Death wobble after upgrade to 1-ton steering

Jfridline99

Jfridline99

New Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Messages
15
Location
Norfolk VA
-1997 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 5 speed. 2.5 IN LIFT
-I just replace all ball joints, all the control arms bolts are tight(as wells as track bar)
-I just upgraded to 1 ton steering and now I got the glorious DW.
-It has neg 1 caster.
-When I do a side to side shake on the tire there is a lot of movement. My gear box has a decent amount of play(I've been trying to get it tighter but I'm almost maxed out.
I will post a better pic soon. But how does anyone see or think of anything that could be the cause of the DW.
I'm planning on getting a Durango box from the JY soon
88304


IMG_20190406_163543436.jpg
 
New lift or has it been there?

Was it OK with just the new ball joints or was it not driven before the 1 ton steering?

What brand is the steering?

Caster should be 6.0 to 8.0 positive when stock, not sure about a lift or if it would have anything to do with DW.

I think we'll hear about the steering but I don't know if that can cause DW.
 
JEEPCJTJ said:
New lift or has it been there?

Was it OK with just the new ball joints or was it not driven before the 1 ton steering?

What brand is the steering?

Caster should be 6.0 to 8.0 positive when stock, not sure about a lift or if it would have anything to do with DW.

I think we'll hear about the steering but I don't know if that can cause DW.
Click to expand...
I had the factory steering when I put new ball joints in and I didn't ahve any problems, the lift is old. And the caster and gearbox play have been the same before and after the steering. It's a 1.5in thick steering. Similar to the cavfab steering
 
Can you take a better picture of where the steering attaches to the driver and passenger side knuckle?

Also what brand and how good was the press fit on the ball joints? If it had knurled ball joints and you put smooth ones in they could be loose in the knuckle.

Paul
 
Paul Ruggles said:
Can you take a better picture of where the steering attaches to the driver and passenger side knuckle?

Also what brand and how good was the press fit on the ball joints? If it had knurled ball joints and you put smooth ones in they could be loose in the knuckle.

Paul
Click to expand...
Their Moog ball joints. With the knurls so their good. And I'll take a pic when I'm home. I'm at drill for the NG right now
 
There’s another thread with the same issue if you want to read that. Now that you have everything that is typically the culprit, what about shocks and tire pressure? Did you get an alignment after you upgraded everything?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Longhorn84 said:
There’s another thread with the same issue if you want to read that. Now that you have everything that is typically the culprit, what about shocks and tire pressure? Did you get an alignment after you upgraded everything?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I'm working on the alignment, can't really drive it to my place tho bc of the wobble. And if you have the link to the tread that would be great, o couldnt find it.... The shocks are prolly shot tho.
 
Paul Ruggles said:
Can you take a better picture of where the steering attaches to the driver and passenger side knuckle?

Also what brand and how good was the press fit on the ball joints? If it had knurled ball joints and you put smooth ones in they could be loose in the knuckle.

Paul
Click to expand...

IMG_20190414_190536545.jpg


IMG_20190414_190550090.jpg


IMG_20190414_190554503.jpg


IMG_20190414_190602778.jpg


IMG_20190414_190610943.jpg
 
Did you drill the tapers out straight? It needs to be a really nice fit, preferably reamed to size, with nice hardened washers between the rod end and the knuckle (my opinion). The knuckle is softer than the rod end, and that interface needs to be tight, with the bolt torqued to spec to get the proper stretch. There are some pretty intense forces going on once death wobble starts.

I have played the rod end steering game before, and ended up going back to stock type tj / zj. Rod ends can work great, but I had problems with them getting grit in them and I was needing to replace them about every 5000 miles

Paul
 
Paul Ruggles said:
Did you drill the tapers out straight? It needs to be a really nice fit, preferably reamed to size, with nice hardened washers between the rod end and the knuckle (my opinion). The knuckle is softer than the rod end, and that interface needs to be tight, with the bolt torqued to spec to get the proper stretch. There are some pretty intense forces going on once death wobble starts.

I have played the rod end steering game before, and ended up going back to stock type tj / zj. Rod ends can work great, but I had problems with them getting grit in them and I was needing to replace them about every 5000 miles

Paul
Click to expand...
Dam. Really. Aight. I did drill them straight and the parts are all warrantied
 
So...I gotta ask, and I'm not trying to be an asshole, but wear problem were you trying to fix with the 1-ton steering? The ZJ upgrade is good for 33's and Currie steering is good for 35+.
 
Top Bottom
Back