Front End Alignment

[Upnarms]

Many thanks all...

12,000 miles on the Wrangler. Mickey Thompson Baja Boss 285/70r17 tires only have 4,000 miles on them. I inflate to 35psi cold. Alignment is original...

It does have a FOX/MOPAR stabilizer already installed and I have ordered the MOPAR Performance lower controls arms, but those have not been received/installed. Wondered if I needed to do more in conjunction with installing those new lower control arms.

How do you check a track bar?

Are ball joints a concern at this mileage?

Now i actually read the rest of the posts with this info. Sorry.

You should've had alignment checked after new tires just to check toe. You can actually check this with a tape measure, Google or YouTube it, very easy.

Track bar is your culprit. You can check your current one to make sure bolts are tight, but honestly it's just not heavy duty enough. Look into the steersmarts or another heavy duty one. Harder bushings and a stronger trackbar will take care of that shimmy more than likely. Your steering stabilizer is fine if it's the fox one. unless something unusual happened. Check alignment, rebalance tires, That everything is torqued right, and upgrade that track bar.

Will new lower arms improve anything? Maybe maybe not, but that shimmy you described has trackbar written all over it.

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[2016XLVIII]

So, why an adjustable track bar...

 

[txj2go]

So, why an adjustable track bar...

adjustable track bar allows you to center the axle under the vehicle to adjust for different components and/or different amount of lift.

 

[2016XLVIII]

I see...thanks...is the OEM bar adjustable also?

 

[txj2go]

I see...thanks...is the OEM bar adjustable also?

I don't think it is.
Aftermarket bars usually tell you to adjust their bar to match the length of the bar you are removing then go from there. Track bar only controls the left/right position of the axle under the vehicle. I don't know, maybe a little bit off to one side or the other doesn't matter all that much, I'm thinking small fractions of an inch. If you adjust the track bar that also affects the relationship between the steering box and the knuckles so will change the alignment of the steering wheel. The steering linkage coming off of the steering box also has an adjustment that you can use to center the steering wheel.

 

[2016XLVIII]

More great info...thanks much...

 

[73TAWM]

This might be redundant since I didn't read everyone's responses, but since you mentioned pot holes

Anyone have specific settings for a stock 2023 Willys pavement princess?

I've begun getting some shimmy when hitting potholes and have read that replacing the lower control arms with the Mopar Performance 68322798AA's will allow greater caster adjustment range, but not sure exactly where I might want to dial it in?

TIA

This might be redundant since I didn't read everyone's responses, but since you mentioned pot holes and shimmy I must mention the most obvious and easiest first fix. Have you taken it in to get the tires rebalanced? They all seem to use those damn sticky weights these days and since they never clean the wheel they constantly fall off. I thought I had issues as well but after noticing the weights falling off of the spare when shutting the tailgate, I took it in for a rebalance and it fixed my issues. It would drive fine until I hit a bump in the road then it would start shaking real bad. It's such a cheap fix that when I see all these people giving advice on changing parts right away, it blows my mind this isn't the first logical check.

Anyway, hope you got it corrected and you're not spending a fortune. Merry Christmas!

 

[2016XLVIII]

OK...small sample size, but I had my shop install the Mopar Performance 68322798AA Control Arms and check/torque most everything related to the front end suspension and steering...and there was a massive improvement when I intentionally hit potholes at highway speeds. No shimmy noticed, and It had been a scary beast yesterday morning before the work was performed. Gonna go to Discount Tire on Friday for rotation and balancing, and we'll see how long this lasts until I have to resort to changing more parts.
Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions...

 

[Speed331]

Going to toss out one more thing here.

I'm running the same tires you are - over 40k miles now - and 35psi was terrible on my 2 door. It was skittish and darted all over the place. A talk with an MT tech led me to eventually run 28psi cold and they've been a dream ever since.
The sidewalls are very stiff and the tire is designed to be run on a wide range of vehicles including heavy duty trucks that can run up to 45psi to handle the weight.
A chalk test showed that 25psi was perfect on mine, but they felt sluggish and slow to turn in down that low.
At 28psi, and five tire rotations at every oil change, I have nice even wear and a good amount of tread left.

 

[2016XLVIII]

Good point...I've actually aired-down to 32psi cold and it didn't help...at all...I'll give 28psi a shot...

 

[Zandcwhite]

This is real common (the shimmy) and the factory track bar is barely sufficient for 33s. Get a heavy duty one with a hard bushing like the steer smarts yeti with pro bushing. Death wobble will soon follow if you dont. Id bet $$$ your ball joints are fine and longer lower control arms are not necessary.
If you aren't rotating and balancing your tires at least every 5k minimum, you need to. And all terrain or mud terrains will usually start to be prone shimmy as they get over 20k miles depending on brand and how you cared for them and if you are running the factory trackbar. My ko2s started getting dw with factory set up at 23k miles.

Just search death wobble threads from jeep TJs JKs and JLs and you'll find a common issue is weak trackbars in these jeeps or the trackbar being a big factor in dw. They beefed it up a little on the jl, but compare it to the hd aftermarket ones and it's a joke.

If your jeep is factory though, it's tires, alignment, trackbar, steering stabilizer in my experience mostly in that order to check. And they are great upgrades to do anyway with very little labor involved. You start messing wth ball joints, control arms, etc you are skipping the easiest and most common causes and opening Pandoras box

Others may disagree, this is just what I've found from owning jeeps for 20+ years.

What if I told you we have 0 shimmy with the factory track bar in the JLUR on 39s at 37k miles? I did replace the factory hardware with grade 8 9/16" bolts as the factory mounts and bushings come slightly oversized in my experience. Still running the stock trackbar on my JT mojave with 27k miles on 37s. I find it is the bolts more than the bars and/or the bushings are just too big.

 

[Upnarms]

What if I told you we have 0 shimmy with the factory track bar in the JLUR on 39s at 37k miles? I did replace the factory hardware with grade 8 9/16" bolts as the factory mounts and bushings come slightly oversized in my experience. Still running the stock trackbar on my JT mojave with 27k miles on 37s. I find it is the bolts more than the bars and/or the bushings are just too big.

The question would be, why would you be running the stock track bar with that setup? Shouldn't you be using an adjustable? But anyway, yes bushings and bolts (get rid of the slop) are a large part of it. I think i mentioned before changing out the bushings and bolts in the trackbar on my TJ...i didn't find a good aftermarket one for a no- lift tj. With the heavy duty options for the jl/jt i wouldn't personally waste my time on the factory one.

 

[Zandcwhite]

The question would be, why would you be running the stock track bar with that setup? Shouldn't you be using an adjustable? But anyway, yes bushings and bolts (get rid of the slop) are a large part of it. I think i mentioned before changing out the bushings and bolts in the trackbar on my TJ...i didn't find a good aftermarket one for a no- lift tj. With the heavy duty options for the jl/jt i wouldn't personally waste my time on the factory one.

The flipped drag link kit moves the trackbar mount up, even with 3.5" of lift the axle is centered. I have 0 problem buying aftermarket parts but I like to find the limit of the stock ones 1st instead of throwing parts at it or believing everything I read on the forums. I've found the stock tie rod to be even more impressive when everyone says it needs upgraded as soon as you go to 35s. Our 2019 had 38s and 63k miles on it, was wheeled hard all over the country, and was still on the stock tie rod when stolen. The drag links on the other hand wear out quicker, especially if you flex out your rig regularly. The JT gets a metalcloak flipped drag link as soon as I get around to installing it but unless the axle ends up off center I'm in no hurry to replace the track bar.

 

[2016XLVIII]

Installed the Steer Smarts YETI XD Pro-Series Adjustable Front Track Bar and their 9/16" Bolt Set today.

Added that to the Jeep Performance Front Lower Control Arms & Mopar/Fox Steering Stabilizer.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout...

Buh-bye shimmy...

 

[GaryToo]

A track bar thats adjustible is only part of upgrading the track bar . The type of bushing is also important . The OE type clevite bushings are ok for the OE scrawny tires . Put some heavier meats on it and the soft bushings will begin to show their colors. You want the axle to stay in place . I use a Core Crawl series bar being it has Johnny Joints in both ends( same theory for lower front control arms ) . It removes some steering correction that most people didnt notice until its gone . Rough country's bar is cheap but is worse than stock as far as soft bushings. Buy once and know you won't have to replace again

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