another death wobble issue

!!!1to start off, yes i searched through 10 pages of search results.!!!1 . they all said to search and/or gave advice on how to locate the source. already knew that so it wasnt much help to me.

my situation is this. hit a bump and violent uncontrolled shaking (death wobble). i had to pull off the road 12 times in a 10 mile round trip tonight. i checked all the joints in the steering system-good. the uca bushings are starting to crack but do not have any play (tnt y link is currently enroute to my location to help with that), and then i noticed that there is play at the axle end of the track bar. i removed that end of the track bar.
the bolt and nut are all in good shape (minor surface rust but nothing major-utah jeep), however the holes in the bracket on the axle end are wallowed out.

just to confirm, is the only fix to apply filler metal (weld) to the wallowed areas and re drill the holes? would it be bennificial to also weld a reinforceing plate to the front side of the bracket (i would do the rear side of the bracket too, but i dont think i could get in there), and drill the plate the same as the bracket after its fixed?

again, i know death wobble has been covered an infinite +1 number of times on this board, and yes i have searched. a migraine setting in keeps me from searching further.

thanks in advance
james
"stewie"

Its better to add a plate or at least a thick washer to the front of the bracket. I've seen people manage to weld one in at the backside too, although more work.

I don't know how well you could reliably just add material to the existing hole.

space would be the main problem. its too cramped to get a mig or tig gun in there. im not sure i would be able to get an oxy/fuel torch tip and a rod in there at the same time. i think that stick would be my best option to apply filler metal to the wallowed out hole.

i would have to guard against erronious arc strikes. im wondering if 20 mil tape (think thick ruber tape used to shield natural gas lines where electric crosses over them in walls) applied to areas that i dont want to get an arc strike in will work. i would basically have to use a small rod- 1/8th inch or smaller diamiter rod- with a fast freeze flux like 6010 5P+++++, and stack beads in the wallowed out areas. grind the weld flat where the track bar bushing is, weld on reinforceing cover plate, drill, paint and reinstall.

does this sound feasable, or am i just over thinking it?

stewie

I don't know. =)

I took an 8 week welding course, and it tought me the value of paying a good welder to do work for me.

Let me send this thread to one..

stewie said:

space would be the main problem. its too cramped to get a mig or tig gun in there. im not sure i would be able to get an oxy/fuel torch tip and a rod in there at the same time. i think that stick would be my best option to apply filler metal to the wallowed out hole.

i would have to guard against erronious arc strikes. im wondering if 20 mil tape (think thick ruber tape used to shield natural gas lines where electric crosses over them in walls) applied to areas that i dont want to get an arc strike in will work. i would basically have to use a small rod- 1/8th inch or smaller diamiter rod- with a fast freeze flux like 6010 5P+++++, and stack beads in the wallowed out areas. grind the weld flat where the track bar bushing is, weld on reinforceing cover plate, drill, paint and reinstall.

does this sound feasable, or am i just over thinking it?

stewie

Click to expand...

i build and re build axles for quite a few people and my recomendation is ( if you are a decent fabricator and welder ) fabricate a whole new track bar mount/ stabilizer mount and put doublers on each of the holes, 3/32 to 1/8 would be sufficient for the doublers, and 3/16 to 1/4 for the mount its self.

hope this helps

I had this problem on my tj. The hole wallowed out with the factory bolt so i got a different bushing with a bigger hole (aftermarket tbar) and used a bigger bolt so i could drill the wallow-ed out hole bigger and back to normal. When i got the JKS bar, it used the smaller stock bolt. I had to press out the metal sleeve in the trackbar's bushing to drill it and widen it to fit the bigger bolt. I pressed it back in and bolted it up with the bigger bolt.