Project: Freak of Nature

Well I have been fighting a bad steering shake in the jeep and can't figure it out. The track bar is only a couple months old and the steering was all replaced last summer. We have also got Brian's balls in the tires as well. There are times that it won't start shaking till around 60mph and there are times that it starts shaking at 45mph. We have even put it back on stock tires and it drives perfect. It's only when we have the 33's on it that it shakes.

Have been working with Brian and he has been a big help on trying to get the right amount of balls in the tires but am running out of ideas on what it could be.
 
Jeepguy91 said:
Well I have been fighting a bad steering shake in the jeep and can't figure it out. The track bar is only a couple months old and the steering was all replaced last summer. We have also got Brian's balls in the tires as well. There are times that it won't start shaking till around 60mph and there are times that it starts shaking at 45mph. We have even put it back on stock tires and it drives perfect. It's only when we have the 33's on it that it shakes.

Have been working with Brian and he has been a big help on trying to get the right amount of balls in the tires but am running out of ideas on what it could be.
Click to expand...


Here's my opinion on balls..

You will never get a perfect balance. Too many factors such as how hard you accelerate, how hard you brake, when was the last time you came to a complete stop etc all come into play.

You can show me the physics and tell me it works but in the real world, it can't beat a proper dynamic and static balance.

Having said that, I believe the balls are OUR best option because there is leeway when we have mud in our wheels, because it is so hard to properly balance a true mud tire.

Only advice I can give is throw more balls in and drive like a granny. Complete stops and slow acceleration.

Every single tire is different. There is no magic number. My 35"s on home made beadlocks balance better than Kelly's on a brand new set of factory alloys. About 2 times better.
 
Well right now we have about 11oz of beads in the tires. Sometimes I can get it up to 55mph with no problems and other times I'm lucky to get 40mph out of it before the steering wheel starts shaking so bad. I'm running out of ideas on what to do. Would I be better off going back to regular stock on weights or should I try and keep figuring this out to make it work? We drive this thing daily and can't really have it to where I can't keep up with traffic.
 
I'm a firm believer in bbs, throw more in there. I have 16 ounces of dasiy BBs on my 35 inch MTR Kevlars and never had had tire balance issues under any type of condition. I can go up to 80 until the drive shaft starts vibrating.

I also ran close to 12 ounces on chunked 33s with no issues as well, But it also sounds like it could be something else, bent wheel?

I would also make another good inspection of the front end and make sure its not actually DW. Tires on the ground have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you look at and feel everything in the front end for slop.

Also try swapping tires and wheels front to back.
 
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I put the stock tires back on it and drove it for a week without any problems. Added more bb's to the tires and it's still shaking at higher speeds. I'm actually starting to wonder if one of our aluminum rims is bent. Didn't think I hit anything with them.
 
Check the track bar mount for tightness and if any of the holes are oblonged.

When I get DWs, it's 9 times out of 10, the track bar mount is loose.
 
I'll even offer to drive my jeep down, throw your tires on it, and drive it around to see what it does.

AFAIK, everything is solid and there's no DW on my rig.

At least then we can eliminate or confirm if it's the tires or not.
 
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I don't have any problems with the jeep when I put the stock tires on it. It's just when the 33's go on that I have problems
 
On a side note. We did get the new t-case with sye installed this past weekend. We used a stock front drive shaft in the rear. Do you guys think this will be enough travel in the rear drive shaft?
ma8a2utu.jpg
 
If it were the wheels the shake would happen at the same speed every time.

And no that's not enough travel. You will eat that ujoint and destroy that pinion bearing eventually
 
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