jsciaretta

I have a 2012 JK Unlimited. I have the Teraflex levelling kit on it now. I ordered the grade 8 bolt kit because I thought my shimmy in the steering wheel might be solved by that. I have NOT put the grade 8 kit in yet. I put the levelling kit on when the JK had 3000 miles on it. I have 285/70/17 BFG Mud KM2's on XD addicts. I had no shakes, shimmys, vibrations until I hit 10k miles or so. It has progressivly got worse but I cant figure out whats cause it. I checked all my bolts and they are tight as tight can be. My track bar does not appear to have movement in it when I lay under the Jeep and the GF turns steering wheel. Now for the quiks that it does. I have no noticable shimmy until I hit 37 MPH, its the worst between 40-45, then it goes away or is barely noticable at just under 50 MPH. 50 + on occasion i can fell a minor vibration but I think that is just from the tires. I can not for the life of me figure it our. Im just under 13K miles right now and want to get it fixed. I did a home check of my alignment, I measure from center line on the tire to the inside of the wheel rim. The front of my tires is 3/8" wider than when I measure the back side in the same manner. Would this slight toe out be the cause? If so do I need to take it for a full alignment or can I just do it in the driveway at home, tighten the tie rod end in some until its closer to even front to back ?

im just confused since the toe is out normally I should feel the vibratio/shimmy all the time but its only at certain speeds.

Please let me know your thoughts.


(ps. I dont want to pay for a full alignment as I am going to be getting either the rockkrawler stock mod 2.5" or teraflex 2.5" lifts, before or at xmas) I wanted to take it to get checked out then. Ill do what I have to though.

keithvegas

You actually want a slight toe in. Around 1/8". The shimmy is more likely a tire out of balance though. Usually that is the cause if it is at a specific speed range.

As far as correcting the toe, yes you can adjust the tie rod yourself quite easily. On a stock rod you loosen the adjuster and turn the collar till it is the right length then tighten it up. There is a write up in the project JK section.

HLKSTER

Could it be that one of your wheels are out of balance? Maybe you threw a weight?

jsciaretta

Its quite possible I threw a weight offroading. I never seen anywhere there should be a weight that wasnt there. Not to say it didnt happen. If that were the case whats the chances of getting it rebalanced with 8k miles on it? lost cause or anything will help?

c17loadmaster

Try just rotating your tires. That may help you identify a out of balance tire without paying anything.

jsciaretta

Well, I went home and tore everything apart. Not really. I did however pull my front wheels. First anomally was one of my lug nuts was just laying in hole with the stud still in it. Yep it was snapped clean! So i did the front end alignment and got the toe in at right about 1/8" in on the front of the rotors. So then the adventure for the stud started. I took the caliper bracket off and took the remaining stud out. I was able to get the small piece out of the nut also with fist my finger. Then I found out Advanced and Auto Zone or any other online part store I checked did not have the stud in stock. Apparently the 2012 is a different size from 2011 and back. Dorman couldn't even give me a clue. So im stuck until tomorrow morning when I can call the dealer. The thing wasnt really all that far on the stud and it was snapped clean and smooth, there are a few shiny spots that lok like a defect in the stud. I know it wasnt snapped by me when I put the wheels on because that was over 8000 miles ago. Im really surprised it didnt fall out, though I really dont know when it snapped. So I put her all back together tightened the bolt on my tie rod sleeve, went for a drive. The shimmy in my steering wheel is probably 75% BETTER.

So could the new stud and a tight wheel be my issue? Seems so at the moment. The other 4 lugs were nice and tight. I only have 4 tight lugs for now on that wheel and its better. Im still confused but hope for the best.

Thanks for the recomendations guys. Much appreciated!

Nacxxx

Had the same prob with the shimmy on mine. Balanced all the tires and it went away.

1BAMFR

+1

Shimmy is your tire balancing

CarpenterJK07

Balance and rotate you should be good to roll!