On my rig there clearly was some looseness in the front LCAs. One bolt had chewed a nice thread pattern into the bushing, even though it appeared to be tightly fastened.

 

Good to know, I will be looking into these this weekend along with installing the dual SS setup. I will post some pics. I am very curious to see what shape these are in once I pull the bolts out.

Thanks,

 

I had severe dw on my 07 with 70k miles. On mine, the draglink tie rod (side attached to the passenger tire) was toast as we're the ball joints.

Squeeze the draglink ballpoint with a large set of pliers. If you can compress it, it needs to replaced. Also, I did check my ball joints, but wasn't using a long enough pry bar to see movement. With a longer bar it was clear they were bad. I have now gone about 1000 miles dw free.

Oh and plan man has a 2 part video series where he not only shows you what to look for but how to test the parts. Just search ******* on YouTube

Good luck,

Josh

 

3:27 PM

So, more drama.

I ordered/received the Skyjacker M95 Silver Dual Steering Stabilizer Kit from Quadratec. I am no shock expert, but the shocks that were in the box did not seem to be monotube shocks and they don't look like the M95 monotube shocks that I have seen pictures of. They looked like Silver versions of the standard shock, even though it lists very specifically on the Quadratec website that these would be monotube shocks. Also, there was no shock boots in the box, even though it lists very specifically that there would be black shock boots included. For those that are curious, you can look up part number #16071.0220 on Quadratecs web site and go to "Product Details" to see where I got this information. I also attempted to install the unit and found, like the others that tried installing any SkyJacker Dual SS system on a JK, that the plate, with the SkyJacker sticker on it, included in the box will hit the tie rod. The sticker part needs to be cut off.

So, I haven't even got the Jeep back on the ground, (and this is cold Michigan/December ground mind you) and I have my wife come out to turn the steering lock-to-lock to check for any binding. She turns it to one side and the shock clearly limits the travel. I though, man that is odd I know I had it adjusted correctly. So, anyway I have her turn it back the other way and the other shock limits the travel. I said no way, there is something wrong with those shocks, the stroke is not long enough.

So I put a long piece of blue painters tape on the tie rod, turned the steering to the full lock position in one direction, took a Sharpie and marked the tape. Then I ran the steering in the other direction and marked the tape. I now knew exactly how far the shocks would need to travel. Then, on a bench, I fully compress one of the shocks and place the piece of tape on the shock lining up one of the marks I made earlier with the flange on the stem of the shock. Once this one lined up, all I had to do was extend the shock to see if it would make it to the seconds mark. Guess what, its about 0.4" short.

This is getting ridiculous. 1 Box, 4 issues.

#1 - Not Monotube shocks.
#2 - Plate hits Tie Rod
#3 - No Shock Boots
#4 - SHOCKS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TRAVEL.

And, just a reminder, this is a stock 2008 JK.

 

This is what was sent back to Quadratec. And I should mention, the folks at Quadratec have been very helpful through this. They credited my account and sent me a Bilstien single unit before I even returned this kit. I have sent these pictures to SkyJacker and got no response.

This is the box I sent back to Quadratec.

 

So, with a new Bilstien in hand and some 9/16" hardware for the LCAs, I get everything swapped out and what a difference. I can drive with one hand again. I did check the ball joints, and they look like they may need some attention in the near future, but for now they are going to have to do. I think once the summer sun is warming things up, I will get those swapped out. Now, I have to once again use the resources on this site and search for "oil leaks".

Sum up lessons learned.

#1. Most Important thing to do. Get the 9/16" hardware kit. I pieced my bolts together from local sources but if I had to do it again I would order that kit that has all the bolts already in it and do them all at once. This would be the very first thing I would do to my Jeep if brought home a new one today. I would not wait for things to start moving around. I think that kit is about $40. I find it unbelievable that they keep pumping out Jeeps with those wrong bolts in them, when it's such an easy thing to fix.

#2. Do the #1 thing.

#3. I have driven close to 1000 miles in the last 2 weeks with no SS and I am here to tell you that they are needed. If you hit a pot hole with that front right tire, it can start to oscilate, even with everything tight. With good ball joints & TREs & the 9/16" Grade 8 upgrade it will take quite a hit to get it to start, but it can still happen. You can feel the potential through the steering wheel. I am not sure what is moving, causing the oscilation. It could be rubber bushings in the Track Bar and the frame rolling a bit at the steering box mounting location. I have seen some of those sector shaft enforcement kits that have the bar to lock the drivers side frame to the passenger side. I would like to try installing that kit, then remove the SS and drive it again for awhile and see if I noticed a difference.

#4. Get a good SS. I am extremely happy with the single Bilstien so far. Time will tell, but it was easy to install and relatively cheap compared to all the other stuff I had to purchase to fix this thing so far. I don't know if the dual kit is needed, maybe with larger tires.

#5. We have all driven vehicles over the years when we knew that something underneath was in need of some attention. It may be the ball joints, tie rod ends, brakes, whatever. I have never seen anything where I could not noticbly tell from the drivers seat that there was a problem, then, hit a set of tracks, and have the damn vehicle feel like it was going to come apart in the middle of the road. If it means that I need to install a dual SS kit to keep my family and I safe then so-be-it. I am not saying that we should just mask the issues, if there is an issue it needs to be fixed. But, on a stock daily driver, I should not be able to drive over the same roads for months, then without any warning, have this happen. I would rather know that I am always going to be in control of the vehicle regardless of whether or not there is a 14mm bolt in a 9/16 hole.

Be safe.

Thanks for all your help...

Now on to the oil leak. It's a Jeep thing...

 

how long of a 9/16 grade 8 bolt do you need for the Lca, and how many?

 

9/16‐18 X 4" - Obviously 2 per side. Make sure to get the shouldered bolts.

NorthRidge 4x4 makes the kit with all of the bolts already in it.

It has 4 bolts for the trac bars, 2 front, 2 rear, then 8 for the LCAs, 4 front, 4 rear.
It also includes the nylocks and washers.

That's a good deal and much eaiser than piece-ing together on your own...

 

Something that people forget is if you buy your own bolts locally that they should be a fine thread like Northridge's kit. The regular threads do not torque as accurately and I don't think they hold their torque as well.

 

Just in case anyone is looking for it:
Northridge 4X4 Jeep JK Grade 8 Hardware kit

On that note, you haven't experienced the true joys of "death wobble" until you've had a "tank slapper" on a sport bike