Tie Rod Issue?

[bui980]

Question: Does my tie rod end on the driver side look normal as I turn my steering wheel back and forth? It might be hard to see from the video, but I notice a gap appears between the folds of the boot as I turn the wheels to the right. Does that imply possible damage underneath the boot?

Background: I've been bringing my entirely stock 2020 Sahara Unlimited back and forth the dealership for the past 6 months. Originally, I brought it in for death wobble. First they replaced the shocks, then the drag link and steering damper. The death wobble seemed to disappear, but the jeep didn't feel right. I complained how the car felt wobbly and swayed a lot. I felt vibrations coming through the steering wheel and the brake pedal. They then replaced shocks for a second time. I asked them to rebalance the tires and drop the PSI down to the prescribed 36 PSI. However, the car still feels wobbly especially on bumpy/uneven roads and I still get a lot of road feel/vibrations from through the steering wheel. I've gone to two different jeep dealerships and local repair shop and they say everything is tight. I've tried inspecting the suspension, myself, while someone is turning the steering back and forth, but the only oddity I've noticed is the item above regarding the tie rod. I've also tried the shaking the driver side wheel on the 3 and 9 o' clock while the wheel is lifted, but no play.

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[Beachcomber72]

Looks normal to me. My concern would be why are they throwing multiple sets of shocks at that particular “customer states” problem.

 

[Mocopo]

Ya I have tie rod issues on my badlands...

Oops, sorry, thought this was a bronco thread, my bad!

 

[JerseyJeff]

At any point was the alignment checked?

 

[VKSheridan]

It looks normal to me. Tie rod rotation is why your gap is opening and closing. The cause of tie rod roll is your caster and camber. If everything were perfectly vertical with zero camber, there’d be no need for ball joints as there would be no wheel lean to compensate for. Happy trailin’!

 

[bui980]

At any point was the alignment checked?

I believe they did when they replaced the drag link.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Question: Does my tie rod end on the driver side look normal as I turn my steering wheel back and forth? It might be hard to see from the video, but I notice a gap appears between the folds of the boot as I turn the wheels to the right. Does that imply possible damage underneath the boot?

Background: I've been bringing my entirely stock 2020 Sahara Unlimited back and forth the dealership for the past 6 months. Originally, I brought it in for death wobble. First they replaced the shocks, then the drag link and steering damper. The death wobble seemed to disappear, but the jeep didn't feel right. I complained how the car felt wobbly and swayed a lot. I felt vibrations coming through the steering wheel and the brake pedal. They then replaced shocks for a second time. I asked them to rebalance the tires and drop the PSI down to the prescribed 36 PSI. However, the car still feels wobbly especially on bumpy/uneven roads and I still get a lot of road feel/vibrations from through the steering wheel. I've gone to two different jeep dealerships and local repair shop and they say everything is tight. I've tried inspecting the suspension, myself, while someone is turning the steering back and forth, but the only oddity I've noticed is the item above regarding the tie rod. I've also tried the shaking the driver side wheel on the 3 and 9 o' clock while the wheel is lifted, but no play.

Not sure why they would replace a drag link to drag link FX steering. But it doesn’t cause death wobble it’s not what it does. The Pitman arm Hass to be centered and when you center the Pitman arm, it centers the steering wheel and you make the adjustments on the drag link you’ll see the adjustment on there so I would check to make sure your steering wheel is centered Pitman arm is centered, and that’s good to go. This may not solve your current problem. On the other hand, it may.

 

[JerseyJeff]

I believe they did when they replaced the drag link.

Ok, have you looked at your front tires to see if there is any cupping?

 

[bui980]

Not sure why they would replace a drag link to drag link FX steering. But it doesn’t cause death wobble it’s not what it does. The Pitman arm Hass to be centered and when you center the Pitman arm, it centers the steering wheel and you make the adjustments on the drag link you’ll see the adjustment on there so I would check to make sure your steering wheel is centered Pitman arm is centered, and that’s good to go. This may not solve your current problem. On the other hand, it may.

I assume they decided to replace the drag link and steering damper after I said I was experiencing a lot of shaking coming from the steering wheel and aggressive bump steering. They did center the steering wheel after they replaced the drag link. I do not think that it is the root of my issue.

The worst of my death wobble did go away after this point, but the Jeep still feels wobbly and bouncy all the time. Also, it handles really poorly on bumpy or uneven roads like you are getting thrown around on the road.

 

[bui980]

Ok, have you looked at your front tires to see if there is any cupping?

No cupping that I can see. A local repair also had a look at the wheels and they didn't notice any uneven wear on the tires either.

I'm starting to the think my issue isn't the tie rod after hearing some of your opinions on the video. A lot of things don't really point towards the tie rod. The wheels are quite responsive to when I'm turning my steering wheel and it tracks straight down the road if the road is even and smooth.

I think I need to have a closer inspection of my track bar especially and possibly my control arms as well.

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