My tie rod is fine.

I checked the pitman and found no play. I'll check out the sector shaft this weekend..

I torqued the lower track bar bolt with an impact then with a 24" breaker well over the recommended 125ft/lbs and the steering wheel seems to remain centered.. but time will tell. I'll get some washers welded in later this week.

 

Uh, the sector shaft is what your pitman is attached to. I think the other guy too was talking about the lower intermediate steering shaft not sector. I've changed mine twice. But you get more of a knock than alot of play in it. Than can end up being so bad they strip. The problem with those is that the spline sleeve is made of a plastic polymer and over a period of time it heats/cools and gets loose being is that it's right next to the manifold it doesn't help matters much.

 

Sorry about that; I absolutely meant lower intermediate shaft.

The typical problem with the shaft, as mkjeep pointed out, is that it develops play and is responsible for the notorious JK steering clunk. What I'm referring to is the opposite of that problem whereas the splines seize up and the shaft won't compress on the splines. If the shaft can't move on the splines there is a bind...nature of a u-jointed shaft.
Just take one end loose and see if it'll slide on the splines...if it slides, this is not your problem. If it doesn't slide, replace it, otherwise you'll never get the steering wheel to stay straight, or the Jeep to drive straight...it'll always want to turn away from the bind in the shaft.

It's #10 in the diagram

 

[QUOTE=bkw;1696309]

What I'm hoping (looking) for is for someone to tell me how many degrees 1/8th of an inch out on a LCA would net me. [QUOTE]


I have a different lift and components, but on mine 1/8" equals a 0.7 change in degree of castor. I didnt see which arms you have, but 1 turn of the arm is 1/16" change on my TF lca's.

 

Very unlikely.
Bump steer is generally caused by the track bar and drag link not being parallel, and a speed related steering wheel wobble is generally caused by an out of balance wheel.

What a lot of people call bump steer is really just a characteristic
of a solid axle...you feel a bit of kickback over bumps.
Real bump steer is when the Jeep changes direction because it went over a bump...it's a freaky feeling. The cure for that is a drag link flip or what some call a high-steer kit.
Hope that helps.

 

this thread is like therapy!

my rig's steering needs to be reset everytime i use the sway bar disconnect - didn't even think to check the intermediate shaft.

btw - i tried using angle finders and string to measure all alignment settings and your best bet is to take to an alignment shop that can print out your true toe, thrust angle and caster. (most folks will give you a print out for a lot less than cost for an alignment). i chased front driveshaft pinion angle so much that i had negative caster = dangerous.

 

superior makes a drop pitman arm that helps to level things out - just make sure it's on TIGHT else you'll be buying another arm.

from expereince, if you don't get it on tight the 1st time a little play in the joint causes 'knocking' and a lot of driving issues.