Godless Nature
Member
Unrelated.. but did I see that red jeep for sale in Franklin, Indiana a couple months ago?
Darty and twitchy steering
- Thread starter AbsoluteUnit
- Start date
Unrelated.. but did I see that red jeep for sale in Franklin, Indiana a couple months ago?
OP
Yeah, you probably did. I bought it a week and a half ago, but it was on Craigslist for a while. Idk why nobody moved on it before I did cause it's in great shape for a 2000. Just needs some little things worked on, painted, and protected and it'll be all but perfect.
OP
I've heard the RC ones have crap bushings that go out soon after installation, is there any truth to that in your experience? The rust is about to be taken care of. The frame was coated when it was new so luckily no rust there but I'm about to have undercoat redone this spring and POR15 most of the suspension components.
I am having the same thing occurring in my steering after a 2.5” teraflex lift. The toe is noticeably different.
also my steering stabilizer gave out during all the mods. Which isn’t allowing the steering wheel to return to center during a turn.
also my steering stabilizer gave out during all the mods. Which isn’t allowing the steering wheel to return to center during a turn.
The RC bar is the great bar, this bushing can be replaced with different ones that work better.
Godless Nature
Member
You know I think a lot of the drama with jeeps and track bars boils down to some things -
First is the fact that tires that are suitable for a 3/4 ton vehicle are being put on a quarter ton vehicle , and that ratio of a larger tire versus the small (albeit dense ) chassis can certainly give an out-of-balance tire the upper hand.
Secondly, I'm convinced that large tires prematurely wears components and that the components on the vehicle are designed around the factory tire size.
To me the short of it is if you have a Jeep with large tires you are likely going to benefit from a strong track bar.... And every component of that track bar has to be strong... from the bolts to the bushings to the bar itself.... That track bar has got itself a serious job... And if it can't do it that jeep is going to likely be all over the road.
We get a few threads with death wobble issues around all stock Jeeps... but not many.
Death wobble isn't always about the track bar, but the track bar can also cause some other drama..quirky steering , a tendency for the Jeep to feel like the wind is blowing on one side or the other, for it to follow road crown more, bump steer, wandering and just overall sloppy handling.
If that actual can't stay centered on a vehicle with this small of wheelbase , you're going to know it.
OP
I get no death wobble, just everything else you listed. I've seen your how to make RC trackbar better thread and it's been helpful. A question about frame side mount though. Do the rubicons have a different frame side mount than the sport, Sahara, etc? I've seen the heim joint style trackbars and frame mounts but also bolt thru bushing style mounts too.
I agree, I just took off a couple spacer pucks in the front and now my wheel shake is gone. There has to be something else I didn’t adjust properly when I put them in, but the issue is gone now.
Last edited:
Those are just a different style, I have a JKS and it has the bolt through style. Currie has the same style, you have to drill out the mounting hole, so no going back.
Exactly..all tj track bars are the same basically... Your number one aftermarket is jks in my opinion, I have some company's heim joint style on my 2006 Rubi ..and while it's more rigid it gets dry and pops it leans toward being just a hair twitchy .
Tow and caster can come into play on all this , and they do matter .
Based on my experience if you want the Jeep to drive great.. I'm talking 65 miles an hour with big tires and one finger and be able to look off the road and back to the road and still be in the same place... You've got to have everything in great shape. Every thing from tire to tire , and the back has to be right to . Also don't forget sway bar links .
One thing folks miss is things can be loose and appear tight at rest ..when a vehicle is in motion , tremendous forces are at play.
The track bar can cause a lot of grief way before anything is to the death wobble stage as well . I think of it as a dominant component on all front ends that are designed with them.
I would almost rather have death wobble and knock it in the head then bad handling I can't figure out.
A dry test and watching the track bar closely will tell you real quick if the track bar has got excessive movement at either end ... The bushings are going to flex some but other than that nothing else needs to be going on. It needs to move like 1/8 +- when dry tested by turning the wheel , and that's no hard .
The solution to a lot of these situations isn't necessarily a completely brand new front end... But the problem most of us run into is components get replaced at different intervals over time so you end up with a front-end that has parts that vary from being 1 to 15 years old maybe...
I like everything on the front end to at least be consistently dated, or all have similar mileage ...so you aren't playing whack a mole .
The other side is some components wear faster than others typically ..like tie rod ends may wear faster than ball joints . So everything has to be inspected .
Lastly , the hub unit bearings in front can affect tracking a tad if worn also.
These aren't high maintenance vehicles ..they are 14-22 year old vehicles that often don't see enough maintenance , and plenty of mud , dirt, sand and water .
Don't give up ..to have a Jeep that drives awesome is entirely possible .
Last edited:
To the best of my knowledge the Rubicon trackbar setup is the same as a non-Rubicon trackbar. Many of the aftermarket bars want you to drill out the stock frame side taper mount that uses a regular tierod end so they can use a regular bolt to hold it. To me, if I were to change the stock mount it would be to have the frame mount hold in a double shear setup turning the mount 90*.
If the axle side is properly torqued I think that the bushing there should last quite a while. I think that the bolt not getting re-checked for torque is a big reason any bushing wears out prematurely.
If the axle side is properly torqued I think that the bushing there should last quite a while. I think that the bolt not getting re-checked for torque is a big reason any bushing wears out prematurely.