resharp001

A factory DS would be more forgiving with its CV joint vs. a DC driveshaft, but that is still a steep angle with the pinion essentially pointing down....and you do still have a u-joint up there by the pinion end. That CV joint not long for this world if you stay like that too long I'd imagine. If that was my jeep, I'd probably pull the DS just to confirm for sure or not if that is coming into play.

OscarMlke

@resharp001

We've had the Bilstein 5100 series dampers on at least 3 other jeeps without issues.

resharp001

K. Pull to the left is often caused by gas charged SS trying to expand as they have a lot more force, thus pushing the TR to the driver's side.

Sv_dude

If the vibe is still there after rotating tires, I’ll pull the ds and see if that eliminates it. Good idea

Sixty4x4

To the OP. You can change your caster yourself if you like. I believe MC say the top UCA adjusts the caster by 2* per full turn so you need to extend your UCA's by half turn each side and you will be in the 5 degree + range. Not sure if you have a lift or not but the full 2* by one full turn might take caster too far at low 4's. Either way you can undo the driveshaft to diff, place a digital level on the flange with the Jeep jacked up at work height and measure whatever it is and adjust the 1-1.5* from there. You can do with wheels on but block both sides so your diff does not roll with one set of arms undone. Hope this helps.

Sv_dude

Thanks! I was thinking the same thing. I didn’t know about the turns per degree but I’m at 3” lift and was gonna call MC and ask. Using an angle finder will probably be best anyway.

resharp001

There's really not much sense calling for something like that IMO. you know your baseline with the alignment specs. measure with an angle finder at home, adjust upper arms longer as suggested till you hit a 1.5* difference. I think 2* per rotation is overstated myself, but I've never asked nor looked it up. Every jeep sits differently with the same suspension. Harbor Freight has a cheap digital angle finder or you can even use an app on your phone as long as you place it in the exact same spot for each measurement. You'd be surprised the different readings as you move the finder around the pinion flange. I'd go measure mine for reference but my axle isn't factory so wouldn't do any good. Getting leverage on the passenger side jam nut will be the biggest headache in the job if you try to leave the arm installed on the frame-side.

OscarMlke

Update.

Something that bothered me since having the Asheville firestone check the alignment. According to the general manager of that store, steering components like the Metalcloak are common place for their area. But after returning home, I noticed that the Drag Link jam nut was not tightened down towards the open drag link rod end. In other words, it was tighten more towards the adjustable section closest to the pitman arm which doesn't do anything. So I had to lay out the work mat and with monkey wrench in hand, I brought the jam nut back to the drag link rod end. So I can't say all firestone or other shops know much about these type of adjustments or at least tightening the correct jam nuts afterwards. Just another reason I'll be getting a second opinion alignment in a few weeks.

Sv_dude

Ok, update:

I set tire psi to 30 lbs and rotated tires. Vibration was still there. But it’s only vibrating between around 45-65 mph. If I’m not mistaken, this typically indicates a tire balance issue. But I haven’t had this issue before replacing the control arms, flipping the steering and raising the track bar.

I then took a turn out of the lower control arms and this took a hair over a degree out of my caster. My caster is now right around 5*. I went for another drive and still a vibration exits.

I did have my wife sit in the driver seat and wiggle the steering wheel. I can see the sector shaft have a little play along with the drag link rod end play at the pitman arm. The drag link end is new so the pitman arm hole is elongated... probably from past death wobble? I also hear an obvious clunk from the steering box. To me it’s obvious at least that the steering box and pitman arm is trashed.

I can say however that my death wobble is gone, I think changing my control arms fixed that. I tried and could not get the death wobble to come back when going over bumps that would previously cause the death wobble.

My guess is that the death wobble caused the steering box failure, but now I need to address my steering box. However, I think that steering box play will cause the Jeep to wander, not a vibration in the steering wheel, or am I wrong on this?

OscarMlke

I haven't truly read through many of your comments, but did you install the new products yourself?. One issue is that getting the drag link out/off the pitman arms is extremely difficult. I can't verify if you struggled removing the drag link would cause any steering box damage, But I do agree the pitman arm needs to be replaced. Just to add, my experience with shimmy's and I have been told that I have at least one tire (currently my spare) has an uneven budge within the tread design. So have you actually rotated tires just to see if one grouping of tires create a shimmy more so that another group. Just mark each tire and location as you progress through this.

In our case, because the caster is off, which means the axle has been moved back instead of forward. has cause a small kink in the front drive shift. In order to correct this, we're going to have to purchase adjustable upper and lower control arms with better bushing than the factory control arms ones. If the control arms are pushed back and uneven, this can cause a bad oscillation or rotation while driving. In other words, the axle is moving forward and back, but the left & right wheel is not moving forward at the same time. One tire moves forward while the other tire moves back then forward again, which can emulate a wobble.

The only other area to inspect would be the shocks. if they have went past their life expectancy, the shocks are not recoiling like they should. Something else came to mind, Are you still using the factory 14mm control arm bolts? these should also be upgraded to the 9/16ths bolts either Grade 8 or Grade 10. This was one of the first things we did to our jeep.

At least this is what ours is doing but the jeep is drivable until we can have the control arms installed.