Which parts wear first.

[CaJLMetalHead]

Your wallet

Ball joints ... the stock ones are cheaply made.. ugh

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[melendez69]

Thanks for the replies.

I am still up in the air and researching. I have done quite a bit of off roading and am planning more. Plus I do have zero offset wheels which makes them stick out about an inch.

Witch puts a little more load on those parts, even though there only 33's.

I'm on zero offset wheels as well...35's, no lift. I just breached 30k, but elected to replace for peace of mind.

 

[wibornz]

Hey all

I have 48K on the odometer and OEM parts except the sway bar links and LCA's. (Spacer lift)spacer lift parts have maybe 10K less miles. I have another 17K miles or so on the chassis parts because of the flat towing. The jeep currently drives fine. But have seen on here that things like the track bars are toast around 60K. My friends track bars were crap at 65K and I have done more off roading than him.

Just wondering what parts wear first.

Track bars?
LCA's?
Ball joints?

Later this year I am hoping to do trails in Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. Just want to be sure jeep is up for the task and considering lifts or just replacing some individual items.

Thanks

It really depends on what you do to the Jeep. How hard do you wheel it, what size tires you run and so on. I lifted my Jeep and put on 37s at 92 miles. There are five of us that lifted our JLURs at or around 100 miles. The ones of us that wheel a lot. This is how it went.

Ball joints went first. about 36,000 to 40,000 miles... they were shot

At 40,000, we all went to a full Steer Smarts front end comports upgrades. We all could have stretched it a little longer probably to 50,000 miles, but three of the five were headed to Moab for 9 days, the Rubicon Trail, and then wheeling in Wyoming before heading back to Michigan, so we did it as a precaution. The tie rod ends were the worst of the components, followed by the track bar.

The last thing was the control arms, I just changed out the stock control arms at 115,000 hard miles. I was surprised how well they held up. The drivers side LCA had a cracked bushing, and the UCA bushings were loose, but not cracked. The other two that don't wheel as often are around 85,000 miles, the other two that are around the 100,000 mile mark, one has changed the control arms, the other is getting ready to change them.

 

[jaymz]

Tie rod and drag link were the first to go on mine. I was getting a slight shimmy at certain speeds. Ball joints are still ok @ 57k, but the right side is starting to show a little slop as evidenced by an out of spec camber reading. I should probably work on replacing soon, even though I've been saying that for months.

 

[longfiredragon]

It really depends on what you do to the Jeep. How hard do you wheel it, what size tires you run and so on. I lifted my Jeep and put on 37s at 92 miles. There are five of us that lifted our JLURs at or around 100 miles. The ones of us that wheel a lot. This is how it went.

Ball joints went first. about 36,000 to 40,000 miles... they were shot

At 40,000, we all went to a full Steer Smarts front end comports upgrades. We all could have stretched it a little longer probably to 50,000 miles, but three of the five were headed to Moab for 9 days, the Rubicon Trail, and then wheeling in Wyoming before heading back to Michigan, so we did it as a precaution. The tie rod ends were the worst of the components, followed by the track bar.

The last thing was the control arms, I just changed out the stock control arms at 115,000 hard miles. I was surprised how well they held up. The drivers side LCA had a cracked bushing, and the UCA bushings were loose, but not cracked. The other two that don't wheel as often are around 85,000 miles, the other two that are around the 100,000 mile mark, one has changed the control arms, the other is getting ready to change them.

Thank you for the feedback.

I called two 4x4 shops in Tucson yesterday and talked to them about what I was thinking about. Both of them laughed at me. Not in a bad way, but because both shops said they have never replaced ball joints on a JL at my mileage. In fact they both said they have only done a few since the JLs came out in 2018.

I get it is dependent on how you use your jeep. I know I don't wheel as hard as you do. LOL.

However they both did agree that the JL track bar is not the greatest, and both said they have done a lot more track bar replacements than ball joints.

I know this is just two shops and things vary. But I think I will just install my new exact center, and maybe the track bar to help tighten things up.

Thanks everyone.

Oh, also I made sure to get a spacer lift with new longer LCAs, and the lift has maybe 10,12K less miles on it.

 

[roaniecowpony]

One person's tolerance for worn parts is different than another's.

My JLUR had about 30k on it when it got lifted with a 3.5" MC GC, and 37" tires with 3.5" backspace. I noticed that it had a shimmy for a second or so, when I hit certain bumps at certain speeds, mostly hwy speeds. I was able to reproduce it over and over again on one particular bump at a very high speed, (75 mph and up). It had all Steersmarts steering, but OEM balljoints. So I replaced them with Dynatrac. Shimmy was eliminated. Some folks would just drive it until it was much worse. I get it. Your tolerance is different than mine.

 

[Odyssey USA]

Since selling my 19 Sahara, I’ve taken over my wife’s somewhat neglected 21 Rubicon. She drove the living heck out of it but it’s 99% street miles. I’m just starting the process to bring it up to my standards since it already has 94k+ miles on it. The last 30k with 34.5” Baja Boss AT’s. No noticeable symptoms yet but the steering wheel turns noticeably easier than my Sahara. The Sahara had RCV’s which decreased turning effort and the Rubicon has the factory CV’s but it’s still noticeably easier to turn.

After drivetrain, brakes…I plan to get right on steering and suspension. Any suggestions on what to prioritize in that regard?

Thanks

 

[longfiredragon]

Since selling my 19 Sahara, I’ve taken over my wife’s somewhat neglected 22 Rubicon. She drove the living heck out of it but it’s 99% street miles. I’m just starting the process to bring it up to my standards since it already has 94k+ miles on it. The last 30k with 34.5” Baja Boss AT’s. No noticeable symptoms yet but the steering wheel turns noticeably easier than my Sahara. The Sahara had RCV’s which decreased turning effort and the Rubicon has the factory CV’s but it’s still noticeably easier to turn.

After drivetrain, brakes…I plan to get right on steering and suspension. Any suggestions on what to prioritize in that regard?

Thanks

If your asking me I will share my experience. However there are people that know a lot more than me.

To start with I only have 49K on my jeep, however a lot of this was off road and another 12K or so was flat towing that of course is not on the odometer but is suspension miles. I do think that it depends how you use your jeep and how you drive it even on the street. Another words, parts may or may not be bad yet.

Yours is 99% street miles, but your almost at 100K so have a look at these parts. First thing was 3 of my Rubicon shocks were leaking at 45K. So have a look at the shocks. I have been told and believe that the Mopar track bars aren't good past around 60K to 100K, again depending on how your drive, but I would lean towards new track bars. My front upper control arm bushings were really bad. Around a 1/2" of front to back play.

You don't hear of this happening often, so I did some research. And even though it's not often my coil springs were shot. The passenger side sagged almost an inch. When I went over small bumps at higher speeds the wheel would bounce 5 or 6 times. The springs were not pushing down and keeping the tire flat on the ground, which is there job.

My lower bushings in the front sway bar links were trashed. This was probably due to all the off roading, and it doesn't help that I never had sway bar disconnects. (According to what I have been told, not disconnecting the sway bar when off roading won't allow the suspension to move the way it was designed and may lead to premature were of some parts)

rear track bar and sway bar link bushings weren't too bad, but at 99K I would still look at them.

I just did a lift kit and it came with the parts I wanted and could afford for now, including replacing all the bad parts except the shocks which I had already replaced.

I did pay for an alignment after installing all the new parts. Call it my vehicle OCDness, or need to know or whatever. Everything that I touched was perfect just by following Clayton's instructions on the lift kit. The only thing off was the toe was out by just over half a degree. (Which I didn't replace the drag bar or tie rod, it was just off from whatever)

Not sure exactly what your plan is, but good luck fixing up your machine.

 

[Odyssey USA]

If your asking me I will share my experience. However there are people that know a lot more than me.

To start with I only have 49K on my jeep, however a lot of this was off road and another 12K or so was flat towing that of course is not on the odometer but is suspension miles. I do think that it depends how you use your jeep and how you drive it even on the street. Another words, parts may or may not be bad yet.

Yours is 99% street miles, but your almost at 100K so have a look at these parts. First thing was 3 of my Rubicon shocks were leaking at 45K. So have a look at the shocks. I have been told and believe that the Mopar track bars aren't good past around 60K to 100K, again depending on how your drive, but I would lean towards new track bars. My front upper control arm bushings were really bad. Around a 1/2" of front to back play.

You don't hear of this happening often, so I did some research. And even though it's not often my coil springs were shot. The passenger side sagged almost an inch. When I went over small bumps at higher speeds the wheel would bounce 5 or 6 times. The springs were not pushing down and keeping the tire flat on the ground, which is there job.

My lower bushings in the front sway bar links were trashed. This was probably due to all the off roading, and it doesn't help that I never had sway bar disconnects. (According to what I have been told, not disconnecting the sway bar when off roading won't allow the suspension to move the way it was designed and may lead to premature were of some parts)

rear track bar and sway bar link bushings weren't too bad, but at 99K I would still look at them.

I just did a lift kit and it came with the parts I wanted and could afford for now, including replacing all the bad parts except the shocks which I had already replaced.

I did pay for an alignment after installing all the new parts. Call it my vehicle OCDness, or need to know or whatever. Everything that I touched was perfect just by following Clayton's instructions on the lift kit. The only thing off was the toe was out by just over half a degree. (Which I didn't replace the drag bar or tie rod, it was just off from whatever)

Not sure exactly what your plan is, but good luck fixing up your machine.

Thanks, I’ll look into all that. Man, this is getting really pricey.

 

[longfiredragon]

Thanks, I’ll look into all that. Man, this is getting really pricey.

LOL, yes it can get pricey. I am at $2,600 right now for the lift,shocks and paying someone to help me because I am in an RV and don't have a hyd jack and stands.

 

[jc1003]

It really depends on what you do to the Jeep. How hard do you wheel it, what size tires you run and so on. I lifted my Jeep and put on 37s at 92 miles. There are five of us that lifted our JLURs at or around 100 miles. The ones of us that wheel a lot. This is how it went.

Ball joints went first. about 36,000 to 40,000 miles... they were shot

At 40,000, we all went to a full Steer Smarts front end comports upgrades. We all could have stretched it a little longer probably to 50,000 miles, but three of the five were headed to Moab for 9 days, the Rubicon Trail, and then wheeling in Wyoming before heading back to Michigan, so we did it as a precaution. The tie rod ends were the worst of the components, followed by the track bar.

The last thing was the control arms, I just changed out the stock control arms at 115,000 hard miles. I was surprised how well they held up. The drivers side LCA had a cracked bushing, and the UCA bushings were loose, but not cracked. The other two that don't wheel as often are around 85,000 miles, the other two that are around the 100,000 mile mark, one has changed the control arms, the other is getting ready to change them.

Did you replace track bar, drag link, and tie rods with Steer Smarts? I did the Steer smarts sector shaft brace and it did improve the steering. I also did the Dynatrac BJ and new LCA's.

 

[wibornz]

Did you replace track bar, drag link, and tie rods with Steer Smarts? I did the Steer smarts sector shaft brace and it did improve the steering. I also did the Dynatrac BJ and new LCA's.

I did use Steer Smarts. For no other reason than they provide excellent customer service. We did the whole Steer Smarts set up. Track bar, drag link, tie rods, steering stabalizer shock, and steering box brace.

I bent a tie rod link in Moab, they sent me one next day and gave me a deal on the replacement part, FED EX messed up the shipping twice, then Steersmarts shipped it next day air via Priority Mail. You can call and talk to Chris at Steer Smarts Ted line and they are just awesome to deal with.

 

[jc1003]

I did use Steer Smarts. For no other reason than they provide excellent customer service. We did the whole Steer Smarts set up. Track bar, drag link, tie rods, steering stabalizer shock, and steering box brace.

I bent a tie rod link in Moab, they sent me one next day and gave me a deal on the replacement part, FED EX messed up the shipping twice, then Steersmarts shipped it next day air via Priority Mail. You can call and talk to Chris at Steer Smarts Ted line and they are just awesome to deal with.

Thank you Ted... great information I'm gonna go the same route as you all Steer Smarts

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