NERMAN

I'm pretty confident this is contributing to my Jeep wandering all over the road. Now to figure out how to get it off...

resharp001

Yes, that is no bueno. Accessing those upper nuts on the front shocks is a bit of a pain. Without those inner liners it's a bit easier. Takes a bit of patience either way.

NERMAN

I think I'm going to trim part of the liner to get access. Do you think this could be causing my DW? I haven't read anywhere that shocks could be the cause but this can't be helping. The Teraflex BJ's are going in Monday.

NERMAN

Yeah, that's not good. I think they're original on 140k miles.

resharp001

Yes, that looks original. So with DW, my experience has always been that it often is the result of 2 gremlins in the system. Usually if you have 1 bad component or loose bolt you get adverse feedback like a bumpsteer, but it doesn't progress to a wobble. It really gets going when there are two issues because the first negative feedback travels through the component system and then comes across the 2nd issue, be that a loose bolt, bad joint, or whatever......and then things just start reverberating back and forth. Often a good joint or a minor wobble then just takes it's toll on other components. So, the long and short of it is I don't think that shock is the cause of your DW, but it certainly isn't helping and could have a minor roll if it's not able to perform its duty well of keeping the tire planted on the ground. Just my 2c.

NERMAN

Thanks. My theory at this point is the loose track bar was causing all the other components to go bad. Plus they are all original so just shot in general. I think this shock could be part of the wandering problem and maybe it helped to cause damage to the other components too.

So far I've changed the following:

Track bar
Drag Link & ends
Tie rod & ends
Steering Stabilizer
Lower Control Arms
Now shocks

They all needed to be done. If the new ball joints next week don't solve it then I'll be forced to take it to a specialist.

Thanks resharp, I greatly appreciate the feedback!

NERMAN

Side note: it was the front right tire that hit the pot hole when I got my DW and that's the same location as this shock. Guess I'll never know if it helped initiate the DW or maybe even the shock got bent during the DW. Based on my inspection though it appears the shock has been this way for quite some time. The upper bushings were absolutely smashed unevenly.

NERMAN

New shocks in and what a difference the ride is. Didn't realize how bad it was before. My steering wheel is not returning to center though. I'm not sure if the new tie rods just need to break in or if a ball joint may be seized. I'll find out Monday when the BJ's go in. I did tighten up the steering box when everything was so sloppy... I'm starting to wonder if I overtightened it and can only now feel it with all the new parts. Debating on whether to adjust it down now or wait until after the ball joints are in. Any advice on that? I need to check the alignment too.

Sixty4x4

That sector shaft adjustment is not to take out slop as a lot of people think. It will remove a tiny bit of slop with something like 1/8 of a turn of the adjuster. The original purpose of that adjuster is for the setup of the steering box when new. Too much adjustment and the steering does not return to center. Try backing it out to original and drive it.

NERMAN

Thanjs Sixty, I'll back it out some today. I didn't move it much originally because I was afraid of messing it up.