Steering Angles?

[89xj 2781]

Hey guys. I'm in the middle of fixing a serious case of death wobble and want to upgrade the steering components. I'm going to put in a ( I think ) zj tie rod. I'm buying drop pitman arm next week along with a new track bar. I have seen this sleeve you can buy to flip the tie rod. I would have to drill out the knuckle and put in a sleeve and put the tie rod in on the top. Is there any Benefit to doing this? Also to the main question. What is a good set up steering system angles supposed to look like. Can anyone post a picture of a properly set up front end. Here is a picture of mine. Does anyone see anything out the ordinary that I need to take care of? Thank you.

 

[rockclimber]

flipping the tie-rod only gains you ground clearance, and you will have to adjust your sway bar brackets to do it.

the geometry that really matters is the angle of the track-bar to drag link. yours looks fine. your DW is most likely worn out components. check all of your bushings, and tie-rod ends. as well as balljoints, steering box, trackbar bracket, etc.

avoid drop pitman arms, they will change your Drag link/track bar geometry giving you more trouble. the only way to do that is to also run a drop trackbar bracket, which I don't think you have enough lift for. clayton makes a trackbar and bracket that uses the stock height, allowing you to keep your stock pitman arm.

for your reference,
here is what mine looks like with ~4" of lift, stock pitman arm, clayton trackbar bracket (stock drop), a ruffstuff trackbar, and the tie-rod flipped. I used JCR sway bar mounts to re-locate it.
note the drag link and trackbar (panhard) are perfectly parallel.

 

[jonesinxj]

Agree with above, more than likely it is worn components, biggest one most likely being your track bar. If your running any kind of lift with a stock style track bar it will wear the joint quickly.

 

[89xj 2781]

Ok cool. I have found the death wobble problem. It is the track bar bushing, and I don't like the one I have. I has to redrill a hole next to the original to make this one work. It is a BDS track and it seems good but not for this jeep. It goes to something else. The RC track bar that I'm buying comes with a new frame side bracket. I'm running almost a 6" lift. It's a 3.5 skyjacker coils and add a leaf with a 2" bb. Can anyone see anything from my Picture that doesn't seem right or does it all look ok?

 

[kenny811]

It helps to get the track bar & drag link as close to the same angle as you can. I used hime joints and stock pitman. I had massive DW but after installing a Steering stabilizer, it helped a lot. I will get DW but I have to hit a pot hole in the right spot at the right speed.

 

[89xj 2781]

Yes thanks for the pics. I hope the new track bar finishes it all up for me. My jeep has been one thing after another for the last few months. I guess that's what I get for letting it sit for 11 months. Thank for the help. I appreciate it a lot.

 

[kenny811]

Good luck. And with a Jeep its always one thing or another!!!