WJ knuckle swap problem

S

SLDXJ24

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Maryland
I have 2000 Sport AW4 with a 4.5" on 33's I just recently did the whole WJ knuckle swap with one ton steering, I love it! Brakes are stronger and so is the steering but the problem I seem to be having is the TRE's on the drag link wear out within 50miles which I think is crazy. I used RuffStuff's steering and looks like quality parts but I'm just not sure what the deal is. It's too late to go Heims since I've reamed the knuckles and pitman arm but I wanted to stay with TRE's. Anyone with input on my problem I appreciate it!
e58640499906ef426a5adedd970470b7.jpg
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I can't see your knuckle side joints, but your pitman arm joint doesn't have a grease boot on it! Other than that it's got to be about joint quality, I'm still running my 2000 factory tre's without any signs of wear!

I am curious as to the double jam nuts?
 
RCP Phx said:
I can't see your knuckle side joints, but your pitman arm joint doesn't have a grease boot on it! Other than that it's got to be about joint quality, I'm still running my 2000 factory tre's without any signs of wear!



I am curious as to the double jam nuts?
Click to expand...



I should have motioned I removed the boots to make sure it was actually worn out in the socket. It wasn't off for more than a couple mins to take these photos. Double jam nuts were just make sure the first nut won't break loose


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One of the first problems I see are those are tie rod ends.

They do not have the range of motion a draglink requires.

Are you flexing out in that 50 miles, or 50 miles just driving on the highway?
 
cal said:
One of the first problems I see are those are tie rod ends.

They do not have the range of motion a draglink requires.

Are you flexing out in that 50 miles, or 50 miles just driving on the highway?
Click to expand...



The first set worn out because I thought I over flexed them, then I received two new ones and drove it to work a couple days and still same results which makes me believe that's there's a strain somewhere. What kind of tie rod ends should I have to make the right range of motion? I thought about the the high alignment ones but that would just affect the flex.


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you should be using draglink ends.

Moog ES2026R and ES2027L. Will require cutting your draglink and putting a new bung on, as they are physically longer (and double jointed, allowing more travel).


As far as your shit wearing out, it looks like your tie rod ends are rubbing your wheels when you turn. You're putting a LOT of force through your steering when that happens and its probably causing all 4 joints to wear out.

Are you trying to run 15's or 16's with the ruff stuff offset tie rod ends?
 
cal said:
you should be using draglink ends.

Moog ES2026R and ES2027L. Will require cutting your draglink and putting a new bung on, as they are physically longer (and double jointed, allowing more travel).


As far as your shit wearing out, it looks like your tie rod ends are rubbing your wheels when you turn. You're putting a LOT of force through your steering when that happens and its probably causing all 4 joints to wear out.

Are you trying to run 15's or 16's with the ruff stuff offset tie rod ends?
Click to expand...


Kinda wondering why they would send tie rod ends for a drag link I just thought they would work and guess not I'll order those ends and go from there thanks! And I don't have any rubbing issues at all they're 15's I made sure nothing hit when I set this up because they're brand new rims.



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Check for clearance turned to full lock.

I see what looks to clearly be rub marks, will only happened when turned hard one way or the other.
 
cal said:
Check for clearance turned to full lock.

I see what looks to clearly be rub marks, will only happened when turned hard one way or the other.
Click to expand...



Yes I've checked plenty of times even while flexed no rubbing, I think I see what you mean in the pictures though lol


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As Cal said, those are the wrong ends for the application. Those are designed to be used on a tie-rod where deflection is minimal. Even driving down the road I wouldn't be surprised if you exceeded their travel just from hitting bumps and getting on the brakes. Also most places that sell you a kit with TRE's included are padding their profit by supplying the cheapest Happy China Co. TRE's they can find, which means they are junk. If the ad doesn't say what brand the ends are, you can bet they aren't high quality. Get some good Moog TRE's and try again. Cal posted the right part numbers already.
 
SLDXJ24 said:
I took that picture when I had it flexed out lol


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Click to expand...

Right. The rod end moving in the knuckle is generally a bad idea. If it's loose, bad things happen.
And now that I look at it even more, I noticed that the rod end on the actual tie rod appears to be way too deep. The pin for the castle nut goes through the groove, not below it. Everything looks to have been reamed super deep. This isn't an insult, but is this your first time doing this kind of thing?
If they are indeed too deep or loose, you could get away with drilling them out straight and using inserts, or better, get a couple knuckles and reaming them only deep enough so you can get the pin through the castle nut. This assumes the correct ends for these knuckles too.
 
Last edited:
dan1977p said:
Right. The rod end moving in the knuckle is generally a bad idea. If it's loose, bad things happen.
And now that I look at it even more, I noticed that the rod end on the actual tie rod appears to be way too deep. The pin for the castle nut goes through the groove, not below it. Everything looks to have been reamed super deep. This isn't an insult, but is this your first time doing this kind of thing?
If they are indeed too deep or loose, you could get away with drilling them out straight and using inserts, or better, get a couple knuckles and reaming them only deep enough so you can get the pin through the castle nut. This assumes the correct ends for these knuckles too.
Click to expand...


I drilled these knuckles out and using a insert welded In place with a provided 7/8" taper it's pretty cut and dry you can't screw it up. Now knowing these are knuckles are from a grand Cherokee and the tie rod ends are from a 3/4ton - 1 ton vehicle going onto an Xj so they're not going to be perfect fit. Considering I should add a spacer to make the castle nut and cotter pin line up but since i was working out this issue and doing an alignment I didn't because I would have to make further adjustments hence why their isn't a grease boot nor key on the drag link.


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Which inserts did you use? The TRE's you should be using for your drag link are the same taper but slightly deeper (larger). There are different inserts for each. It looks as if you may have used the larger inserts for all the holes. This really isn't a problem as long as all of the ends are fully seated, you'll just wanna add a washer under the nut so that the cotter pin goes into the slot. When you swap to the correct drag link ends they should fit better as well.
 
StinkyFab said:
Which inserts did you use? The TRE's you should be using for your drag link are the same taper but slightly deeper (larger). There are different inserts for each. It looks as if you may have used the larger inserts for all the holes. This really isn't a problem as long as all of the ends are fully seated, you'll just wanna add a washer under the nut so that the cotter pin goes into the slot. When you swap to the correct drag link ends they should fit better as well.
Click to expand...



I purchased the Inserts from RuffStuff, the TRE's fully seat inside of the inserts I made sure of that. Once I receive the new ends I'll ad the spacers where I need to.


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