Jeep Wrangler PCM and module repair and replacement

New Jeep, Help Identify What I Have

annihil8ted

annihil8ted

TJ Enthusiast
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Jun 13, 2023
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243
Location
Richardson, Texas
Hello all! I recently won an auction 04 4.0 TJ from an auction. The last owner definitely put some mods on it and I'm hoping y'all could help me identify what was done as I don't recognize it.

Drives well but the suspension feels firm (I believe this is due to Ranchero RS5000 vs RS500X) and I get speed wobbles :/

Looks like there's a 3 inch lift and aftermarket control arms.

IMG_5864.webp


IMG_5865.webp
 
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- to determine the amount of lift measure from the top and bottom of spring- 8” rear and 12” front is stock, any more than that is lift

- tires- need 26-28 psi for a better ride

-shocks- likely ok if not blown

- You’ve got somebody’s (no. Stock) control arms, The grease fitting throws me a curve.

To isolate your shake you need to make sure the tires are well balanced and turn the steering wheel from 10 to 2 with it running and running and see if you have any excess movement in any of the front end connections.

Basically that’s just pretty much the first thing that I would do if I were looking at one to purchase.
 
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Thank you, I'll go and measure the the springs and report back

Let me check tire pressure and also post what tires I'm running

The control arms are weird right? I'm also confused by the grease fittings.
 
annihil8ted said:
Thank you, I'll go and measure the the springs and report back

Let me check tire pressure and also post what tires I'm running

The control arms are weird right? I'm also confused by the grease fittings.
Click to expand...

I’ve seen quite a few and I’ve never seen those- And the location of the fitting makes me wonder if they are designed to handle shock load a bit....Which could generate a lot of extra movement.

If the tires are old and hard they’re only going to be so good- load range C is popular, But ultimately the tire pressure, the compound, the height and ply construction needs to come together for a 4,000 lb rig.

I recently drove an LJR that had 37 inch tires that were like 10 ply that was fantastic, with 22 psi. So what I’m saying is there are no absolute it just all have to be working together, and varies, on tire success.
 
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annihil8ted said:
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Click to expand...

High speed wobbles are probably tire related. Not necessarily just balance though. Jeep's have live front axles, there are no CV axles for the wheels to move independently on. This, for some reason called precession (don't ask me how it works), causes the live axle (or solid front axle) to be very picky on worn components and tires.

Not to scare you off, but if your tires are bad enough, they can and will cause death wobble. Ask me how I know. Out of round, out of balance, or broken belts throw off the tire's ability to freely spin on the wheel without vibration. This introduced vibration, can be or get bad enough to cause the pants-shitting death wobble. So, what you would do to fix a little bit of vibes on a Civic (tire balance alone) may be different on a Jeep (you may need new tires if they're old) to get your desired outcome. I would do a dry steering test as well, but it seems more like a tire issue rather a worn component.

Discount Tire is pretty good for mounting and balancing. They offer a lifetime balance too. There was a guy on here a little bit ago named Jerry Bransford who had a, at the time, new '97 TJ that death wobbled due to a wheel weight flying off on the road. So imagine how important tire balance is for a slight wobble...
 
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The tires look brand new but has 0813 on them. If I’m reading that right, it places the tires at almost 11 years? They are wrangler SRA 255/75/17 so roughly 32s.

I also noticed that nearly all the grease boots were looking kinda deflated. Oddly enough, when I went to go fill them up, they leaked along the same face, around the edges of the grease fittings with none of it going into the grease boot. In the second picture you can see what I mean, it’s not leaking on the boot side but the opposite side, same as the grease fittings. Could this contribute to wobble? I though they should have filled up?
IMG_5906.jpegIMG_5907.jpeg

Also I could only manage to grease up on of the front LCA. The other one just wouldn’t really take. I have read up on the poor design they have and may look into the future to replace them
 
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annihil8ted said:
The tires look brand new but has 0813 on them. If I’m reading that right, it places the tires at almost 11 years? They are wrangler SRA 255/75/17 so roughly 32s.

I also noticed that nearly all the grease boots were looking kinda deflated. Oddly enough, when I went to go fill them up, they leaked along the same face, around the edges of the grease fittings with none of it going into the grease boot. In the second picture you can see what I mean, it’s not leaking on the boot side but the opposite side, same as the grease fittings. Could this contribute to wobble? I though they should have filled up?
View attachment 533538View attachment 533539

Also I could only manage to grease up on of the front LCA. The other one just wouldn’t really take. I have read up on the poor design they have and may look into the future to replace them
Click to expand...

if they're not taking grease take a small pick and push down on the little ball on top of the zerk fitting . sometimes they get stuck you don't need to push it hard just enough to get it to move down
 
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tr21triton said:
if they're not taking grease take a small pick and push down on the little ball on top of the zerk fitting . sometimes they get stuck you don't need to push it hard just enough to get it to move down
Click to expand...

I tried doing that but no luck, the joint still isn't taking grease and grease is leaking out from around the fitting. That being said, it could be I need a better grease gun connector but I did put my entire body weight on it to get a good seal and it still wasn't pushing any grease in. The next thing I might do is remove the zerk and clean it directly

For the ones taking grease, it's not going into the boot for some reason. I see it leaking from the around the edge of the opposite side of the boot (same face as the zerk fitting)
 
annihil8ted said:
I tried doing that but no luck, the joint still isn't taking grease and grease is leaking out from around the fitting. That being said, it could be I need a better grease gun connector but I did put my entire body weight on it to get a good seal and it still wasn't pushing any grease in. The next thing I might do is remove the zerk and clean it directly

For the ones taking grease, it's not going into the boot for some reason. I see it leaking from the around the edge of the opposite side of the boot (same face as the zerk fitting)
Click to expand...

time to replace the zerk. or unscrew it and put in on your grease gun and see if it works.
or you might want to try one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/WHFANG-Grease-Buster-Fitting-Cleaning/dp/B0CTGY2X41/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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tr21triton said:
time to replace the zerk. or unscrew it and put in on your grease gun and see if it works.
or you might want to try one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/WHFANG-Grease-Buster-Fitting-Cleaning/dp/B0CTGY2X41/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Click to expand...
Cool tool! Might invest in one as I plan to grease frequently

The leak isn’t around the fitting itself when grease does go in, it leaks around the face of the ball joint on the fitting side instead of filling the boot

Is that the ball joint going bad?
 

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