Loose and Squirrelly!

[chilidipper]

Reminds me of a girl i dated in highschool.....
I have a 99 TJ that had a long arm kit on it. I have noticed that there is a lot of movement in the front end and particularily in the steering. I can see wear on the joints on tie rods, drag link and steering. It rides very loose and squirrelly.
Any other suggestions?
Do i replace the joints? Will i have to use fabtech ends?

[2blk2drs]

Joe, what steering are you currently running?
(sorry havent been wheeling in a while, I dont remember)

[inVERt'D]

what kind of joints are they? some can be tightened. your steering gear might have too much play in it as well. make sure your tires have the same amount of air in them too, and that your toe-in is right. air pressure makes a huge difference in my jeep. do you have lockers?

[chilidipper]

What type of steering?- Not sure, looks stock

[RAT]

Reminds me of a girl i dated in highschool.....
I have a 99 TJ that had a long arm kit on it. I have noticed that there is a lot of movement in the front end and particularily in the steering. I can see wear on the joints on tie rods, drag link and steering. It rides very loose and squirrelly.
Any other suggestions?
Do i replace the joints? Will i have to use fabtech ends?

If your rig is getting squirrely that's a message. It's time to do some maintenance.
I don't know what your experience level is, but if you're asking these questions you should find someone that has the experience look at your set up for you. Steering isn't something to be guessing at. There have been some acurate causes listed on this thread already, and there are more wear items that can give you the symptoms you are experiencing. Before you check the toe in, find out what all is worn, because ball joints, and TREs can all cause the toe in to deviate. Worn bushings mimic the same thing.

[NAILER341]

Who's lift are you running?
Bring it with you to pizza tomorrow.
Erik

[aw12345]

When a vehicle is squirely or all over the road check everything for play front and rear. Start repairing the stuff with the most play first and do not stop till everything is tight again. For steering components have somebody turn the steering wheel back and forth while you watch all joints replace anything that appears to be moving. Also pay attention to the front and rear trackbars any play there will make the Jeep feel very loose also

[inVERt'D]

Yeah, don't screw around with that stuff...once a Jeep starts getting all squirmy and jiggly it's only a matter of time before it rolls over so you can scratch its belly.

[Lumpy Grits]

OH-NUTS, and here I was thinking you found my first wife.........
My bad,
LG

[chilidipper]

It is a Fabtech lift. Missed the pizza gig.
My friend owns that autoshop behind gas station on Woodruff. Threw it up on rack and started checking out joints and everything. No loose bolts, but all joints are very worn out. I do not like to the lightweight tierod system that came on it and have decided to replace that first since I was going to replace joints. Got a deal on a Currie

[chilidipper]

I should have mentioned that all most of the bushings are are loose and sloppy. Time to replace em

[aw12345]

If the control arms mostly have bushings and they are shot now is a goodtime to start thinking about Johnny joints or heim joints of some sorts if you wheel quite a bit

[Geebo]

x2 on what Art say,s I just changed my control arms went with Currie with johnny- joints what a difference..

[inVERt'D]

Yeah, i have the old-style Teraflex uppers and lowers on my rig, and they flex great (infinite flex), but the bushings wear out too often for my tastes. When they wear out, the Jeep feels loose and sloppy and can be something of a white knuckle ride, 'specially when it's going tires up. That's why I was asking about your joints. Ridden that horse a few times.

[6spdYJ]

Not sure if it helps, but I've seen that TJ's frames tend to crack arond the steering box. Just something else to look at.