Hellbound13

So I was under my Jeep trying to pin point where my shaky steering fluid is coming from and have a few questions Im hoping someone can answer for a noob like me..

1. I was able to move two of the bars back and forth with my hand. They pivot. I think they are the sway bars in the front. One is right on top of the other and they pivot when moved by hand. The bend right at the joints by the wheels where the rubber grommets for them are (that house the joints for them I assume) Is this normal or should they not move at all?

2. If a front axel U Joint has a little play in it, can that make the steering shaky when hitting bumps?

3. If you had an axle leaking what would be the location to look and see where it is leaking?

Hellbound13

No one? Really?

TINMAN080

Hi HB- It sounds like you are describing your drag link and outer tie rod ends. The movement you describe is entirely normal, the ''ball'' inside the rod end enables your steering to function without binding when the parts are turning or moving up and down with the road surface. (2)Actually all U-joints have a little play in them, the spider ''floats'' on a film of grease with needle bearings between the U-joint ''spider'' and the caps. Too tight a joint and it wouldn't last anytime at all...(3) A leaking axle housing will show at the outer ends of the housing, normally this type of leak will ''throw'' some lube inside the wheel rim. The differential cover is the most common area to show a leak, it usually shows up as a ''seepage'' and not a drip. Won't hurt a thing, 99.99% of all straight axles seep at the cover, a thimblefull over 3 years time won't hurt a thing, looks like much more than it is. If you have a leak at an axle housing welded bracket it is normally a pinhole in the weld. This is easily repairable, the housing doesn't have to be replaced. Hope this helps...

Hellbound13

Thanks so much. Just to be sure, one of these rods is attached to the steering dampener and the other is a little above and forward of it. I can pivot them back and forth about an inch to two inches. Normal?

Also I was told by a mechanic who is one of my clients that front axle u joints shouldn't move AT ALL so thats why I was a bit worried

RedneckJeep

Perfectly normal.

TINMAN080

(1) Absolutely NORMAL....(2) The spider should not visually ''move'' INSIDE the caps, but you will be able to get miniscule movement between the axleshaft and housing, because as I mentioned before ALL moving parts on a front end(the whole vehicle for that matter) MUST have a little ''slack'' to function properly. Some guys have had U-joint issues, but they have virtually all been frequent off roaders with mud and deep water exposure.....(I'll probably catch hell for that little gem) LOL

husker_shoe

The center solid part of your U-joint should not have any play between it and the caps. Is it squeaking at you? They usuaually go bad when they throw a seal and allow the grease to escape and water to inrude and then the joint wiill rust badly internally and cause a squeaking noise and will cause a vibration under load. To load the front, you'd obviously have to put it in 4WD. A bad ujoint is not going to cause your wobble over bunps though. Make sure your trackbar bolts are tight and do this with the tires on the ground so the suspension is loaded and then try putting your tire pressure at 30 psi when the tires are cold, not after you just got done driving a ways and see if this helps. They're pretty squirrely over bumps to begin with, but if your pressures are too high, it makes a big difference. I run mine at 40 for road trips because I get better milage and 30 around town for a better ride.

Hellbound13

The U Joints are def rusted on the outside, but are not making a noise. Just have slight movement. All bolts appear tight. I notice the shaky steering when going over bumps and its worse on the highway. This is not the clunky steering caused by the steering shaft. I had that and fixed it. This is shaky steering that gets really crazy going over the bridges here in New York that have a lot of metal plates. I will try lowering my tire pressure, although the manual says to keep em at 35.

TINMAN080

Exterior rust on suspension parts is entirely normal.....

bly109

Just thought this might help...