Lightfoot
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- fort collins co
Trust me I have searched.
Alright so here goes it:
I did a wj knuckle swap a few weeks back, here is the setup. wj knuckles, jks spacers welded, stock unit bearings, wj ball joints, teeve calipers, drilled wj rotors (new). stock wj tie rod and drag link ends. For the track bar, I used the wj double shear bar. on the frame end I welded to the stock bracket to make it double shear. On the axle end I welded a raised bracket, however it is in front of the spring because of the track bar's length. This is about 1 inch forward of the plane it would have been in stock. RC 4.5" lca, stock upper. stock steering box.
My drag link and track bar are within 1* of parallel, and the drag link is only 2" longer than the track bar. LCA bushings are new, upper and track bar bushings have been inspected more than once, and look fine. toe is at about 1/16, caster is 3.5* on the diff cover surface, so 5.5*
I have tried different ball joints, and swapped front tires to the back, with no change. The track bar frame bracket is not loose, or cracked, neither is the steering box, or the frame where it is connected. As far as I can tell, the TRE's for the drag link and tie rod have no play. the steering box feels tight. Sway bar is connected with new bushings. I have one sway bar link shorter than the other by 1.5", because the track bar mount is now in the way of the passenger mount. sitting level, there is no torsion on the sway bar though. Steering stabilizer is on the tie rod.
The shake I get is very definitely death wobble, and not bump steer. It is horrible, I cant even drive the jeep. I get it any speed over 30, but I havent gotten over 40 because one little bump will set it off so bad I have to stop. usually a bump will set it off, but it also happens with no bump at all. The initial shaking seems to start off not as bad and build quickly to a violent shake, not stopping or slowing until a pretty much a dead stop.
I have torn the front end of this damn thing apart more times than you can believe swapping around spare parts to see if anything would change, nothing has made a difference.
the only things I see left as potential causes are the sway bar links being different, moving the track bar forward, and maybe out of balance tires(doubtful).
At this point im so aggravated that I couldnt regret this swap more. Its my dd and I wanted to make the brakes safer, but now the old ones arent looking so bad. I never had a single problem before the swap. If anyone can shed some light on something I may have overlooked, or maybe offer a reason why one of my modifications is the cause, I would love to hear it. Otherwise Im caving in and heading for a 4x4 shop tomorrow.
Sorry about the long post, wanted to include everything I could.
99, 2dr, 4.7, ax-15, np231, 30/8.25 3.07, 4.5" 31"truxus mt
Thank you
Alright so here goes it:
I did a wj knuckle swap a few weeks back, here is the setup. wj knuckles, jks spacers welded, stock unit bearings, wj ball joints, teeve calipers, drilled wj rotors (new). stock wj tie rod and drag link ends. For the track bar, I used the wj double shear bar. on the frame end I welded to the stock bracket to make it double shear. On the axle end I welded a raised bracket, however it is in front of the spring because of the track bar's length. This is about 1 inch forward of the plane it would have been in stock. RC 4.5" lca, stock upper. stock steering box.
My drag link and track bar are within 1* of parallel, and the drag link is only 2" longer than the track bar. LCA bushings are new, upper and track bar bushings have been inspected more than once, and look fine. toe is at about 1/16, caster is 3.5* on the diff cover surface, so 5.5*
I have tried different ball joints, and swapped front tires to the back, with no change. The track bar frame bracket is not loose, or cracked, neither is the steering box, or the frame where it is connected. As far as I can tell, the TRE's for the drag link and tie rod have no play. the steering box feels tight. Sway bar is connected with new bushings. I have one sway bar link shorter than the other by 1.5", because the track bar mount is now in the way of the passenger mount. sitting level, there is no torsion on the sway bar though. Steering stabilizer is on the tie rod.
The shake I get is very definitely death wobble, and not bump steer. It is horrible, I cant even drive the jeep. I get it any speed over 30, but I havent gotten over 40 because one little bump will set it off so bad I have to stop. usually a bump will set it off, but it also happens with no bump at all. The initial shaking seems to start off not as bad and build quickly to a violent shake, not stopping or slowing until a pretty much a dead stop.
I have torn the front end of this damn thing apart more times than you can believe swapping around spare parts to see if anything would change, nothing has made a difference.
the only things I see left as potential causes are the sway bar links being different, moving the track bar forward, and maybe out of balance tires(doubtful).
At this point im so aggravated that I couldnt regret this swap more. Its my dd and I wanted to make the brakes safer, but now the old ones arent looking so bad. I never had a single problem before the swap. If anyone can shed some light on something I may have overlooked, or maybe offer a reason why one of my modifications is the cause, I would love to hear it. Otherwise Im caving in and heading for a 4x4 shop tomorrow.
Sorry about the long post, wanted to include everything I could.
99, 2dr, 4.7, ax-15, np231, 30/8.25 3.07, 4.5" 31"truxus mt
Thank you
Last edited:
atriot:My guess is your alignment is off (toe & caster) and your wheels are out of balance. You mention WJ balljoints.... you should have used WJ lowers an XJ uppers. I also suspect your tracbar setup? But hey who knows............. pics would help as well!