBarringer said:
The camber can be adjusted with adjustable ball joints if I understood correctly but I've already replaced them with apparently horrible ball joints and I'm not too excited about spending all that money all over again and all the sudden my caster is out so bad I needed a "caster kit" the tire shop I go to is very honest. I know that's rare but it is. $200 parts and labor to get my caster back in the green but not perfect. With that being said I would like to learn how to adjust my caster for future problems if you have a link handy
Click to expand...

Yes adjusting camber is only possible with a new set of ball joints.

Lol a "caster kit"? So they are either selling you drop brackets or cam bolts. If so don't let them install either. The best way to fix caster is with adjustable control arms and you can do it in your driveway.
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?3861-Basic-Do-it-Yourself-Jeep-JK-Wrangler-Front-End-Alignment
 
MBezner

MBezner

New member
cozdude said:
Yes adjusting camber is only possible with a new set of ball joints.

Lol a "caster kit"? So they are either selling you drop brackets or cam bolts. If so don't let them install either. The best way to fix caster is with adjustable control arms and you can do it in your driveway.
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?3861-Basic-Do-it-Yourself-Jeep-JK-Wrangler-Front-End-Alignment
Click to expand...

X2..... Use Adjustable Lower control arms to add caster.

Whatever you do, don't use adjustable ball joints. They are a total waist of time and money.
 
PrestonBarringer

PrestonBarringer

New member
cozdude said:
Yes adjusting camber is only possible with a new set of ball joints.

Lol a "caster kit"? So they are either selling you drop brackets or cam bolts. If so don't let them install either. The best way to fix caster is with adjustable control arms and you can do it in your driveway.
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?3861-Basic-Do-it-Yourself-Jeep-JK-Wrangler-Front-End-Alignment
Click to expand...

Caster kit includes shims and correct hard wear which mine doesn't have thanks for the link this will save me a lot of money
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom