Timm Jones

Bringing the subject back. I have need dealing with annoying bump steer and wonder. Got some video of the steering tonight and found this movement at the track bar in the frame side. Would this movement cause wondering and bump steer? I will also upload a video of the tie rod at the pitman to see if this movement is normal as well. Does the movement in the tie rod at the pitman look ok? It seems like a lot of movement there and not much on the other end of the drag link at the knuckle.

Timm Jones

For some reason the videos are not uploading

jadmt

I can’t see the video but a loose track bar will cause wondering and sloppy steering

Timm Jones

See if this works

Timm Jones

any idea how to post videos on here by any chance?

Timm Jones

jedg

Looks to me like your heim joint is bad. Looks like the joint itself is moving laterally in the first video. It should not be able to do that.

resharp001

That indeed looks like a bad joint, and for sure that is not helping anything. That frame side TB joint is one of the most important joints in the system, and is often the cause of many wobble woes. My opinion based on wobble experience is that it usually takes 2 issues (bad joints, bad joint + loose bolt, bad joint + out of balance tires, etc) to cause real DW, and I'd say you are 1 bad BJ or other bad component away from having a lot bigger issues. Heim joint also isn't something I would want in that bracket on my jeep either. You're already exploring MC products. Look at the bushings that MC and Synergy use in their TBs. Those things are going to be much more solid than a heim joint. All of the force in that TB is lateral......you're just constantly wearing a metal on metal joint in that application IMO.

I'd add that TREs and DL ends are much less common to create issues, although they do go bad. If you think about bump steer, when that axle is hitting a pothole or bump, and the TB joint has some play in it, the whole axle can move just a bit, and when it does, the motion is going back up through the knuckle, DL, pitman arm, sector shaft and steering box. I'd replace that TB first before proceeding with any diagnosis.

Timm Jones

Update. I replaced the hiem joint at the frame bracket and drove it around a bit today. Seems to be much better. NoW I noticed the steering wheel is now off. Could a bad hiem joint cause alignment issues? Before I replaced it, the steering wheel was dead perfect now the steering wheel is off.

chiapeteater

You probably just need to adjust your drag link to recenter your steering wheel.