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JLU Rubicon Check Your Ball Joints ASAP!!

traviswalker007

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Well,
For the last few weeks I have been chasing this bump steer issue and slight wondering steering. From running different PSI to re-balancing and another alignment I decided to double check the Factory steering components and what I found was pretty upsetting to say the least. I removed the cotter pin on both upper and lower ball joints and was able to get 3 full turns on a wrench before I put some serious torque on them, I was quite surprised to see how loose they were right from the factory. After torquing these down I decided to check the bolts on the track bar and yep!! you guessed it, they were just as loose and I was able to get a few turns out of them before really torquing them down. I am not sure if FCA has a torque issue or a out of spec machine but I would highly recommend anyone to check those areas and I can tell you this completely brought my steering back into spec and no more bump steer. I noticed that even with the slight movement of my steering wheel I was able to see the tires move, were as before I had a good 1/4 inch of play before they even buged!! Just a thought for you guys to double check if you are having steering issues. The upper and lower are 7/8 just a note.

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richk225

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Believe me, your not alone in this, I posted a similar finding with my Rubicon and called Jeepcares and explained it to them, it’s going in tomorrow for it along with getting reflashed for the steering. Let everyone know the results Wednesday
 
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WXman

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If you cranked them down, then they are now out of spec.

The torque spec on the lower joints is only 25 ft/lbs or something like that. You could easily accomplish that with a standard small ratchet. Apparently, Dana didn't engineer those joints to be cranked down with a cheater bar and five dudes hanging off of it.

I think someone who has the shop manual should post the torque specs for the ball joints and suspension joints and we should get that stickied to the top of this page. It would be beneficial for us all.
 

WXman

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For reference until somebody puts this in a format to be stickied here on this forum, you can search "JL Wrangler Torque Specs" and Google will pull up a link to another site with all the info.

Notice that the suspension joints are NOT spec'ing high torque values. They aren't supposed to be as tight as you can get them.
 

Goin2drt

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If you cranked them down, then they are now out of spec.

The torque spec on the lower joints is only 25 ft/lbs or something like that. You could easily accomplish that with a standard small ratchet. Apparently, Dana didn't engineer those joints to be cranked down with a cheater bar and five dudes hanging off of it.

I think someone who has the shop manual should post the torque specs for the ball joints and suspension joints and we should get that stickied to the top of this page. It would be beneficial for us all.
Thanks for the info and think this is very important for newbies as I was ready to head out and crank these down. I have learned throughout the years of the inter web to not just act on one post but at least to start doing research.
 

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Martindfletcher

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Top ball joint: 52-59 ft. Lbs.
Bottoms ball joint: 30-37 ft. Lbs.

If your track bar was loose im betting that was 100% the reason for your issue.
You also need to tighten to the next slot for the pin after the torque is hit,
 

WXman

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Track bar is 52 ft/lbs and then another 115 degrees turn after that. So, those aren't supposed to be super tight either.
 

RubiRob

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traviswalker007

traviswalker007

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If you cranked them down, then they are now out of spec.

The torque spec on the lower joints is only 25 ft/lbs or something like that. You could easily accomplish that with a standard small ratchet. Apparently, Dana didn't engineer those joints to be cranked down with a cheater bar and five dudes hanging off of it.

I think someone who has the shop manual should post the torque specs for the ball joints and suspension joints and we should get that stickied to the top of this page. It would be beneficial for us all.
well i can tell you this man, if i can turn a ball joint nut easily with a 7/8 wrench 3 turns there to me thats an issue!! 25ft/lbs or not that is a joke, And if there is a difference in steering and handling after then somebody dropped the ball at engineering!!
 
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WXman

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OBJLU

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This is what I got from my instructions for the ReadyLift SST kit:

  • Torque the upper control arms to 110 ft-lbs
  • Lower control arms and track bar hardware to 135 ft-lbs
  • Shock and sway bar end link hardware to 50 ft-lbs
The kit itself is very nice but I'm not sure about these torque values.
 

RubiRob

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This is what I got from my instructions for the ReadyLift SST kit:

  • Torque the upper control arms to 110 ft-lbs
  • Lower control arms and track bar hardware to 135 ft-lbs
  • Shock and sway bar end link hardware to 50 ft-lbs
The kit itself is very nice but I'm not sure about these torque values.
this is from Jeep themselves. I trust their instructions.

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