Steering wobble

[1Blacktj]

So I’m sure there’s forums on here about this but oh well. My problem is that when I’m driving around 45 or 50 and lightly turn the wheel, the steering wheel wobbles. It also does it while I brake from about that speed. Any ideas on what this may be? I just installed new shocks and got an alignment and wheels balanced and the tires are at around 26 psi.

 

[MaloStapalo]

Check your steering components. Tie rod ends, track bar especially at axle, and drag link for looseness.

Side note, check your lug nuts. I have had a shop leave lugnuts loose before.

 

[1Blacktj]

Check your steering components. Tie rod ends, track bar especially at axle, and drag link for looseness.

I had those checked and they said that everything was fine but I think there is something wrong with the tie rod ends. How much are you supposed to be able to rotate the tie rod?

 

[MaloStapalo]

I had those checked and they said that everything was fine but I think there is something wrong with the tie rod ends. How much are you supposed to be able to rotate the tie rod?

Im.not exactly sure how to give you a measurable answer on that
Maybe someone else can.

Try the dry steering test, have someone turn the wheel while stationary and look for moving stuff that's not supposed to move.

What else other than shocks and alignment changed recently?

 

[1Blacktj]

Im.not exactly sure how to give you a measurable answer on that
Maybe someone else can.

Try the dry steering test, have someone turn the wheel while stationary and look for moving stuff that's not supposed to move.

What else other than shocks and alignment changed recently?

Nothing has changed recently is started really lightly about a month ago and got worse over time nothing has changed besides the shocks and the alignment and the Jeep was barely out of alignment then

 

[MaloStapalo]

I am just spitballing here but did it do it before the rebalance of the tires? Ball joints good?

 

[1Blacktj]

I am just spitballing here but did it do it before the rebalance of the tires? Ball joints good?

Yes It did it before the balancing and I’m not sure? I think it is either tie rod ends or ball joints I’m leaning on ball joints cause I got new tie rod ends when I got the Currie kit about 7 months ago

 

[MaloStapalo]

Yes It did it before the balancing and I’m not sure? I think it is either tie rod ends or ball joints I’m leaning on ball joints cause I got new tie rod ends when I got the Currie kit about 7 months ago

You shouldn't go through rod ends in 7 months especially on the curriectlync.

Test your ball joints by jacking the axle up a little till a tire lifts, then using a pry bar see if you can lift the tire and get the ball joint to move up and down

 

[1Blacktj]

You shouldn't go through rod ends in 7 months especially on the curriectlync.

Test your ball joints by jacking the axle up a little till a tire lifts, then using a pry bar see if you can lift the tire and get the ball joint to move up and down

I’ll try that on Tuesday when I get back to the garage I want to get everything running right and then I’ll start saving up for new gears!

 

[MaloStapalo]

I’ll try that on Tuesday when I get back to the garage I want to get everything running right and then I’ll start saving up for new gears!

I would check all the things up front and then see if you can replicate it with a mechanic if you're still stuck.

 

[1Blacktj]

I would check all the things up front and then see if you can replicate it with a mechanic if you're still stuck.

Thanks for the link I’ll check that out Tuesday!

 

[Flivver250]

Check all of the steering components (easy to do) and also the dampener. Bad parts can't hide. If you changed your tie rod ends, my guess is ball joints.

 

[1Blacktj]

Ok so update my tie rods and my ball joints are good. Had my brother do dry steering and everything looked fine. Only thing I found is when it was suspended in the air, I could put my hands at 10 and 2 and it had a little play what does that mean?

 

[Grandpastyx]

Sounds like wheel bearings


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[1Blacktj]

Sounds like wheel bearings


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yea I thought so I got a good deal on ball joints so ima just have ball joints and wheel bearing replaced next week hopefully

 

[JMT]

TJs naturally have a little play in the steering.

Your tie rod ends will rotate forward and backward, but they should not have play side to side.

Your tires are very likely the problem. 45-50mph is very common for there to be a shimmy. Out of balance tires or bad tires is almost always the issue. I know you had them balanced recently, but did you get a perfect balance, especially when running bigger tires? Did you talk to the tire tech and make sure he understood that our TJs are very sensitive and must be balanced not good, but perfect? Most don’t know and won’t take the time to get them perfect. What kind of balance machine did they use? Static or dynamic road force? How old are the tires?

I’ve had this problem and had multiple balances at multiple shops only to have it solved by getting new tires.

Don’t throw good $$$ down the drain fixing things that are not a problem.

 

[1Blacktj]

TJs naturally have a little play in the steering.

Your tie rod ends will rotate forward and backward, but they should not have okay side to side.

Your tires are very likely the problem. 45-50mph is very common for there to be a shimmy. Out of balance tires or bad tires is almost always the issue. I know you had them balanced recently, but did you get a perfect balance, especially when running bigger tires? Did you talk to the tire tech and make sure he understood that our TJs are very sensitive and must be balanced not good, but perfect? Most don’t know and won’t take the time to get them perfect. What kind of balance machine did they use? Static or dynamic road force? How old are the tires?

I’ve had this problem and had multiple balances at multiple shops only to have it solved by getting new tires.

Yea I did get get it perfect because I had it balanced previously and then went and got it rebalanced before I went on a trip. I’m not sure what machine it was balanced on though. But would it explain how it slowly has gotten worse over time?

 

[JMT]

Yea I did get get it perfect because I had it balanced previously and then went and got it rebalanced before I went on a trip. I’m not sure what machine it was balanced on though. But would it explain how it slowly has gotten worse over time?

But when you leave the shop, has the shimmy been there all along? Does it only slightly get better or show up again real soon? How old are the tires? How much weight are they having to put on them to get them balanced? Yes, they can get progressively worse

 

[JMT]

I know people get tired of hearing the tire thing, but I replaced trackbar, tie rod, tie rod ends and drag link and did multiple alignments and tire rotations and balances and tried tire beads and it was better, but not perfect till I got new tires. Not saying your problem has to be mine, but a shimmy is almost always tire related. If you had something wrong in the front end components you’d be getting death wobble, but your not

 

[Imapepper]

X2 on the tires, did you try swapping front to back?