SLC already busted your nuts

 

Lmao . Busted

 

Awesome. Well, it appears we have some update. Mkjeep noticed my alignment spec sheet (something my front end guy hadn't seen) and pointed out that I DO have bent Cs. The -1* and -0.9* camber points to bent Cs and I'd need offset ball joints to correct the camber first. Secondly he mentioned that it's toed-in too much, which would also cause DW. So, now I have something solid to go off of from someone that's had plenty of experience with DW on his own personal rig. So I think my first course of business would be getting some offset ball joints and an alignment to get the toe back in where it needs to be.

 

Your secret is safe. I wont tell him. Mum's the word

 

Soooooo wrong LOL.

 

So... If you think it's a bent C and/or a bent tube... what happens to your theory that you'd fixed your DW, and something SLC did brought it back

I can't imagined they did something to bend your axle... Unless you think they did something else to cause DW, which while driving from TX home caused your Cs to bend as well...

 

Good point. I don't know how long the camber has been there but I do know that we had fixed the DW issue on the 15th because the drive back from Duncan to Lawton after the bolt replacement, the steering was tight and it drove and handled like a dream. Same on the trip back to SLC the following morning. When I got the JK back that evening, and started driving home is when things got sloppier and the DW issues started the following morning. Also, they didn't indicate after the alignment that there were any issues found, and later I discovered that the front axle hadn't been centered. So, I'm not sure.

 

Nope... I completely agree... I don't think anybody is sure what's going on. You seem to have found a perfect storm.

From what you've told me, let me lay out what we know.

• You had death wobble.
• You fixed death wobble by using a different bolt for your trackbar.
• Death wobble fixed.
• You took your Jeep to SLC for (and correct me if I'm wrong here) arms, drive shaft, (what else?).
• Your death wobble returns with vengeance.
• You discover that you have both a drop pitman and a trackbar bracket... bad ju-ju. You removed the drop pitman (and some other things ) death wobble subsides to mild DW and/or bump steer.

At this point let me pause, and say that you still haven't figured out why your not back to where you were before your visit to SLC. You've had an alignment done, and you have some funny numbers. mkjeep pointed out that you probably have bent Cs. You also know that the welded on nut from SLC is bad ju-ju as well.

Now... before I get ahead of myself...

Either of those things could have been "done" at SLC. You know that they welded the nut. Closed book, remove nut life is good

But, does that solve your DW

And your bent Cs... that could have been "done" at SLC as well. We all know that driving with death wobble for any period of time can cause damage. You also have gussets, and never (to your knowledge) had any issues relating to your Cs before)... it is, IMHO, entirely plausible to think that your run-ins with death wobble could have bent your Cs.

Honestly, this actually looks like good news. It looks like (fingers crossed ) that you may be at the end of your journey. I say do the ball joints first, and if that doesn't fix it then get that nut taken care of.

If I had money to bet, I'd bet one of those two things (or both) will get you taken care of

 

Let me add the blanks to complete the picture.

- first trip to SLC - they installed front lcas and left cam bolts in there. Alignment performed.
- second visit - they welded C gussets, control arm skids, front driveshaft, rear upper control arms, jks trackbar braces, removed front track bar drop bracket, moved axle side track bar mounting location to offset higher up position on jks track bar brace (which full traction engineer said was a big no no), full alignment.
- first instances of mild to progressively worsening DW starts. Became more obvious after removing ss.
- notice era track bar rubbing on coils, rear coils bowing bad, rear driveshaft going out.
- switch to TeraFlex 4" lift at marks place; get full blown DW.
- the following Tuesday, drive to Duncan and find the smaller bolt in the passenger side track bar mount, replace it with 1/2" grade 8 bolt and DW gone.
- no dw on trip to slc the next day. They find front track bar heim joint seized up, and ended up having to buy nefw TeraFlex track bar.
- trip back home gets the steering progressively sloppy. Mild dw the next day progressing to full blown DW thereafter.
- replace drop pitman arm with stock arm, lower track bar mounting point to stock location, full blown dw becomes mild DW and slowly turns back into full blown DW.
- most recent alignment print out done by SLC last month is the one that mkjeep commented about the toe and camber - something SLC never pointed out.

So, question is wheeee and how did this happen? I have no clue.

 

Hang on there... I had always been assuming the alignment mkjeep was talking about was something you'd done POST SLC, while trying to diagnose the DW.


So... assuming mkjeep is right, you do have bent Cs. And since the alignment was done before your violent trip home... that just throws my theory of your most recent DW bending your Cs right out.


Out of curiosity... when did you get your Cs gusseted?

I know you said it was your second SLC trip... but what tires had you been running before gussets? For how long? Any serious wheeling? Do you think it was possible the Cs were bent before being gusseted?