We have a JK-U Rubicon with an AEV 3-1/2" lift running 35" Duratec tires. Jeep has 43,000 miles overall about 38,000 with the larger tires. Tires still have good tread. About 1,000 miles ago I had a shop put Synergy balljoints on. It seemed to me the steering had loosened, though it still handled and rode well, so I thought the ball joints would tighten up the steering. We climb a couple times a year on moderate+ trails the rest of the year it is my wife's daily driver. The results are weird steering. The best way I can describe it is the steering is "sticky" and you really need to stay on the steering especially in strong winds. With winter coming on we are about ready to have the stock ones put back on. I contacted Synergy and they said there is a breaking in period of about 1,000 miles. We are there now and can't tell a difference. Anyone else have input on solutions?

 

If you drive alot of hwy mileage, they will take longer to "break in". Best thing would be to do lots of in town (turning) driving with it, or even take it out on a nice simple trail and work it in. Im assuming here that your 1000 miles was mainly highway, and as a result - not much turning going on during that time.

If it's not highway, I suppose they could have been installed with improper torque on the castle nuts? I did mine 2 weeks ago (alloy USA), and noticed they were sticky for a few days, but have gotten much better now. Probably only 400 miles on mine, but lots of city driving and no trails. From my instructions, you were to torque one nut to 30 temporarily, then final torque the uppers, and then the lowers (or maybe its lowers, then uppers) to somewhere around 70 - 85 ft lbs respectively (again, exact specs were on the sheet but it was in that range).

Hope that helps a bit.

 

Excellent post right here. Especially the improper torque on the castle nuts part. I had a bunch of miles on my balljoints and they were still sticky as hell. Removed the tie rod and draglink from the knuckles and wouldn't you know it one knuckle was tighter than the other. I broke the knuckle that was tighter from the balljoints and retorqued the castle nuts again and it solved the problem

 

Thanks for your input. I will check out the castle nut torque.

 

You might also check that the BJs were installed straight. Chrysler uses a slightly canted seat for the BJs and lots of people use washers/flat steel plates to take up the gap when they don't have the proper tool. This can lead to a crooked install. Ensure the BJ lips are flat against the seats all of the way around.

 

How does this differ than say a camber/caster wedge under the bj? Id think as long as there's no slop a tires sidewall especially on larger tires would make up for that very very small variation? Im not trying to be a dick just curious.

 

Mine was the same way after installing the synergy ball joints. The sticky or flighty feeling when you have a front antirock made it kinda scary to drive at highway speeds. Not sure how many miles, but one day I noticed the "stickiness" was gone and it felt and drove great.

 

I don't see the relationship between ball joint and tie rod nut torque and tightness of the ball joints in each, as mentioned above.
The ball joint stud is tapered. It goes into a tapered hole in the knuckle.
The stud will seat in the knuckle only so far, even if over-torqued.

The tie rod and drag link studs are of the same design.

The torque on the nut will have no effect on the tightness of the ball and socket.

 

You can most definitely over torque ball joint and tie rod ends even though they're tapered. The tapered end is only supposed to go in so far hence the torque spec. If you go past the torque spec you will unnaturally force the tapered end in deeper which will pull the ball in the socket further down causing tighter than normal steering. This is the reason why you are suppose to torque the balljoint in a specific sequence to give a more accurate torque measurement

 

I agree, you can over-torque the ball joint stud, as is the case with any threaded fastener. There is a specific torque on the nut, not because it controls the preload on the ball joint, but because the designers don't want you to exceed the yield strength of the nut and threaded stud.
However, over-torque on the ball joint stud will not cause additional load on the ball in the socket.

You said: "If you go past the torque spec you will unnaturally force the tapered end in deeper which will pull the ball in the socket further down causing tighter than normal steering."

The stud may well be drawn deeper into the knuckle, (not much, though; it's quite a steep taper), but this cannot impart additional load on the ball/socket. Instead, the knuckle will be drawn up, as the upper joint is designed to have a lot of vertical play.