Harsh grinding at full left turn (moved from right side after repairs)

Hoboscratch

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So like the title says, I originally had grinding on the right side at full turn. I had just bought the Jeep, and admittedly, without really any diagnosis decided to rebuild the front end. I originally assumed it was wheel bearings but everything was worn and rusty and most likely was bad U-joints. I replaced bearings, ball joints, U-joints, fully replaced steering components, etc on both sides. You can see the extent of my work in my build thread

Thankfully, the right side has no issues at this time. However, now when doing a full left turn I get the same grinding noise. I took a look while my wife slowly moved forward at full lock and it seems like the U-joints are binding. They are brand new, Spicer 5-760X. Nothing looked out of the ordinary when I was installing the U joints, there was the same amount of grease as the other side, no missing needle bearings, the caps went on perfectly, and I used a quality press borrowed from Advance Auto. My workflow was identical on both sides.

One thing that seems odd, and I have not measured this yet, is that it feels like I have a different turning radius depending on whether I'm turning right or left. When I turn left, it feels like I can turn at a sharper angle. I for sure didn't rotate the pitman arm out of the steering box when I was redoing the steering components. Also, this issue only happens when moving forward, there is no problem with reverse.

Lastly, I do have a washer on both sides of my steering stop screws. I installed 32" tires, and will be doing the suspension shortly, but this issue happened with my old 31s as well.

Thanks
 
Did some checking today and it seems to be the u joint for sure that is making the noise. The ears aren’t hitting one another and I used a press with the right adapters so I’m positive I didn’t bend anything.

I guess I will grab a new u joint and install it and see what happens unless anyone has any ideas.
 
Be sure to give each ear a decent rap with a hammer to make sure everything is settled into place when you finish with the replacement. Then play around with the shaft to confirm it can easily flex to contact the ears. This is to confirm there is no binding in any one axis of the Ujoint. Everything should go back together without needing a big hammer to beat it into position. That should pretty much take care that the Ujoint is installed and will last. They are produced in huge batches and every so often a bad one will get through. You may have just gotten a bad one last time.
 
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Well this was a little embarrassing. Turns out it was the tire rubbing on the control arm at full lock. I gotta get new wheels with the proper backspacing...
 
Check your toe, if it is neutral or toe out it is more likely to rub the control arm. The front passenger steering stop determines how close the tire gets to the control arm on the drive side. More toe in means more clearance at the arm.
 
Check your toe, if it is neutral or toe out it is more likely to rub the control arm. The front passenger steering stop determines how close the tire gets to the control arm on the drive side. More toe in means more clearance at the arm.
I did an alignment back when I redid my steering following the guide on this site, which was awesome. My toe is set to 1/8” inward. I’ll double check it tho
 
Well this was a little embarrassing. Turns out it was the tire rubbing on the control arm at full lock. I gotta get new wheels with the proper backspacing...
Since it occurs only when making left turns there could be something else causing it. First, what width tires and do you know your present wheel's backspace amount? Or are they factory Mopar wheels?

The other thing that can cause it is if there was a suspension lift installed and the stock track bars are still being used. If there is a suspension lift installed, do you know about how tall it is? A suspension lift pulls the front axle toward the driver's side which reduces the clearance between the passenger-side tire and control arms. Conversely suspension lifts also pull the rear axle toward the passenger side.
 
I'm positive this was all my own doing at this point.

No lift, everything is stock, including the 15" Ravine wheels, except the tire size. The tires installed when I purchased the Jeep were weather checked and dangerous so I bought KO2s in 32x11.5 and was trying to make due with a steering stop adjustment, until I decided on spacers or new wheels. The old tires were 31x10.5, and in checking their true size specs online turns out they are 11.1" wide (Pirelli Scorpion) vs 11.4" for the new KO2s so I was hoping for a similar experience. I'm guessing it was the Pirellis rubbing on the right before I swapped them out.

I have new control arms in hand, will be ordering a small lift (Zone, OME, or BDS) along with adj track bars front/rear, and will make sure new wheels or spacers are on order very soon as well.

The Jeep is a pavement princess until next spring as I work through getting everything upgraded. I just tried to squeeze in tires that were a little too wide in its current setup.