After sitting in the garage for a few weeks I finally got my jeep out today. Noticed right away that the steering felt abnormally tight. It didn't loosen up put about 15 miles on it. On the way home I hit the highway, first seem I hit, developed death wobble. Had to pull over and get it stopped for it to go away. Tomorrow, dry steer test, monday tires will get balanced. Any ideas what would cause the tight steering? No whine from the power steering pump, but feels like there is no power assit at all...
Tight steering and death wobble
- Thread starter strumble8
- Start date
Tight steering sounds like there is a power steering issue.
Is the fluid in the power steering reservoir full?
Is the fluid in the power steering reservoir full?
P.S. full of crud? Had the pressure side hose get sucked (actually from fluid getting between inner and outer of hose and pushed) closed. If the fluid is getti g nasty then the "rubber" parts are starting to break down.
Dry steering test showed the upper track bar bolt to be loose. Checked torque it was at 65ft/lbs. Tightened to the spec given by jks as 110ft/lbs. (Will have to add this to my bi-annual inspection list) Will test to see if that cures the deaths wobble. Than on to the tight steering.
If it isn't drilled to take a castle but and cutter pin (it should be) then you can use a jam nut to help keep it tight. If you use thread locker I would go with the blue one. It will still hold, just will still be able to get it back off again without needing an oxy acetylene torch.
A quick update on this old thread. I ended up changing the jks trac bar out for a currie, as the frame side bushing was shot. I would still get deathwobble on occasion. In the last couple of weeks it had become much worse. I had noticed that hitting a pothole on the drivers side was an instant cause. I had a set of ball joint in the garage, so I decided to check them out. Attempting to move the tire by hand showed nothing. Since that's not always a reliable check I decided it's easy enough to pull the knuckle and inspect the ball joints. Found the lower ball joint to be extremely loose. Replaced both upper and lower ball joints. Took it for a test drive. I could still cause a severe wobble hitting a pothole on the drivers side. Not deathwobble but severe enough to have to slow down. Checked the tie rod end it was also exhibiting alot of play. Ordered up a replacement (currie ce-9701ttr) got it replaced tonight. All wobbles are gone. Jeep is back to 100%. I believe the deathwobble caused by the bad bushing in the jks trac bar cause the old ball joint to fail, which in turn cause the tie rod end to fail as the currie steering only has 10-15k miles on it.
Hammbone2020
New Member
I'm experiencing something similar - except it feels like it "attempts" to do the death wobble then goes away at about 40-45MPH. But the geometry has messed with me since upgrading track bar, drag link tie rod and all. Nothing major just the step up from stock since I only have 2.5" lift. But I cannot seem to find anyone worth a sh*! to work on him, so I've been doing 99% myself....... VERY SLOWLY - anyhow.... this diagram is what I need to study! Can you PLEASE share original with me??? I would greatly appreciate it!!
Sincerely,
Rosie & Hammbone
If you have a JKS bar, you can get install directions from their site.
https://jksmfg.com/pages/installation-center
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