I have an 09 Rubicon and I have been having some frontend issues for some time. There is a shimmy in my frontend that will not go away, it is not the death wobbles but I don't want it to get to that. I have had the frontend alligned twice and the tires balcanced and while it helped it a little, it is still there. They had to install an adjustable ball joint on my left side, so apparently I have bent the axle a little. I also broke the trac bar bracket off the axle. I welded it back in place and braced it with even more metal. My question is will a dynatrac prorock 44 unlimited fix the problem? I dont mind spending the money if it will fix it, but if it doesnt I will be pissed. Let me hear what you think!!!

 

Whether it "fixes" it or not, you've hammered the crap out of your front axle and should replace it. I think it's a pretty good bet, you'll find the problem during the swap.

 

Have you rotated the tires front <> rear since the shimmy started? Can you try the wheels and tire from a friend's Jeep? Have you eliminated the front drive shaft as the source of shaking?

Bent components throw the alignment off, and worn parts have enough play to allow things to shake, but it takes something rotating that is out of round or out of balance to start the shaking in the first place.

 

What if the issue is in your control arms? Warn bushings, enlarged hole for a bolt, etc. No axle will fix that. I would start by really diagnosing what is going on now then upgrade. What if after the upgrade it gets worse? Find the wobbles, iron those out, get a new axle if you still want to.

 

X2 what BigSteve said. I can tell you that control arms were my issue. And it was a combination of front and rear having play in them due to enlarged holes, warn bushings, wrong sized bolts, too much gap between the bushing and the mounting box, and on and on. This has been an issue for months now with a shimmy that wouldn't go away and after my last trip two weeks ago it became profoundly worse with real bad wobbles but not quite deathly at speeds between 20 and 45.

Anyhow this weekend I had a buddy look over everything (you know second pair of eyes) after I had. That's when we discovered the CA issues. Went to ACE Hardware and purchased new bolts, washers, lock washers, nuts, and bigger washers to act as shims between the bushing and the mounting box. $21 is what I spent. Now no shimmy, at any speed, bumpy road or not. I still can't believe it! I mean f*** why didn't I look at that before.

I still have to fix the wallowed holes but for now it works till I can get a welder under it.

 

The main reason why I think it is the axle is that it all started after the new adjustable ball joint was put in. I will go over my suspension components and see if any are loose or worn. How do you tell if the front drive shaft is bad?

 

I had a shimmy after my prorock 44 install and it turned out to be my toe setting...had to much toe in and the front wheels were fighting against each other...after setting the toe oit alittle it is almost gone...

 

My guess is your shimmy has something to do with the suspension or worn components more-so than a damaged axle. That being said, if you needed adjustable ball joints then your c's are most likely bent, and if thats the case then you are no doubt stressing the stock axle and would benefit from a new/heavy duty one.

Personaly, I would still be looking for the main cause of the wobbly (although still be planning on a new axle). You likely could put a new axle in and still have the exact same issue.

 

I pulled my allignment sheet and I guess I just missed it last time, but my caster is way off. I am hoping that is the main issue but I still think I may do the axle anyways for just piece of mind.

 

I'd look at your control arm bushings and see if they need to be replaced