newbie

[moki210]

Yo to all,
CJ5 owner, keeping mostly stock. Looking to get steering under control. Can't go over 45 without death wobble, also very twitchy. Help!

 

[TDHofstetter]

Carefully, with a friend turning the wheel, examine the condition of all the tie rod ends and drag link ends. Jack up each of the front wheels and check the ball joints. While you're at it, also check the wheel bearings.

Next look carefully at all the bushings in your springs and the tubes in the spring hangers & shackle hangers. Look at the shackles themselves, too.

Then bridge the gap between your steering gear and the frame. While someone cranks the wheel hard left & right, feel for flex in the steering gear.

Look at your tires - they should all be matched by brand and model. At the very least, they should all have the same number of plies in the tread and sidewall, and those plies should all be the same material (steel and polyester plies are NOT a good match). Check the tire pressure - it should be the same all the way around. If you lower the pressure to about 28psi, the Jeep won't be quite as twitchy but the tires will wear faster and your response on cornering will suffer.

 

[moki210]

Steering components look good I still need to check the shackle bushings and spring bushings. Would an addco steering stabilizer help. Was a stabilizer standard on a 73 CJ5 with AMC 304 engine? Thanks Shep

 

[IOPort51]

Add to the list, wheel bearings. What size tires are you running? Have you driven it with out the plow??

 

[TDHofstetter]

Would an addco steering stabilizer help. Was a stabilizer standard on a 73 CJ5 with AMC 304 engine? Thanks Shep

I don't think it was standard, but it was a common aftermarket add-on.

 

[Old Dog]

Do a search, we have covered stablizers here before.

 

[moki210]

It dosn't drive much better with the plow off. The tires are 15-70-235 and look new. I have them aired down to 32, max is 35 on this tire. The problem is how twitchy it is, on smooth road you can go 55 but it wanders a little. On bumpy roads it is all over the place, you have to drive very easy on the steering wheel. I am going to go over all the items you guys have mentioned this weekend. I will let you know what I find, and maybe get some pics up. Thanks Shep That looks like me on bumpy roads.

 

[IOPort51]

Have you had the alignment checked? There may be a reason you have almost new tires.
I am guessing you have not been together very long?

 

[moki210]

Heres where I am right now, lowered tire pressure to 26 lbs, drives much better. Took it to a four wheeler shop that does a lot of jeep stuff and he checked the entire front end, no parts are loose or worn at all except the steering box, it has a slightly loose center. Can someone tell me if I can adjust the steering box with the screw on the top? Or is there a rebuild kit to take some of the slop out? Thanks Shep

 

[TDHofstetter]

Here ya go - scroll to the bottom of the topic:

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f19/troubleshooting-correcting-your-steering-4106/