Seizer

2007 JK, 2D, standard transmission

At the end of September I had my front axle pulled and trussed/gusseted Dana 30 put in the front end with new TrueTrac and 4.10 gears. Before this axle was put in, I installed new Terraflex ball joints, and replaced the clevite OEM bushings with new Crown OEM style bushings. Jeep drives fine under most normal circumstances. I've not noticed any pulling left or right as I go along. Here comes the but. But when I hit a dip in the road or a speed bump at higher speeds, she sure does make quite the loud thunk/clunk now. This new loud thunk/clunk is this due to being a lot stiffer than the factory installed axle and ball joints?

The second thing I've noticed is when I hit 65-67 MPH I get a very slight wobble feeling in the Jeep. It's not felt at all in the steering wheel, like when a wheel is off balance. As soon as I go under 65 or above 67 the wobble sensation disappears. I've double checked the torques on the track bar, all control arms, and drag link. Everything was within torque wrench specs. Also I've read Planman's diagnosing death wobble, and he suggests I swap out wheels with a buddy. Sadly, I've only met one Jeep buddy and he lives in Texas. Any recommendations on how to solve this issue? I didn't take it in for alignment after the axle swap and regear, I wanted to hold off until I get my 2" lift kit tossed into her. Thanks for your suggestions fellas.

resharp001

That report does not sound good. Definitely shouldn't be having any clunk/thunk going on, and definitely shouldn't be caused by the new ball joints. If anything, with the new ball joints you MIGHT have had some tight steering until they break in......but tbh, can't say I've noticed anyone saying that with TF BJs yet. Synergy and Alloy definitely have that issue...sometimes for as long as 500-1000 miles.

You said you've double check torque on everything. When you installed the BJ's, did you just torque the tops and then the bottoms, or did you do something along the lines of top to XXX, bottom to full torque, and then top to full torque? It sounds like something is loose......and since it's a clunk when you hit a hole....I'm just envisioning maybe not having the BJ's torqued all the way...which might also explain bit of wobble. I'm just thinking out loud at where I'd start looking myself if it were mine. You definitely shouldn't have a sound like that, so something isn't right. Now just a matter of finding it. I would double check every single bolt you've touched along the way. Shocks, brakes....everything, just to eliminate any and all possibilities. Anytime you mess with a suspension or axle swap, it's a good rule of thumb to recheck everything after 500-1000 miles anyhow. Things have a way of working loose or possibly being overlooked the first time.

Your welcome to come try my tires if you wanna make the drive!

We'll see if others might chime in with a good idea of where else to look.

Seizer

All I did for the ball joints myself was press them in. A local axle shop did the swap out for me so I have no idea how he torqued them to the knuckles. I'm thinking of jacking it up and putting the shovel underneath the tire to see if there is flex in the ball joints. I did not check torque on those. I will do that this weekend. Speaking of ball joint torque, I just checked the service manual and it says torque upper ball joint to...... There is no torque reference I can find! 70 ft lbs I reckon.

Shoot resharp I don't even think your tires would fit on my ride. They'd probably stuff into the wheel wells causing a whole new batch of sounds!

Smudgeontheglass

The squeak with the bounce sounds like the shop torqued up your control arms while your Jeep was in the air. Drop it to the ground, losen up all the bolts and bounce your bumper a few times. This should release the tension, then simply tighten them up to the correct torque spec. This could also fix your wobble at speed, but if you've added bigger tires or a lift to your Jeep, that speed wobble is likely due to an incorrect castor angle which you're only going to fix with control arms, drop brackets or (worst option) cam bolts.

DESCRIPTION N·m Ft. Lbs.
Suspension Arm Lower Axle Bracket Nut 169 125
Suspension Arm Lower Frame Bracket Nut 169 125
Suspension Arm Upper Axle Bracket Nut/Bolt 102 75
Suspension Arm Upper Frame Bracket Bolt 102 75

More torque specs: http://www.jkowners.com/forum/write-...que-specs.html

Seizer

Thanks for chiming in Smudge I will do this as well this weekend. I haven't put any lift or bigger tires on yet so that should not be a factor. Thanks for the torque chart reference. It's odd there is no reference for ball joint torque in that zip file either. I pulled 70 ft lbs from another site that said this what the ball joints needed to be torqued to.

Smudgeontheglass

That document has them in there, Hub/Bearing Bolts 75 ft-lbs. The ball joints themselves are pressed in like you said.

While you're in there checking torque specs, you should also check out your track bar mounting locations. Those do wallow out over time and you may have to get a shop to weld in some washers if the hole has ovalled out.

resharp001

Good point Smudge. I didn't realize that a shop threw this in there since you had been doing other work. Definitely a chance they were lazy and torqued those arms down while it was still hanging in the air a bit.

For the record, per TF instructions, torque on the BJs is 70 ft lbs both top and bottom. Seems a bit light on the bottom, but that is what the instructions say. My Dynatracs are 35 on top, then 70 on bottom, then to 70 on top, and finally 105 on the bottom. Also, if the castle nut doesn't line up....you always tighten to the next opening......never back it off to the previous. Start with Smudges suggestion. I'd check the BJ's with a shovel under the tire (axle proped on jack stand for stability) for peace of mind after that. retorquing would be a pain cuz shafts have to come out to access the top ones. I just typically don't trust torque on things unless I did it myself.

resharp001

Hub/Bearing bolts are the 3 13mm bolts holding the bearing to the knuckle, not the castle nuts on the BJs.

Tightdog

You said you trussed it, are you sure the truss isn't making contact with anything when you hit a big bump. A truss and no lift seems like it could be a tight fit. Just a thought. I've been diagnosing a host of new sounds after my axle swap so I feel your pain. Good luck.

Smudgeontheglass

This is actually a point I should have thought of. My truss was coming into contact with my upper oil pan. It shaved a few mm off the aluminum but nothing major. I took a grinder to it and ground off about 1/2" the truss and that clearanced it. Mine is an Artec truss.