pkess3

I've had free-play in my steering wheel for quite some time. It used to only be noticeable when stopped but now I'm starting to notice it while driving at speeds up to and including freeway. It gets a little scary at times since it's a delayed response when changing lanes. Has anyone else experienced this? I've inspected visually and everything seems ok.

Serg5000

Have someone move the steering wheel from left to right as you look under.

pkess3

Well my brother and I found the culprit. It's the bushing on my Full-Traction Adjustable track bar that has been giving me issues for the past two years. It's on the frame-mount end of the track bar. This bushing started out making noise back when i first got it in 2008. I've had it re-greased several times and even taken fully apart and greased from the inside out. I've read on the forum that the bushings go bad on a lot of Full-Traction's suspension parts but I believe they've improved them since I got mine. Notice in the video that the track bar's free play causes the entire axle's alignment to shift when turning the steering wheel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZwhh_DqcY

Hellbound13

Holy crap! How do you not have DW with that much play?

Ericker

Dang! That is a heck of a lot of play, I'd inspect the bolt real well before replacing/re-using it.

Hellbound13

And the trackbar mount hole for wallowing.

longshank

Mine slowly got slack, thought it was the column sliding joint, but after removing it, it was tight, no slack at all, so put copper slip on it and refitted it.
The steering box seemed to be the problem, there was a good turn and a quarter on the top adjustment screw, now the steering is 99% better.

JKU Rubicon

Check the 2 track bar bolts often. At least, each season, and if you wheel; each month

Hellbound13

I thought you are not supposed to turn that screw with the box mounted in the vehicle and especially not one and half times! I thought it was like 1/4th of a turn at most.

pkess3

So the question remains: Should I see if Full-Traction will replace the bushing with a better one or just get a whole new adjustable track bar?