Recent content by Uncaged

This is a one year old Bestop Trektop NX in Spice that I have up for sale. All parts are included, even the door surrounds, tailgate mounts and bolts. The door uppers are Smittybilt (not my choice) but match very well with the Bestop. There is one trail stripe on the rear passenger window but I...

It is going into my mechanic next Wednesday to have the tranny filter changed and fluid flushed. I will ask if they can look for any slop in the front end. The track bar is still the stock one and by my best guess the bushing has not been replaced. I have been considering an adjustable track...

Thank you for including the picture, I forgot which one was the drag link. I will have to try again as I don't recall trying to rotate it, I do remember that I could not detect any movement when I tried to move it perpendicular to the length in two axis nor along its length.

UPDATE: I finally got the TJ out for a drive today. The shake is still there, the previous test drive was too short even though it got up to speed. So, tire pressure has little effect. Also, I paid more attention to the shake and where I feel it. I do feel it in the floor and seat but is it much...

Today I was able to check for play at the front end. The only thing I could find is a little bit of rotational twisting of the track bar along its length, but this has the offset to go around the differential so I could get torque to rotate it. The front drive shaft also had some rotational play...

Is that the tie rod? No play/slop after I have completed the alignments. One time I found quite a bit of toe out and correcting that reduced the shake but did not eliminate it. Going from toe out to toe in stopped the wandering.

Thank you for the specifics about checking wheel bearings, drive shaft and yokes. I had both front wheels off the ground when I checked the front end. The drive line is still stock, no double cardan. The extra expense is a big part of why I stopped at 2" lift rather than going with 3". I didn't...

Thank you all for your advice. I will be out soon checking/rechecking to find the culprit. I have checked play at the wheels as suggested but it wouldn't hurt to do it again especially with more advice on how to do it. Should I only raise one tire or both? Is any play a bad thing or is there...

For this episode of "How do I get rid of the steering wheel shake in my TJ" we have a 2002, 4.0L with 32RH auto, a new lift with 2" Pro Comp springs and Rancho RS5000X shocks and Daystar .75" spacers in front, 31x10.50-15 tires at 26 psi, Canyon rims with no dents. Sometimes it shakes sometimes...

Had the gears changed to 3.73 the other day, now I am waiting on the new gear to correct speedometer. Two questions. First, is it okay that there is a slight whine when coasting? When I let off the gas and coast I notice a quiet whine once the driveline slack is taken up and the tires are...

@mrblaine , thank you for the quick reply. My 02 with 4.0/32RH also has the Dana 35 and 3.07s. The assumption I have been working with was that the engineers arrived at the 3.07s for the smaller tires and highway driving and then offered the 3.73s as an option for the off-road oriented drivers...

@mrblaine , this statement may require a little more explanation for those of us with less knowledge about TJs. I realize you may have been a little upset when you posted it and left off some details but my stock 02 Sahara didn't break 2500 rpm at 70. It came with the 4.0, 32RH and 3.07 gearing...

Gears are on backorder, so I completed a couple other projects over the Thanksgiving week. Installed a winch and added 1.25" wheel spacers. I am liking both. The winch: Smittybuilt XRC 9.500 lb. Plenty for what I may require. Most likely it will only get run for maintenance and inspection...

Next up... re-gear. This morning I talked with two local shops about re-gearing my axles. Keep in mind my regular use, we might call this my daily driver (after the motorcycles); 70% highway (60-70 mph), 25% in-town (0-50 mph), 5% or less off pavement (sandy forest roads with a few washouts)...

Thank you for the confirmation about the Dana 35 being strong enough for my use. How often do the 3.73 axles come up used? I've been searching FB and CL? What should I look for when buying used axles to make sure I'm not buying a problem? My wife is more comfortable spending the money to...