doba

Not saying it's not possible but I had tires rotated and balanced about 3 weeks ago and I'm not feeling any shaking when going down a smooth road. It only occurs after hitting a sharp bump in the road where both tires hit it at the same time at 40mph. Like an uneven expansion joint.

doba

Whelp it's back. Gonna have to go back through the Planman checklist.

This sucks btw

kjeeper10

Loose TB bolt is NEVER good .

resharp001

Been out of town but circling back around on a few threads. This thread has gotten a little long. Just to recap everything, you have 3.5” AEV lift with a high steer kit. You have now replaced the pitman arm end of your drag link and replaced the track bar with an aftermarket adjustable bar. No info in your profile so assuming that the tie rod and the ball joints are factory? I know you said the BJ’s checked out, but that is what I would really question, especially if they are factory. Can’t recall how Planman shows you, but jack up the axle and set it on jack stands so it’s stable. Use a shovel or something for leverage under the tire to force some upward movement. Shine a light right on both upper and lower BJs and watch for that movement. You shouldn’t be seeing much.

You’re possibilities for the problem are as follows:
1) Bad TB joints (you’ve replaced with new TB)
2) Loose TB bolt (sounds like this was loose before and is now torque down with the new TB
3) Wallowed out TB bracket hole (you’ve inspected and deemed undamaged)
4) Bad DL ends (you replaced the pitman side)
5) Bad ball joints
6) Bad TR ends

Issues in my experience seem to rank as follows:

1) Track bar (bolt mainly, joint next)
2) Ball joints
3) DL knuckle end
4) TR ends
5) DL pitman arm end

I would say this...I don’t think replacing the TB was money poorly spent. It’s too bad that AEV doesn’t just provide a nice TB to begin with rather than re-using the factory one. What brand did you end up going with when you replaced?

Clarify again what you are feeling? In the original post you talk about a shimmy. I’d stand by my response in post #5 that my experience is a bad BJ feels like an odd shimmy whereas bad TR or DL is more bumpsteer (quick jerk of the steering wheel). If that TB bolt was loose before, combined with bad BJs, it would trigger a wobble that could ruin other joints like you’re DL that you replaced. I know it’s frustrating, and I’m not one to throw parts at things. There are only a few things it could be (outlined above) and you’ve already addressed some of them. I'll put my $5 on ball joints.

doba

Resharp thanks for the response. Yeah factory BJs and tie rod.

I will check the BJs again today but this morning after looking at things I feel clicking and movement in the knuckle DL end. So that's definitely up for replacement. TR end look good without any movement nor clicking.

What I'm feeling is basically smooth driving at any speed on smooth roads. At times when I hit a bump on said road like an uneven expansion joint I'll get a quick shimmy in the steering wheel (back and forth a few times) but it goes away without any changes on my part. Other times if I hit a sizable bump it'll start shimmying and then go into full DW until I slow down to stop it.

Let me know if that gives you a clearer picture of things.

I'm gonna focus on the BJs and hopefully find the root of this all.

resharp001

A couple thoughts here. If you're actually hearing a clunk in the DL end at the knuckle, that is definitely NOT good. You shouldn't hear anything like that. Is it just when the joint reaches end of travel (side to side in the socket), or is it more a sound that makes you think up/down movement? The DL is much easier to spot a bad joint when it's not flipped cuz there is no question that you see the whole end moving up and down when someone is turning the wheel. When it's flipped and sitting on top of the knuckle is seems a little harder to diagnose. That said, it sounds like you have a factory RHD DL and not the yeti 26 as mentioned earlier. Easy way to confirm is does the DL end have a grease zerk? if not, it's the factory.

Those factory DL ends and ball joints are what they are. It's starting to seem like you got the first good wobble and it wreaked havoc on everything. I suspect you could have multiple issues. I say that because from everything I've seen, it takes more than 1 bad component to cause real DW. You can survive one bad joint and just sense bumpsteer-like symptoms. Once you have 2 issues in the system….all things start going awry. That could be a combination of a bad joint + loose TB bolt, could be 2 bad joints combined, or another combination. It just seems that the system can absorb the shock of one bad reaction down the line, but once you have 2 issues, the shock to the system is compounded. The initial shock to the system travels and hits the 2nd problem area and boom….it’s like ripples in water with unexpected forces reverberating through the components bouncing off each other. That might not be the best way of explaining it, but general idea. Look at what is inside your factory BJs –



One good case of DW can easily damage those things even if they were undamaged prior to the wobble. It would just take one of those plastic tabs cracking or breaking.

I think what you are referring to is indeed bumpsteer. I think it’s just a difference in how we refer to a “shimmy” vs. a “jerk of the steering wheel”. It seems like what’s happening is you hit a bump or whatnot, and you get bumpsteer. If it’s small enough you recover from it, but if it’s big enough and you’re traveling fast enough, it compounds in to a full on wobble that forces you to stop. If it was just 1 bad DL end joint, that would not continue to something that is unrecoverable. It just seems there’s something else hiding in the linkage.

On the bright side, there are only a handful of items that cause these wobble issues, and although it's frustrating, it's something any owner is capable of remedying. Ideally one can spot it fast, fix, and move on down the road. It's definitely more frustrating if you have multiple issues cuz you think you fix it and boom, it continues to rear it's ugly head, compounding the frustration.

doba

Just realized I didn't say which TB I installed. I went with the new yeti XD. There's some side to side movement when turning the wheel lock to lock which I think is the bushing compressing.

I should rephrase the sound comment I made earlier as it's misleading. I feel a clicking when I grab the DL when my wife is turning the wheel back and forth. No clunking sound. Sorry if that was misleading.

Yes I do have the factory RHD DL and not the yeti HD. It when has the mopar parts sticker on it.

I jacked up each side, one at a time, and used a shovel to check the BJs. There was no looseness at all. No up and down nor side to side when prying in the bottom of the tire with the shovel lifting up on it. So unless I'm doing something wrong I think the BJs are fine.

I used a channel lock again to pinch the TREs and DL ends. There's some compressive movement when pinching these ends, with the exception of the new moog end I installed at the pitman.

resharp001

Curious, where are you located?

doba

Nazareth PA

resharp001

If you didn't have a high steer on it I'd send you a Moog DL end I have sitting around. It sounds like your confident that the BJs are solid, and the knuckle side DL is bad....with possible tie rod end issues as well. The thing that is going to stink about that is factory RHD DL end is not going to be worth the money. I'm not sure I've noticed a Moog RHD DL. Crown has one for $65.....but ugh, Crown. If the knuckle had to be drilled already, the Yeti 26 is probably out of the running as that is a no-drill option, and the other aftermarket ends are going to be $180 and on up.

Not many people chiming in here. Would be nice if there was another person generally close to your location that might be willing to give it a look and a 2nd opinion in person.