I am having shitty steering issues. I replaced all the control arms in the rear with rubber adjustable control arms , I just re did the entire rear end with 8.8 . But in the front I have replaced the upper with rubber adjustable control arms, however; when I started to replace them in sets my first route was with Heim joints and currently I have only two on the lower front and they are the only Heim joint control arms, but all the others I replaced with rubber , should I get rid of the Heim joint lower front control arms that I currently have on right now ?? because I feel like is ruining the geometry or something because the rest are all rubber. I have right now basically all Heim joints for my steering rod and drag link (CavFab) and for the track bar I have a Metalcloak Heim, Idk if that helps.
I need help on rubber and heim joint and control arm suspension set up
- Thread starter Bitar100
- Start date
Heim joints are seldom good choices for control arms or steering. They wear from dirt getting inside and then they start rattling and clunking.
Exactly what is your steering issue? Has a dropped Pitman arm been installed? What size lift do you have and is the driver's side of your front track bar attached to the factory track bar mount welded to the frame?
Exactly what is your steering issue? Has a dropped Pitman arm been installed? What size lift do you have and is the driver's side of your front track bar attached to the factory track bar mount welded to the frame?
I removed the drop pit man arm it helped a lot . Im running a 2inch lift on 33 inch tires . I have a feeling the reason why its not steering nicely is because I currently have on the front lower control arms the ones in the picture which are Heim joints , however all of the other control arms on my suspension are not Heim joints .
These are what I think would fix it because im running this kind of style on the front upper control arms and all of the rear, however, These lower control arms have a bend to them while the ones I currently have dont. Do you think its a good idea to have all the same style joint and get rid of the straight style lower controls arms on the front that are the Heim joints ?
My trackbar mount is currently mounted to the stock postion both sides , would a relocating bracket fix the issue on the driver side or passenger?
The
The steering issue I am having is that it has a lot of play in the steering wheel, driving 60 does feel secure like it should with everything literally replaced, Im not sure what route to take to fix it, I can post pics of what im currently running if that helps. Is tightening the gearbox a good idea or relocating the track bar?
Try this to see if there's any obvious play in the steering system that could be causing that. With the tires on the ground have a helper do quick repetitive 10-2 left/right steering wheel turns while you watch the steering system from the front. See if you can find any side-to-side slop/movement where there shouldn't be. Like at the track bar mounts, between the steering box and axle via the drag link, at the tie rod links, or if the Pitman arm connected to the drag link between the axle and steering box isn't keeping up with the steering wheel possibly indicating a worn steering box depending on how bad it is.
Jerry , I checked today with a coworker, turning the wheel from 10-2 and there was no play at all, as I literally tightened every single bolt you see. I have replaced my steering box with a rebuilt one and I did tighten it just a bit about 2 months ago and it helped tremondously but as the weeks went on my steering wheel has opened some play. Its like you dont get the effective reaction when turning from 12 to one and its just bad.
For instance you have to get a little past 1 or 2 to get it reacting and its obviously like crap when driving. Also it doesn't feel nice on the highway im not sure if its the geometry of where my track bar is, as someone did recommend I get a relocating bracket in the past. And all the upper and lower CA, steering rod, drag link , the pitman arm both sides , sway bars have all be tightened and nothing has made a difference. Do you think I should retighten the steering box because its not a fun task as to access the bolt on the gear box ,my front bumper needs to be removed but I dont wana do it if thats not gonna help or do you think I should get a relocating bracket but im not sure which side I would need it on or if I need it.
I attached the pics of my front suspension, literally everything is replaced. But not sure on where to start to make my suspension feel tight and effective when moving .
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I don't know what a *.HEIC file is and neither does my Windows 10 computer. Can you repost it in a Windows-friendly file?
Edit: Well I now know that's an Apple format but I don't own anything made by Apple.
Edit: Well I now know that's an Apple format but I don't own anything made by Apple.
At least it's clear now why your steering has that dead spot in the middle, it's that "high-steer" steering system that is causing it. They are notorious for both that issue as well as 'bump steer' where the steering is forced left/right as the front axle moves up/down in response to bumps/dips in the road.
Replacing it with a steering system that uses the original steering geometry like the original steering setup or Currie's system does would fix it. What are the benefits to a high-steer steering system on a TJ? I'm not aware of any for the typical builds we do.
Replacing it with a steering system that uses the original steering geometry like the original steering setup or Currie's system does would fix it. What are the benefits to a high-steer steering system on a TJ? I'm not aware of any for the typical builds we do.
Is there any other option I have
because I already went deep in that route and drilled out the knuckles on both sides of the axels and the pit man arm as well (I am regretting it so much now!!!!! ). So replacing that is gonna be a big loss for me , I knew it had to be the Cavv Fab Steering set up because it changed up the location of the steering stabilizer and it became worse when I installed everything but I told my self it looks good so it should perform as we'll like a complete dumby!!
That type of crossover wouldn't create a dead spot, but it will cause bump steer because the drag link and track bar are not in a proper relationship.
The steering knuckles were drilled out to a 5/8 size bolt , there isn't any kind of set up that would use that size of tie rod end that you know of? and would I have to replace the pitman arm back to a drop style, or keep the style thats not dropped . I am just trying to see my options to not make this a bigger loss then it is already please if you have any advice its much appreacited.
@mrblaine I hope he does (man I'm I regretting going with this steering set up!!!), as right now im looking at a major loss of having to replace the both steering knuckles along with a new set up
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@Jerry Bransford @jjvw I was looking on a Cherokee forum on similar issues of people having the same issue after installing the steering set up I currently have on, which is CAV FAB, I know this isn't a Cherokee forum but people were recommending to mount the drag link on top of the pitman arm and the results of doing that caused the fix of the steering issues. I can see in this picture that he has a drop pit man arm , I know I dont but do you think this is worth a shot in helping my case because right now its mounted underneath the pitman arm
If you guys could maybe give your thought on this or this wouldnt help my case , thank you again for any help
Picture from Cherokee forum :
If you guys could maybe give your thought on this or this wouldnt help my case , thank you again for any help
Picture from Cherokee forum :