Death Wobble Cont.
 

Hello all,

I recently had a an issue with a track bar installation completely wrecking the ball joints of my jeep and giving me a full on death wobble, see link: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...-ideas-350434/. I went and tackled the issue and had a mechanic swap out the whole front suspension (Drag link (flipped), Tie rod, Ball joints) all while using the same track bar. This definitely solved the issue regarding the death wobble as it has not come back since. But ever since then my car has had a tendency to pull me to the left and right, where im constantly having to adjust the steering wheel to keep it straight (Its not throwing me out of my lane or anything crazy either but it is constantly having me shift between the 11-1 o'clock positions on the steering wheel to keep it centered ESPECIALLY after going over some bumps in the road at regular driving speeds 40mph.). At first I figured, well this track bar caused my issue the first time, so I swapped it out for a rough country track bar, this helped its driving a bit but something still felt wrong and almost like the axle was moving underneath, I came to find there was a lot of play in the track bar bracket mounting hole on the axle side with the stock threaded bolts for the track bar. So I changed these bolts out for the grade 8, 9/16 bolts many recommend, this removed the feeling of my axle swaying but did not solve the issue. Come today, I have gotten my car aligned in hopes that maybe I just needed an alignment but it still feels the same except tighter (if that makes sense), there is weakness in the steering over bumps where itll have me going in a different direction unless I keep a firm grip and I still do have to correct the steering to keep myself centered on the road without veering from left to right. For the life of me I cant really guess as to what can be making my vehicle want to move from side to side since basically everything is new, the only thing I noticed that may be an issue is the bolt that connects the pitman arm to the steering box seems to have some fluid around it (Its not a lot to where you see it pooling or anything dripping, but just by eyeballing it you can see its covered in said fluid.). Have any of you ever had this issue, or any idea as to what may be wrong with my car? I really dont know anymore and I just want a car that can drive straight, I feel more confident driving my 2000 Honda accord over a bump vs with my jeep :gaah:
Any help is very much appreciated, thanks to all.

Suspension Specs:
Rough Country 2.5" Spring Lift Kit
Rough Country Track Bar
Quadratec Nitro Shocks
YETI HD drag link (Flipped)
Crown Automotive Replacement Tie rod
Old Man Emu Steering Stabilizer
Synergy Ball Joints

How long have the new ball joints been in? Typically there's a break-in time on them where you'll notice they tend to need correction or they don't tend to return the center well.

Also- flipped drag link at 2.5" isn't where you want to be. Flipped is for 3.5"+. That may be another piece of your equation.

Yup, I mentioned this twice in the last thread....so how many miles do you have on them so far?

+1....which also makes me question if when they flipped the DL (improperly for this application), did they also raise the TB mount? If not, that's likely the source of what sounds like bad bump steer. You need to go back to factory mount DL.

Take a picture of the front end if you're unsure.

No caster correction? Would you happen to know the actual lift height gained from those 2.5" coils? Post the alignment specs.

And as mentioned, 3.5" or so is generally when people start thinking about draglink flips because of the extra bumpstop needed for frame clearance. As part of raising the axle end of the draglink, the axle end of the trackbar needs to be raised as well - hence the question about whether you installed a trackbar bracket. One without the other, the angles are off, and you created your own steering issue. Can that particular draglink be used in the stock location?

Yes I do have a track bar bracket installed to compensate for the flip kit. It was recommended that I have it if i was looking to lift the car further in the future which I am, just not at this time. Ball joints at least have gone 350+ miles for sure, even 500 could be a safe guess as on the first day I put in 50 miles alone trying to wear them in. Ill send a photo of the suspension to my car when I get the chance as im at work atm (the best I have is this photo of the passenger side before I swapped the bolts and TB for the RC TB, but it looks basically the same). Im worried that I may have a damaged steering box from the wobble when it originally happened (is that possible?). Also could the flipped drag link cause the issue for the lift I have, what would be the reason for that? Considering the track bar is also on a bracket.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...14b9c38e8.jpeg

Can you post up the alignment specs? Curious what your caster is.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...9fa1efadda.jpg
Here is the alignment specs. Mech says the Caster is a bit low and could affect handling on car.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...6ac07baa15.jpg
Better shot of underside of car, you can see that Track bar and DL are pretty close to parallel. We also shook steering wheel while the vehicle was off and didnt find any play.

Oof, that caster is definitely low which can't be helping things any. Keep in mind that caster from the factory is 4.2*, and most of us lifted guys are running somewhere in that 4-5* range (it's not an exact science). Caster is one of those things that small changes make a huge difference. Since it's that low, have to think you have no form of caster correction. The easiest/cheapest solution would be to throw some control arm brackets on it for $100. It would make a big difference in that regard. Low caster can often result in bump-steer (hit a bump and steering wheel kinda yanks in a direction). I could envision this being a combination of bump-steer with effects of tight steering still.

When you make a turn in the jeep currently, does the steering wheel want to return to straight by itself? If not, those ball joints are still tight. The description of constant correction between 11 & 1 o'clock sounds mainly like tight steering still following BJ replacement to me.

Yeah ive been reading up on the caster angles 4*-5* seems like the sweet spot, while I am already in the process of getting the brackets for the control arms my one concern is that if my vehicle was sitting at the same ride height before and didnt do this why would it happen after the wobble? Shouldnt the caster angles be similar to before? Any fair guesses? Regardless ill update on the situation after the bracket is installed. I appreciate the help man

When you look at the sector shaft that the pitman arm attaches to, you should be able to see a small bit of the shaft above the pitman arm. You mention the bolt having fluid on it. Can you see fluid caking the sector shaft above the pitman arm?