duke000088
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Worcester MA
Hi all - I'm trying to trace a moderate case of loose steering. Feels floaty especially at highway speed... no wobbles but a slight case of wander. Last year I tracked down similar symptoms to BAD ball joints. Replaced and solved.
I have checked the ball joints again (good). Track bar seems good (axle end, bracket joint, and bracket itself all tight). All tie rod ends seem tight. Drag link seems tight.
I'm focusing on my original stock control arms. I can see a bit (1/4") of rubber bushing on each side... appears moderately cracked. I noticed last night I can pry the joint between the lower or upper arms and mounting with a small flat-head screwdriver. Very light pressure (wrist) got pretty good deflection out of the joint. The bushings seemed kind of Jello-O ish. But I don't know... they're rubber... they're supposed to be flexible. Then again, my handling feels a little Jello-Oish too.
I also have about 1/8 of a turn of play between my steering shaft and steering box (original; stock) with no pitman arm engagement. However, I did this test with the jeep NOT running... I've since read the engine should be at idle (makes sense) when checking this. Will do tonight.
Normally I would swap out the control arms (upper and lower) with QTec replacements (fairly cost-effective replacement). But I've been eyeing threads similar to this:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=981966
... and planning for the future I would like to IMPROVE rather than just REPLACE. New adjustables are not out of the question...
I have checked the ball joints again (good). Track bar seems good (axle end, bracket joint, and bracket itself all tight). All tie rod ends seem tight. Drag link seems tight.
I'm focusing on my original stock control arms. I can see a bit (1/4") of rubber bushing on each side... appears moderately cracked. I noticed last night I can pry the joint between the lower or upper arms and mounting with a small flat-head screwdriver. Very light pressure (wrist) got pretty good deflection out of the joint. The bushings seemed kind of Jello-O ish. But I don't know... they're rubber... they're supposed to be flexible. Then again, my handling feels a little Jello-Oish too.
I also have about 1/8 of a turn of play between my steering shaft and steering box (original; stock) with no pitman arm engagement. However, I did this test with the jeep NOT running... I've since read the engine should be at idle (makes sense) when checking this. Will do tonight.
Normally I would swap out the control arms (upper and lower) with QTec replacements (fairly cost-effective replacement). But I've been eyeing threads similar to this:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=981966
... and planning for the future I would like to IMPROVE rather than just REPLACE. New adjustables are not out of the question...