Bearded_Dragon
Well-Known Member
It binds up bushings and doesn't allow the suspension to travel correctly. Most suspension parts must be torqued while loaded/on the ground.Why do you say this? What happens if torqued while lifted?
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It binds up bushings and doesn't allow the suspension to travel correctly. Most suspension parts must be torqued while loaded/on the ground.Why do you say this? What happens if torqued while lifted?
Ok I guess I cannot wrap my mind around this since torque is torque, but I am always listening. Maybe that is why I have a 3/8" tilt to the right side then.It binds up bushings and doesn't allow the suspension to travel correctly. Most suspension parts must be torqued while loaded/on the ground.
It's the position the bushings are locked into. I guess this applies more to bonded bushings like Clevite than to free rotating bushings like Johnny Joints. With Jeep there is also the issue of 14mm hardware in 9/16 holes, which is a sloppy fit. I would buy a bolt kit and use the proper size to eliminate excess play.Ok I guess I cannot wrap my mind around this since torque is torque, but I am always listening. Maybe that is why I have a 3/8" tilt to the right side then.
Ok I did notice some slop when I put the lift on. Didn't realize the holes were not drilled to exactly mate with the bolts. Just makes me question Jeep engineering even more.It's the position the bushings are locked into. I guess this applies more to bonded bushings like Clevite than to free rotating bushings like Johnny Joints. With Jeep there is also the issue of 14mm hardware in 9/16 holes, which is a sloppy fit. I would buy a bolt kit and use the proper size to eliminate excess play.
When putting final torque, the bushings will be in a neutral position when jeep is on the ground. If you torque with jeep lifted you will be over stressing bushing when jeep is landed thus leading to possible suspension squeaks and premature bushing failure. When fully torqued in the air you will have preloaded the bushing when landed.Ok I guess I cannot wrap my mind around this since torque is torque, but I am always listening. Maybe that is why I have a 3/8" tilt to the right side then.
People keep referring to a Bolt Kit to remove slop. Is there actually one available? I think there may be for the JK but not the JL that I've seen. Someone would probably have to catalog all the bolt sizes and order individually until one is available.It's the position the bushings are locked into. I guess this applies more to bonded bushings like Clevite than to free rotating bushings like Johnny Joints. With Jeep there is also the issue of 14mm hardware in 9/16 holes, which is a sloppy fit. I would buy a bolt kit and use the proper size to eliminate excess play.
Northridge 4x4 has two bolt kits for the JL that cover all the control arms, shocks, etc.People keep referring to a Bolt Kit to remove slop. Is there actually one available? I think there may be for the JK but not the JL that I've seen. Someone would probably have to catalog all the bolt sizes and order individually until one is available.
I do see bolt kits on thier site but the one I linked only says 2 of the 44 bolts in the kit are a different size than OE to account for any variance in bushing size.Northridge 4x4 has two bolt kits for the JL that cover all the control arms, shocks, etc.
@Northridge4x4 : Can you tell us if this bolt kit addresses sloppy fitment of hardware? Said another way, are these bolts exact replacements of OE or do they account for any over/under size in bushings or mounting holes? (I do see the track bar variances are accounted for)
EDIT: It just hit me. The bolts in this kit are not fully threaded so is the difference in there being more material where the non threaded section is with takes up more of the "Gap" the fully threaded OE Bolts have?
Thanks Tim. This is Perfect. Thank you for the explanation.@MDG - We replace most of the bolts with Grade 8 SAE equivalent sizing, which are slightly larger than the OE metric bolts they replace, that takes up a bunch of the slop.
Yes, they do have a longer shank (non-threaded section) and that also takes up some of the slop.
There are a couple bolts that we stayed with metric only because there wasn't an SAE size close enough.
I bought one because I thought the actual rate of problems would be less than 1% of all wranglers sold, so I took my chances. I did not notice the issue on my test drives (I test drove 2 JLUs and 1 JL). These Jeeps were most certainly designed first and foremost for off road driving, and secondly for on-road highway driving. I don't blame you for not buying one.It's become obvious to me that this issue will not be fixed by Jeep as long as people keep buying them.
Why did you buy one? Did you not notice the issue when you went on a test drive? I test drove 5 JLU's that were built between 5/18 and 9/18 and they all had this loose steering issue. I was hopeful that Jeep would have fixed the problem at the factory by the time I drove the 9/18, but I was was wrong. It now appears that it has not been fixed on the 2019's. Wow.
Competent reliable steering has been a given on every vehicle I have ever owned or driven over the past 40 years. In my opinion these Jeeps are not designed for highway use and should not be driven at speeds exceeding about 45 MPH.
I would love to own one, but I can not buy one with this issue.