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Front End F**K Up

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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 09:43 AM
  #1  
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Angry Front End F**K Up

So I really need some help here.

I have had issues with the front end in Jeeps pretty much my entire life time, today is no different.... I have recently bought: Synergy Ball Joints, Synergy Tie Rod, Synergy Drag Link, Rubicon Express Track Bar, and a Duel stabilizer. With all this new equipment I would figure my steering would be somewhat bearable with no wobble. Wrong..... I'm taking pics now but for the love of god I cannot figure out what the **** is wrong. ESP light comes on when I'm driving straight, the steering wheel will uncenter, and the alignment will be off.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 09:51 AM
  #2  
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The only part of the alignment you changed would be toe in/out.

Is the steering wheel centered and did you check to see if it is toed in an 1/8" ??

.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 09:52 AM
  #3  
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When you put the new Trackbar on did you put on a relocation bracket for the stabilizer and Trackbar. ?
Is your Trackbar and draglink parallel.???
Wobble general is caused by loose warn parts especially the Trackbar bushings.
Bumpsteer is caused by the Trackbar and draglink (steering link) not being parallel. Everything you hit a dip in the road the steering wheel will turn in your hand.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 09:54 AM
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What's the rest of your setup? Lifted?stock ? All good details to share for us to help internet diagnosing your issues.

I'm gonna guess someone will jump in here and say "you probably need to regear and add 37s"
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 09:57 AM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by AJ_
So I really need some help here.

I have had issues with the front end in Jeeps pretty much my entire life time, today is no different.... I have recently bought: Synergy Ball Joints, Synergy Tie Rod, Synergy Drag Link, Rubicon Express Track Bar, and a Duel stabilizer. With all this new equipment I would figure my steering would be somewhat bearable with no wobble. Wrong..... I'm taking pics now but for the love of god I cannot figure out what the **** is wrong. ESP light comes on when I'm driving straight, the steering wheel will uncenter, and the alignment will be off.
Dual stabilizers are pointless, you shouldn't need both. Your problem can come from multiple things and each one has to be diagnosed. You're steering wheel shouldnt uncenter unless you've stripped the neck on the drag link, allowing it to unthread or you haven't torqued it down tight enough to keep it from doing so. First off, check the torque on EVERY THING YOU SWAPPED. Any play in the tie rod or drag link can cause this issue. Check the balancing of your wheels/tires. Check the bushings in your control arms. Confirm you installed the ball joints correctly. And just so you know, most of these parts you're mixing and matching sometimes rely on other parts such as correction brackets to make sure the geometry in your suspension is correct. Your draglink and trackbar should be on the same angle or VERY close to avoid any irregularities in your steering. As for your alignment being off, that doesn't happen very easily. And quite honestly, it typically takes you disassembling your front end completely to require all of it to be set up again on a machine. In most cases you can take a front axle apart and put everything back in the front without the need of an alignment as long as nothing changed in the process. Start from the front and make your way to the back torquing everything to spec.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 10:09 AM
  #6  
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 10:19 AM
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Off the bat, you need washers on that track bar bracket frame and axle side. Secondly, start checking torque values on the trackbar, tierod and the balljoints. Post up a picture of the front end so we can see the geometry of the trackbar to draglink. Those two pieces have to be as close to parallel as possible. If they're not thats where the relocation brackets come into play. Make sure every bolt on body side and frame side has a washer between the head of the bolt and the frame..
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 10:21 AM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by Jahamm88
What's the rest of your setup? Lifted?stock ? All good details to share for us to help internet diagnosing your issues.

I'm gonna guess someone will jump in here and say "you probably need to regear and add 37s"
He's running a factory suspension kit. The red shocks are in the pictures. My guess is he is suffering from death wobble and purchased all of these parts to correct it, accidentally making it worse than it was before hand. Just my assumption at this point though.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 10:56 AM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by JkHauler
He's running a factory suspension kit. The red shocks are in the pictures. My guess is he is suffering from death wobble and purchased all of these parts to correct it, accidentally making it worse than it was before hand. Just my assumption at this point though.



DING DING DING exactly. The JK had a spring spacer lift on it when i bought it and the shocks are from a rubicon. Here is what happen. We were about to leave, decided to check the toe-in/tow-out alignment because this isn't a new issue and noticed it was off just a little bit and having just bought these tires i really don't want them ruined before it snows. So I lift the drivers side (usually lift both sides but didn't see any reason too since the adjustment bolt is only controlling the drivers side tire) and adjust the alignment to a 1/16 tow in. When i finish I noticed the tie rod on the passenger side had leveled out and even when the tie rod was pivoted all the way forward it was still pretty level although the drivers side would still was tilted all the way forward. But I figured this was a good thing as the geometry was better and the front end seemed tighter after i drove around. So I get back and decide to try and do the same thing with the drag link since it was pivoted/ tilted forward/down as well. I lift the passenger side and adjust the bolt on the drag link, tighten it all back up, go on a test drive and thats where everything starts to go down hill. I made a light left turn and the ESP light comes on then the steering wheel is out of alignment as well as the wheels. . So I drive back, attempt to realign then when i pull out of the driveway on a straight road the esp light comes back on. So now I'm here. I working on pics. iPhone decided to update itself so I'm waiting on that.
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Old Sep 28, 2016 | 11:09 AM
  #10  
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