I am new here so greetings to all from Massachusetts.

I have been watching the posts for a month or so trying to gain some understanding of of a Jeep I purchased a few months ago. I want to thank everyone ahead of time for all the great info I have gathered thus far. My new/used purchase is an 08 sahara unlimited. 25kmls, auto, no known gear changes, has existing 3 year old %^&* skyjacker 4-5 inch lift. Ha. On top of each coil there appears to be a poly spacer 1-1/2 inches thick w/ no oem coil isolators. The lift has fixed tract bars w/ brackets front and rear and old jinky rancho shocks which no longer dial. There is a drop pitman. The pinion angle on the front sits at about 3 degrees, I dont know the rear measurement. But the rear axle kicks out on the right side 1/2+ inch/s. There is significant death wobble (35 mph )and the F.tract bar has a tiny bit of play at the axle bracket. All 4 ball joints on the front have play and the drag link has slop as well ( both sides ). The tires are 37x13.5 kuhmo junk on kd RS 20x10 wheels. Additionally it pops a evap code and the abs light is also on as well as the esp/bas lights. The jeep will not allow fast fuel filling or gas pours out. I am aware of the service bulletin by chrysler will not provide repair as the vehicle is out of warranttee.

I am planning the following mods over the next 5 months. New wheels 18x9 w/ 4.5 or 4.75 bs ( i like the old school MT's signature editions and the xd addicts but I also feel the Moto 951 chrome would compliment the silver sahara color scheme. I will need an adjustable front track bar and see the JKS @ 144.00 but wonder about the performance of it for a 4 inch lift. I will also need front control arms...I'm not sure what the fix is uppers or lowers for proper castor? I have read conflicting information. I have purchased 4 oem coil isolators and will be removing the spacers as soon as the new tires and wheels arrive. I wonder about the 4 inch skyjacker springs which all appear to be in good shape and would like to keep them if it makes sense. I will be going with bilstein 5100's x4. For tires I'm leaning toward nitto trails but admit an all terrain with better street manners could sway me. I would love to hear from the members who really know their stuff about any of these issues or suggestions for replacement parts or any vendors. Thanks guys. -S

 

If I were you, I'd replace the ball joints and any other worn components first. Decide what lift , height, long or shortarm, company you'd want to go with( it's apparent your not happy with what you have) sell your current lift and get what you want.

 

What ball joints would you get? And would you replace them before you deal with the other issues? Thanks

 

Yes, definately get your bjoints replaced first. If you do this also make sure your c-gussets are not bent outta spec. Dynatrack seems to have the best bj's, but I'm running offset bj's cause one of my c's are bent, Napa brand.important that you check them, if your c is bent outta spec and you install solid bj's you may end up with too much pos/neg camber, which in turn will give poor handling and chew your tires up.

 

Are napa adjustable ball joints better than Moogs? I have seen the dynatracs @ $599.00. Are there any other decent quality ball joint for a realistic price?

 

As noted, look into the balljoint issue first.

Either will work, but lowers are the better choice. (uppers are 'shortened' to increase caster, lowers are 'lengthened to increase caster and have a much better range of adjustability) But, doesn't that 4" skyjacker come with new 'fixed' arms to set the caster. It may be ok after removing the spacers.

You should also crawl underneath and take a look at your driveshafts. With that much lift, you could easily have torn boots and spitting grease. (If you do need to replace a driveshaft, that is the time to consider front lowers and rear uppers)

 

I'm not sure what you mean regarding torn boots. No need to crawl under however I can actually walk under... I have looked and I don't see any obvious leaking from anywhere. This lift does in fact have SJ fixed arms so I will wait until the spacer are out and see how thing look then. Any suggestions on ball joints?
Thank you for that info. Much appreciated.

Either will work, but lowers are the better choice. (uppers are 'shortened' to increase caster, lowers are 'lengthened to increase caster and have a much better range of adjustability) But, doesn't that 4" skyjacker come with new 'fixed' arms to set the caster. It may be ok after removing the spacers.

You should also crawl underneath and take a look at your driveshafts. With that much lift, you could easily have torn boots and spitting grease. (If you do need to replace a driveshaft, that is the time to consider front lowers and rear uppers)[/QUOTE]

 

Look on page 3 in this thread. The little black boot in the joint right at the tcase ends of both shafts is known to get 'pinched' from the added angles after a lift.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ght=driveshaft

And for an auto trans, see post #5 in this one. The big boot on the front shaft is known to contact the corner of the tranny pan and the crossmember skid.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...eally-need-one

 

Ok I see what you mean. Thanks for that info. I didn't see any indication of grease around the Dshaft. That must be the one problem I don't have. ~s