Nemisus

Morning JKU,

So I am not sure what to think here? Since I bought the 2017 JKU it has had great road manners. The other day I came in to work and it was as smooth as silk. Went through town then hit the freeway. As I gradually accelerated I begin to feel a shake in the steering wheel. By the time I was at freeway speed, 70 mph or more... the whole front of the Jeep shakes. Its the strangest thing as it only appears to be doing it from the left side? Any speed below 50 is nice and smooth.

I am 99% sure my wheel weight fell off and I am no longer balanced. Wanted to pick the brains of the pros's before taking it to the tire shop for a balance. Anything I should closely look at?

Thanks in advance,

Nem

resharp001

So you didn't hit any bump or hole to start triggering it.....it was just a gradual acceleration and you got to a point it was wobbly? A lot of us would say an easy test is to rotate tires front to back and see if it changes. Maybe you did just lose a weight.....they'd have to be pretty dang out of balance though to get the whole front shaking. If your area is the kind where you can roll in and get a balance without wasting half a day, that is the easiest first step. If you have to wait too much time then quick rotation at home is easiest from troubleshooting perspective.

If this isn't tires, then it's time to start looking at ball joints and track bar joints/bolts...,...but first things first with the tires. A lot of times speed related wobbles are tires. steering component/bolt issues can often be triggered at various speeds and in different circumstances (usually hitting bumps or potholes).

Nemisus

Hey Resharp,

The day it started I drove through town. There is a section of road on main street that is horribly rough due to construction going on. At best I was going maybe 20 mph at that time. When I made it through and hit the freeway I noticed it as I gained speed... and it got worse the faster I went. Definitely a rotational vibration. I gave it a once over and didn't see anything visually concerning but take a more thorough look when I get home. Going to try and skip out early and take it to the tire shop for a quick re balance. I did noticed there are NO weights on the left front.

I suspect the wheel and tire combo are difficult to balance. I've had this issue with my F250 since I put a certain wheel on it.

I'll report back when I learn more.

Thanks for the feedback

Cheers

Nem

resharp001

This may seem counterintuitive to a lot of people, but from time to time when I'm driving the jeep and I see a bump or a pothole in the road I'll intentionally aim for it. It's always a good mental check for me to confirm my steering linkage is all in good shape. When there's any hint of a gremlin I like to know asap so it can be addressed. Even in a situation like yours, a little check like that can help narrow down the issue to tires or steering. I had to dig back through one of your older posts to see, but it looks like you still have factory BJs. Given your description of traveling over that rough construction zone just before all this, I wouldn't 100% rule out ball joints as a potential issue, but hopefully it's just tires. Those factory jobbies are a huge weak point in these D30/44 axles.

Nemisus

Never made it to the tire shop. Will have to put this off till next week. Tomorrow the Wife and I are riding up to OR. I did get a chance to crawl under it though. Nothing I can see yells repair me. I did noticed that the right side wheels has a tremendous amount of weights on it and the left side only 3 small weighs. Can't really see evidence that any flew off? I know how to check for bad wheel bearings but what is the go to method of check the ball joints these days.

For what it's worth I am able to grab the main Tie rod and Drag link and roll it but it doesn't feel "loose" or have any play. Everything does appear original though so it could be the first signs of some steering maintenance.

I'll keep in touch on my findings. I think next week I'll just leave it Les Schwab and have them give it a once over while rebalancing my wheels. If they find anything I upgrade to better quality.

Thanks Resharp

Nem

resharp001

Look at post #11 here -

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...9/#post4383085

If you have a jack and a shovel checking ball joints is simple. I like to support the axle on jack stands just so it's more stable when I'm trying to move the tire up.....and it makes it easier to spot movement.

Sv_dude

If a weight or weights came off, you should see a clean section of the wheel where the tape used to be. Does the vibration start around 40(ish) mph? If so that’s usually the speed an out of balance tire shows itself.

Does hitting a bump make it show? As resharp pointed out, hitting something that jars your suspension is one way of telling a gremlin to show itself. If this causes the vibe, then it’s not likely a wheel balance issue.

Nemisus

Hey SV Dude,

Sorry for the late reply. Took a long weekend with the wife and rode the Harley to OR. What a nice getaway. Nice and cool on the coast too.

Anyway, the shake begins right around 60 mph. Anything above that, say 75 and its almost worrisome. I was going to look things over but got home late and tired so it'll have to wait. If need be I can drive my car or truck as I don't think it should be drive past in town speeds until I get a confirmation of why it's doing it.

As far as bumped causing it to show... not more than just hitting the right speed.

Cheers

Nem

Nemisus

Morning JKF,

Not much has changed since my last update. Other than this has got to be the most mysterious phantom gremlin I've experienced. One morning it'll drive nice and smooth... just like the day I drove it off the lot. That same day it'll shake and wobble so bad that I swear something will break! When it goes into this weird shake it can be felt and seen violently through the steering wheel. I'll stop, start again and all is good. I used the think it was speed activated but there are times I can cruise at 70 and nothing. 5 more MPH and it's shaking me silly.

I did a fair bit of reading and researching and it turns out that Resharp is on to something with the OEM ball joints being an issue. At 34k now I can't imagine them really being shot but for the sake of argument, and piece of mind I went ahead and ordered a set of Teraflex HD uppers and lowers. It'll be a start anyway.

I'll update after I get these installed and for GP I plan to have the alignment checked and during that time will get the Tries rebalanced. It's been a crap shoot trying to find time for anything outside of work.

Anyhow,

Stay Tuned,

Nem

resharp001

When you look at what is inside the factory BJs it's no wonder they fail quickly with big tires and extra weight. Test them before you swap the new ones in. A bad BJ is as easy to spot as a big barn in a flat desolate field.