VETTETHRET

Maybe I am reading him wrong, but I've said 2 times I will have the entire front end checked out before replacing anything, he wants to keep insisting that I'm throwing parts at it blindly. My wheel tire set up weighs over 200lbs per corner, so the cheap shitty factory Ball Joints don't last long, even with no wheeling. I physically inspected my last set before they were taken off my rig and they were shot, seeing that I am running the same wheel/tire set up now, I have every reason to believe that these are shot too. Rebel does my work so I have no worries that they don't know what they are doing. Ill let them tell me the issue, but I will start with the Ball Joints and Tie Rod and go from there. The reason for the post was to see if the guys that are running this suspension had changed out the arms and saw an improvement in drive quality because of the increased adjustability.

jknit

Something doesn't seem right here, it's gotta be part due to your driving habits no? I'm my 2010 I had a 4" shitty superlift lift kit and 37s, I had 44k on it and I didn't blow through ball joints. Ball joints 6 k miles in seems out of control to me?

(Edit) I wasn't trying to instigate I didn't read pages 2-3 before I posted, seems like some
Shared my sentiment, my b

VETTETHRET

Stock JK Ball Joints don't like 200 lb+ 20x12's with 38x15.5x20 tires. I drive the Jeep normally. Again, on my 2013 with the same exact wheel/tire set up, they were SHOT at 5k miles and had a ton of play in them, I saw this with my own eyes.

Outside of Ball Joints and Tie Rod ends, what else can wear out on a JK front end this early?

Joe_B

Take a look at your drag link as well. Some rotational movement is alright (forward & back).

Off topic: Just curious, do you feel the wide tires wander a lot within the grooves of the road? More than 12.5" wide tires if you've ever run them? I've only run 12.5" tires on the jeep. And are you running wheel spacers to clear that fat tire?

VETTETHRET

Ok, thanks, I will have them look at that as well. The tires will definitely grab grooves more and wander, which is I want a Ram Assist even for the streets (And the reason parts wear quicker). Even with the negatives I wouldn't trade them for anything. They really grab on the rocks and help offroad, they do really really well int he snow too.

nthinuf

Stuck to the top of the Writeups area is a good DW diagnosis thread. Follow the steps to check all of the front end components.

You do, or do not, have a draglink flip installed? Steep draglink/trackbar angles, or having those bars not be parallel to each other, have been known to cause bumpsteer. Could be that the joints on one or both are wearing. Or are loose. Or the holes are wallowing out. Or they could be fine. Won't know until they are checked.

You have a 4.5" lift. It has brackets to adjust the caster for that lift height. If you add adj arms, your intention is to add more caster, correct? Think about what happens at that height when you start cranking the caster up. Any ideas? The pinion goes down. What happens with tall lifts and low pinion? Driveshaft vibes. How do you get rid of the vibes? Raise the pinion. What happens when you raise the pinion? The caster goes down. Adding adj ca's will not solve the problem you are feeling, it will just let you fine tune the caster/pinion, and if you get both upper and lower, will let you repostition the axles forward/backward in the wheel wells.

VETTETHRET

Ok, I will check out the write ups now, thank you. the AEV does come with a Draglink Flip. The dealership installed the Lift but it has never been back to tighten any bolts (Didn't know that was needed?).

I honestly know absolutely nothing when it comes to Caster and adjusting the front end. I was told that with the AEV kit, there really isnt much to adjust. My assumption (Which could be very wrong) was that getting the front lower control arms (I have seen 3-4 threads in the past of AEV guys doing this) would allow for the alignment to be dialed in to a much greater degree, improving driving/ride. Thats the only reason I was thinking the lower arms. When I take it to Rebel, I am going to have them go through the entire suspension and tighten everything. I will have them confirm the Ball joints are bad. I plan on wheeling this shortly and I want the weak Tie Rod off and was planning to replace that regardless. Again, my assumption is probably way off, I was only thinking arms for the above reason. I hate not being able to work on my own. I want to find some local guys who work on theirs so I cna learn. I hate being ill informed. Thanks again, I will check out the write up DW section.

BuckLisa

I got rid of my AEV draglink. All it is is the right hand market OEM dragline with the shitty Teflon tres on the end.
I would get a Synergy drag link (I did) . It has greasable 1 ton tre joints. I also put on Synergy ball joints and they have been trouble free with heavy Toyo MT 37's with wheeling trips to Colorado and Moab and 35,000 miles of daily driving.
The AEV springs, the from shock spacers for more travel and the raised track bars for frot and rear are greatly engineered, but using a stick right hand draglink is less to be desired. The track bars are fine just not adjustable; but really no big deal. If using the control brackets; that is a great setup for all around use.
If you have the $;
1. synergy tie Rod
2. synergy draglink
3. Synergy ball joints
4. Synergy steering brace and track bar brace.
5. Any quality brand lower front control arms.

It's what I did and it handles great!


This will protect steering box with 37's

VETTETHRET

Thanks nthinuf, I had no clue that was there. An unbelievable amount of information. I looks like there are a bunch of different things that can wear out, not just Ball Joint and Tie Rid ends. I appreciate it, I now have a much better Idea how my rigs suspension works. Thanks to Plan Mna as well, great videos!

VETTETHRET

Thanks Buck, after watching the DW videos by Planman, I am going to do exactly what you have above, even if some of the parts aren't worn out. I was going to do the Ball Joints and Tie Rod regardless, because I wanted to get rid of the weak factory parts (I'm still pretty sure the Ball Joints are gone but I'll have Rebel confirm). After watching the video, I am definitely upgrading the Draglink as well. What BLOWS ME AWAY, is how much AEV charges for this kit. They don't have shit in this kit and they charge $1700???? In my opinion it takes balls to charge that much for this kit and what it includes. I will basically do exactly what you have above, except I will go with the Dynatrac Ball Joints. I appreciate the input, I now have my plan!