Hi,

My Wrangler shakes at 70 mph after 3 inch lift (I have not taken it to an alignment shop yet. Planning to take it as soon as I install the rest of control arms) but I was looking at the front track bar driver side and I noticed this a slight wiggle. The track bar bolts are torque down to 125 ft lbs is this wiggle normal?

I am sorry if this is a dumb question

 

No, that is not normal. And no, that is not a dumb question. The only dumb question is the one not asked!

What I would try is torquing until the wiggle is gone a little at a time until the wiggle disappears. Then back off the torque and re-torque to spec. If the wiggle is still there, remove the track bar, and put a bolt through the mount to "over-torque" it to squeeze it in a bit. Then try again.

I had a track bar once that was undersized. It squeezed in the brackets more than spec. When I changed out the track bar, I had to spread the mounting bracket before the new trackbar would fit. So be sure that track bar is per spec before squeezing the bracket together - or at least be aware of what you are doing!

 

Agree with the above.

On a side note, be aware that an alignment shop is only going to adjust toe and recenter the steering wheel in their advertised price as that is what they can do on a factory jeep. They are not going to adjust caster via control arms or even control arm brackets without an extra charge, and tbh, I would not want any of those guys monkeying around with my control arms. What you should do is measure your pinion angle at the pinion flange with a digital angle finder. That way, you have a baseline for what your caster is. Go to a shop, get a reading....if you see your caster is 1° low, then you know you need to go home and adjust your upper control arms so that the pinion angle decreases by 1° (therefore raising your caster by that same 1°). Just saves yourself some money. My 2c at least.

 

Thank you for the tip! I am actually thinking about returning these track bars. What were the “new track bar” you got that was as fit in the original size bracket?

 

The old track bar was Synergy. It was about 1/8" narrower than either the stock bracket or even the Synergy upgrade. 1/8" is more than enough to permanently bend in the bracket. I went with the SteerSmarts track bar and their relocation bracket. The relocation bracket is beefy as heck and made for a solid mounting point for the track bar and the new steering stabilizer (Bilstein), and helps reinforce the passenger side of the front axle. I eventually did the whole SteerSmarts enchilada - no-drill top mount drag link and sector shaft reinforcement too. Everything rides fantastic now. Super tight and has no flex in the steering. But then again, I was chasing years of abuse that was causing death wobble and worn tires (or the other way around). Replaced the tires and wheels too. ...and the rear diff locker. The JK was struck by lightning and took out wiring from the front to the back and into the locker. But that's another story.

I spent way too much money on getting the ride right. At least that is what I thought as I was paying the credit card bills. But the Jeep front end is better than new - and that's no exaggeration!