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High steer, flipserts, and TRE's

IntrepidXJ said:
yes, but you will still need to move the sway bar mount on that side of the axle, as it will be in the way
Click to expand...
That sounds like the best rought for me with 5" lift. I guess I can just raise the driversside sway bar mount and shorten the sway bar disconect. Sound right?
 
IntrepidXJ said:
yes, but you will still need to move the sway bar mount on that side of the axle, as it will be in the way
Click to expand...

You 'might' not have to raise you swaybar axle bracket if you use the much stronger drag link ( 38% bigger and solid cast steel instead of hollow tube ) in place of the stock tie rod.
OTKtierod11.jpg

Once flipped this will have the bend, that is there to normally keep the ball joint from the tie rod clear, away from the swaybar bracket. Might just be enough?
OTKtierod03.jpg

Above shows ( on my RHD ) how close the tie rod was to the raised swaybar bracket with a stock tie rod.
OTKtierod12.jpg

This shows how much clearance I got from using a stock drag link as a tie rod in front of the swaybar bracket.
See my site on how to lengthed the adjusting collar to make up the short fall in length between the tie rod and the drag link. www.go.jeep-xj.info
 
Well I got everything back together this weekend and took it for a test drive. I had the worst death wobble that I've ever experienced in this vehicle. I'm so F@@@ing pissed right now! All the angles check out. I ended up using a pitman arm from a TJ/YJ which brought my drag link up so it and the track bar would be parallel. I don't have a stabilizer on and I don't want to put one back on since it is just a band-aid anyway. I'll try and get some picts posted soon.
 
lapisxj said:
Well I got everything back together this weekend and took it for a test drive. I had the worst death wobble that I've ever experienced in this vehicle. I'm so F@@@ing pissed right now! All the angles check out. I ended up using a pitman arm from a TJ/YJ which brought my drag link up so it and the track bar would be parallel. I don't have a stabilizer on and I don't want to put one back on since it is just a band-aid anyway. I'll try and get some picts posted soon.
Click to expand...

Have you measured it for correct toe settings like I show? Have had the wobbles just from having an incorrect alignment and was fixed after setting my tow and caster.
 
Gojeep: Yes, I did the tape measure alignment similar to what you did on your page. The tires are around 3/16" toe in which is probably a bit much. I know I need to take it in for an alignment to get everything back in check.
 
Check all your control arm bushes as well as they can be the cause as well as are trackbar mounts and joints. Go back over every nut and bolt you have touched on the front end and then some.
 
I'm beginning to think the control arms are going to be the problem. They have been the one constant that hasn't changed through most of this. The track bar is good and solid. It is a Rusty's so it has poly bushings on both ends. I don't know if that would contribute to some of the play or not.
 
lapisxj said:
I'm beginning to think the control arms are going to be the problem. They have been the one constant that hasn't changed through most of this. The track bar is good and solid. It is a Rusty's so it has poly bushings on both ends. I don't know if that would contribute to some of the play or not.
Click to expand...
Poly is hard on the brackets and reduce flex and transmit more vibes into the body than rubber. The jointed control arms will help the first few things though.
 
Here are a few more. You'll see the difference between a stock CJ pitman (straight) arm, a stock YJ/TJ arm (2.5" of drop), a stock XJ arm (3.5" of drop), and finially an aftermarket XJ arm measureing at 4.5". The aftermarket one is from rusty's and should be pretty close to that of a ZJ.

http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3853-800.jpg


Here's a shot of reaming out the steering arm.
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3854-800.jpg



And here is the hardware that I used to extend my steering stops.
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3857-800.jpg
 
Here is how I modified the Rusty's track bar bracket to move the upper end of the track bar rearward 1.5". I ended up using a piece of 2" angle that was welded to the rear side of the bracket then cut and welded gussets to keep its rigidity.
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3850-800.jpg

... and here it is mounted.
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3852-800.jpg

...and here is the axle end. Note that the steering stabilizer bracket is gone and the spring bucket has been trimed back a bit, and the swaybar bracket is gone. I'll put them back once I get other problems worked out.
http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/memberstuff/cash/blue xj/steeringupgrade/IMG_3851-800.jpg
 
 
Overall I'm pleased with how the STEERING turned out. I'm ill that it didn't cure my death wobble issue so I'm back to the drawing board.

Even after adjusting the steering stops out about 1/4" per side I really didn't notice much change from lock to lock.

Everything is major beef and I was pleased with how stuff went together despite the few hang ups encountered. I love the clearance that I gained.

Geometry wise the track bar and drag link are now very close to being perfectly parallel. It may not look it in the picts since I still have the bent rusty's track bar. Raising the pitman arm got my angles in check but with it increased my drag link angle. I'm not sure which is the better of the two. I could have just as easily have raised the axle end of the track bar bracket.
 
Gojeep said:
The jointed control arms will help the first few things though.
Click to expand...

Do you mean that control arms with flex type joints in the ends will help reduce play in the arms? Do you think that it could be the control arms that have been the root of the problem all along?
 
You could always try it at 0 but i'm at 1/16 toe in. I'm sorry to say that I doubt thats your problem. Hopefully you don't have loose TRE's...
 
WheelinJR said:
Have you done all the basic checks? Bushings/joints in track bar? Tire balance? Toe?

I'm sure you probably have...
Click to expand...

No, I haven't had time to take it in for an alignment yet. I though about getting the front tires re-balanced again just to make sure they are still in check.
 
98XJROKS said:
You could always try it at 0 but i'm at 1/16 toe in. I'm sorry to say that I doubt thats your problem. Hopefully you don't have loose TRE's...
Click to expand...

I'll adjust it closer to 1/16"-0" toe in before I take it to the alignment shop.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep em coming!
 
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