URGENT! front wheels wobbling while on interstate!

gt500swim

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2010
Location
Gastonia
Guys i need help pretty urgently. i am currently at the outer banks.. before i left i put all new ball joints, tie rod ends, put 6 oz of bbs in the all terrains, all new ujoints (spicer). while going down the interstate i was going anywhere between 55 and 75 mph. anywhere between that my front wheels wobble like crazy but not much is felt at the steering wheel. i do not have a steering stabliizer on there.
about the only thing i can think of is my steering box is wearing out or i need a steering stabilizer. ive tried rotating the tires and found a bump in one of them. before i left i found one bad hub but i have it jacked up now and cannot see anything bad. there steering still is loose with the steering wheel locked. (key out) im really lost and need help asap. any help is greatly appreciated.
 
since you have it jacked up, have someone else move the wheel back & forth, see where the lost motion is & go from there. sounds like a worn-out steering box, sometimes you can limp them along by tightening down the backlash adjustment-be careful if you get it too tight, it can lock up the steering box or cause long-term wear issues. a steering stabilizer isn't a cure-all, it just dampens the steering-if you have slop before it, you'll still have slop with one.
 
the night before the drive i finished everything up and did a quick alignment... i drove it down the road to 65 and it felt great... however when i was half way there i ended up stopping and pulling the toe in as it was waaaay out. i checked it again and the front wheels are perfectly parallel (checked via tape measure to front and back side of the rim) so i was thinking to put the toe in by 1 round. a little earler i did shake the driver side wheel left to right and everything was tight. it just feels sloppy or loose, i have a feeling it is the box having too much wear in it. what tire psi do you think i should have the tires at? (35" pathfinder A/T)i dropped them to 24 and it seemed to help a little. should i go lower? also when i get home ill probably put the jeep on a rack and see how close i really am.
 
1 full round on a tie rod is probably going to be too much toe in. Back it off by half and see what it feels like.
 
also it is the wj steering set up if that helps any.. i have the stock yj pitman arm on too.. would i be better off with the zj?
 
Dropping tire pressure, is probably just putting more load or drag, on the steering components, there-by making it feel tighter. 35 seems high, & would make steering light or touchy! 28, should be in the ball park. Get a marker, & draw a line across a front & rear tire. [or all] Roll straight line on pavement or concrete, maybe 50', see what the wear is. Even/outside/inside,=adjust air 4 even wear. Might even show tow wear. Good luck!
 
welp i got her home in record timing. with the wheels properly aligned i averaged 75 mph and i had minimal wheel shaking(from the steering box). guys thank you so much for all your help you have no idea how much i appreciate it.
 
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