rebuilt my shocks...

[ratboy93]

ok so i spent a night in my buddys shop so he can show me how to rebuild shocks. i rebuilt a set of my F.O.A. 10"s. it was so not as hard as i thought in fact very easy. if any of you have worked with an FOA shock there shims dont go by the normal numbers I.E. a bilstein 278/80 or whatever they go by like a .20 comp and a .15 rebound. well i didnt think a .20 compression was goin to be enough after ordering them. so my friend did the math and made them 35% stiffer on comp and rebound, by using some of the older shims.
which leads me to my next issue, ive been fighting this hole death shake issue in my front end. i had t and j's go over my hole front end and readjust my trac bar and everything. and i still have this shake, shocks and all.
now could it one of these options

1) tires? 33x10.50 baja bfg
2) steering stabalizer?

any thoughts or help

 

[GrimmJeeper]

are your tires worn evenly or brand new? new tires wobble a bit on the street until the edge of the lugs wear down, try driving on a new set of swampers if everything in your front end is tight and no bushings are worn (I would trust T&J's to do a great job of checking it out so we can assume its good to go) your steering stabilizer isn't really all that important... quite a few people don't even run one.

If alignment is good, and your tires are wearing even, i wouldn't know what to tell you. if they are new, they are going to be a little rough for awhile but should calm down once they wear in. If they were used when you put them on, they may just be wearing into a new pattern. I have the same tires - bought them used. they came off a trophy lite and were cupped pretty bad when I got them. they were a bit rough for the first 300 miles or so but they ride great now.

Edit: mine took some pretty hefty weights to balance them on black steel wheels as well, may be an issue there if you are running them without wheel weights.

 

[ratboy93]

there def worn in haha and im at a loss right now. its not like a little shake i mean this motha shakes as in a "death shake". the tires dont look to have any cupping so im just kinda trippen on this and it pisses me off. i think im gonna buy 2 new front tires and see what she does from there if the prob goes away i will buy 2 for the back.
i have had this problem in an old f 350 i had with 38 swampers and put new tires on it and the shake went away

 

[GrimmJeeper]

do the tires balance out ok on a machine? were you running them before this prob showed up? hmm

 

[crazyjim]

Mike he's running my old tires. FWIW I never had any shake or wobble with them.

 

[ratboy93]

yea the tires look fine. this has been makin my head spin

 

[Goatman]

Have you tried a new stabilizer shock? Sometimes a new shock works. Have you tried re-balancing the tires? Are you sure the track bar joints are tight?

DW can be a bitch to find sometimes. Can be any number of things.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Mike he's running my old tires. FWIW I never had any shake or wobble with them.

well there goes that idea, unless he threw a weight :dunno:

How are the control arm angles?

 

[National Drivetrain]

well there goes that idea, unless he threw a weight :dunno:

How are the control arm angles?

Ball Joints and a steering stabilizer...
If one stabilizer isnt enough, put two on it...
If two's not enough put three on it, but if you put three on it you have to have them chromed.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Bling Bling!

 

[RandomThoughtsRace]

ok so i spent a night in my buddys shop so he can show me how to rebuild shocks. i rebuilt a set of my F.O.A. 10"s. it was so not as hard as i thought in fact very easy. if any of you have worked with an FOA shock there shims dont go by the normal numbers I.E. a bilstein 278/80 or whatever they go by like a .20 comp and a .15 rebound. well i didnt think a .20 compression was goin to be enough after ordering them. so my friend did the math and made them 35% stiffer on comp and rebound, by using some of the older shims.
which leads me to my next issue, ive been fighting this hole death shake issue in my front end. i had t and j's go over my hole front end and readjust my trac bar and everything. and i still have this shake, shocks and all.
now could it one of these options

1) tires? 33x10.50 baja bfg
2) steering stabalizer?

any thoughts or help

Judging by the picture of your buddy's shop and the tools pictured I would take his advice valving wise. Very nice setup. I am curious what the ball valve and drill are for though...

 

[ratboy93]

the ball valve is for some airlines in the shop and the drill i dont know not my shocks. yea he def knows his shit... he does it for a living so...



and heres a little more info on my front end. every front end component is new execpt axle housing bushings for the control upper control arms. im gonna replace them any way but there not bad. if think i may have found a problem my bottom track bar bolt on the axle side is a 1/2 i think and i belive it needs to be 5/8 right? i didnt have time to strip it apart but will an 1/8 inch really cause that big of an issue?


side note what seats are most of your js teams using? i think i might just go with the pro am seats from kartek just for budget reasons

 

[GrimmJeeper]

if it moves at all, it will cause problems. the track bar keeps the axle centered under the front of the truck, if its moving back and forth it will let the axle move. could cause problems i guess but i would be more worried about wallowing out the hole or snapping the bolt if it has play in it, if that happens you'll have much bigger problems.

 

[ratboy93]

totally agreed. im gonna investigate this hole bolt situation. i think if it moved even a little bit it will start a shake down

 

[xjjeeper19]

I said it before, but I can look at it for you, and I'm kinda close to you.

Justin

 

[xcm]

dude, if you think your bolt is too small, IT IS! change it out!

THE WORST part, is ive been there, and done that! it did cause DW!
i accidently installed the wrong bolt in a rush on a new tnt setup... EXACTLY like you said... it was erie when you posted it.

 

[ratboy93]

yea i think i will have time this weekend. hopefully. ive been swamped at work but thats a good thing. shit i have to weld my cage together, triangulate the cage(spelling?) weld a plate onto my passenger floor boards do to rust thru. i have a grip of shiz to do, but this dw thing is killing me so im gonna change that bolt and see were that gets me.

thank you everbody for your help

 

[ratboy93]

I said it before, but I can look at it for you, and I'm kinda close to you.

Justin

that would be pretty cool but i cant get my jeep anywhere right now. theres no interior

 

[xcm]

shit i have to weld my cage together, triangulate the cage(spelling?) weld a plate onto my passenger floor boards do to rust thru. post some pics on naxja. i have a grip of shiz to do, but this dw thing is killing me so im gonna change that bolt and see were that gets me.

your list gets bigger by the minute!

 

[ratboy93]

i always get caught up in the moment and forget pictures lol... yea my cage is layin on the shop floor ive been searchin for a welder.. im looking at a bunch of them lol just trying to find a good welder for a decent price.