Lemme give a little background then my issue. Have an 08 JKU with a 4" rancho sport kit. Had the drop pitman arm with a track bar bracket, was told it was bad juju and to go with a adjustable trackbar and back to the stock pitman arm. I ordered a JKS, replaced the drop with the stock and went on my merry way... Or so I thought. I've developed a steering wheel wobble at anything over 25-30mph. I thought putting on the adjustable track bar and factory pitman eliminated steering issues/death wobble/steering wobble. I don't like the feeling of my steering wheel wobbling as I drive down the road, and also traction control comes on around slight corners, just confused and don't know where to begin. Steering wheel is straight, 4wp aligned it and it tracks straight but I think it's got some toe out issues. Any ideas?

 

How are your ball joints? If still original (which your profile suggests), unless this Jeep has been setting parked a lot, you probably need new ones. I wouldn't try to troubleshoot steering issues until I knew the ball joints were good. There are a number of good aftermarket brands now; I used Synergy.



You can see more pictures toward the end of this album ...
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Everything that wobbles starts with something that rotates. If your rotating stuff (tires, wheels, brake disks, axles) are not true and balanced then worn or loose front end parts (ball joints, rod ends, wheel bearings) will amplify the problem with a wobble.

So, you need to find any worn-out front end parts AND find any rotating parts that are out-of-round, out-of-balance, or bent. On a well-used Jeep that could be just one thing or everything.

 

Bad Steering geometry causes bump steer. The point of the drop pitman arm and TB bracket is to flatten out the angles keeping the bars parallel with each other.
The preferred way to correct geometry, flipping the drag link and raising the track bar.
This is not your issue.
Wobbles/shimmy's at a certain speed range is almost always the tires/wheels. Did you try rotating the tires front to rear ?



2007 Rubicon /2 door/6 speed

 

While I disagree that wobbles/shimmy's "almost always" are caused by tires/wheels (there are a whole host of other things that can cause it from driveshaft to loose or worn steering linkage), I want to further explain why I suggested checking the ball joints:

• Known problem area on the JKs--at least in the early years.
• He has a 2008 with, if his profile is updated, OEM ball joints--perhaps 100K miles or more on them.
• Ball joints were what it took to fix my steering wheel shimmy, essentially the same as OP's.

I'm not suggesting he just replace them. I'm suggesting he check them. If he's going to rotate the tires, it's a couple minutes, quite literally, of additional work while he has the Jeep jacked up.

 

I worded that wrong, I agree with you,
A Steering wheel that is seesaw'ing back and forth or vibes at a speed range, is almost always tires/wheel related.
Shakes/shimmy's over imperfect roads at bumps, pot holes, expansion joints at any speed.. Ball joints, tie rod ends, loose bolts, etc. Worst case triggering actual DW.




2007 Rubicon /2 door/6 speed

 

Is your draglink adjustor sleeve tight and are the two clamps aligned with the seam in the sleeve?

 

"are the two clamps aligned with the seam in the sleeve?"

Why would that matter?

 

I respectfully disagree with your disagreement. I do agree that driveshafts are another rotating part that can be the source of a shake, but I think I covered all the other rotating parts that matter above.

There is just no way a piece of linear linkage can be the source of a shake. It just sits there. Ask yourself what causes a hub or rod to shake with a regular rhythm. Without input from a rotating part the answer is nothing. The rotating part is the source of the shake, and the linear parts respond to the rotating part.

To be clear, a brand new steering system with no worn parts will still shake from an out-of-balance or out-of-round tire, or from a bent wheel, or a bent axle shaft. The shake won't be as noticeable as with worn parts, but things will shake. In this case, the remedy is to fix the rotating part(s).

Also, a badly worn system can shake even with good wheels, tires, and shafts. That's because rotating parts are never perfect. A slight tire shake that would never be noticed on a tight system will make loose/warn linkage parts or ball joints shake like a dog crapping peach pits. In this case, the remedy is to fix the worn parts - which could totally include bad ball joints.

In both cases, the rotating parts were still the source of the shake.

The bottom line is, both the rotating parts and the linear parts must be correct for a rig to run smoothly down the road.

 

Mine weren't. So the clamping force didn't actually work (you could still twist it with enough force). Caused steering looseness issues and some wobble issues. Rotated them around so they align (and now it clamps firmly), and and the steering feels tighter. Just something to look at. At the very least prevents having to adjust steering after every off road excursion.