steering, shackles, lift HELP

[jerseyben]

I am trying to make sense of my steering, shackles, and lift situation to make it halfway driveable. Currently my set up is as follows:

72-75-frame with Dana 30 front/Dana 44 rear. Rough Country 2.5" lift kit with 2.5" shackles. Manual steering. 35" tires. Body lifted 3" with frame extensions welded to frame (so it is permanent).

The thing is very hard to control on road. Death wobble is an issue around 40mph and is bad past 50mph. Bumpsteer is my worst enemy. Every little bump/dip throws the Jeep all over the road and is very difficult to correct even with "whiteknuckling" the wheel.

When braking from 40mph, the whole front end wobbles very very badly. The steering is loose and has a lot of play. Bumps are very rough and are violently felt throughout entire truck. I checked my front end and the steering components all checked out fine as well as the brakes.

I do want to continue to run my 35" tires. I know the Rough Country springs are an issue. I know the 2.5" shackles are an issue. I know the wheels need to be balanced but would unbalanced wheels cause this bad of a problem?

Will switching to softer 4" lift springs and ditch the lift shackles help? I know OME doesnt make springs for my year frame...

Any suggestions are appreciated. Please feel free to recommend brands/part numbers, etc.

Thank you.

 

[mylittlecj5]

First off, get us a pic of the front end, including the steering parts.
Have you checked your bushings and tie rod ends for wear?
YOur biggest problem is the looseness and play in the front end. Until you correct that, nothing else will be right.

 

[Old Dog]

^^^what he said^^^
when you say 2 1/2 inch shackels, do you mean they are 8" long or are they 5 1/2 inch long? (center of bolt to center of bolt)

 

[jerseyben]

Guys, I know the Jeep is screwed up which is why Im trying to fix it and make things right. Please dont flame me for this - I didnt build it...

Member's Galleries - Jeep-CJ Gallery
Lots of pics of the steering and suspension I just took.

Measured the shackles center of bolt to center of bolt and they are 5 1/2 inches long.

After closer inspection, the shackles/spring eyes actually look like there are no bushings in there at all. is this even possible? The bushings for the shock mounts are dry rotted.

 

[Old Dog]

If your shackle bushings are missing or just pounded out to the point of looking like they are not there, thats a lot (a real lot) of the problem. You need to replace all the bushings.
By the way the shackles would be 1 1/4" lift, You only get half of the extra lenght as lift.

 

[73CJ]

I ran a Trial master 4" rock hard. Cracked the frame by the spring mounts at 3 corners. OME make YJ springs that actually let the axle go up and down now. I later found out the TM spring rate was 550lb/in. OME are around 230lb/in. The shocks were fine cause they never moved up or down. They did lose the gas charge but TM wouldn't warranty them for gas loss on their "lifetime warranty". Great company to stay away from.

YJ springs are 2-1/2" wide vs. 1.75" stock. Width adds some stability as well.

I run sway bars front and rear on the road.

Sounds like you might have bad spring bushings or warped drums when you hit the brakes. Badly balanced tires will be shaking all the time at speed.

Time for a though R&R of the front end.

 

[jerseyben]

My plan is to start by replacing all my shackle and spring eye bushings. Will any shackle bushings work or are there different sizes I should be aware of? I have Rough Country Springs.

If I wanted to replace my shackles with something more sensible at the same time, what is the biggest size shackles I could run with little to no negative effect on handling?
Maybe something like this:
Daystar KJ61001BK - Daystar Greasable 1/2" Lift Shackle Pair in Black for 46-75 Jeep® CJ - Quadratec ??

Currently I have 2.5" Shackles with 2.5" Springs. I dont want to reduce my height only to run into a new set of problems. Anything I should be worried about if dropping it down the 2.5"?

 

[54cj3b]

unbalanced wheels play a big roll
sure you have other issues but this one will enhance them the most ,
since you know your wheels are unbalanced correct that first than you can tackle the other issues ,correcting 1 issue you know plays a major roll will help you track the other issues a little easier and faster.

 

[jerseyben]

Ok, its a bit of a conundrum because I KNOW I am replacing my wheels but that is an aesthetic upgrade which I am putting a low priority on. I guess I could get away with just balancing the front wheels to see if that helps and go from there. Thanks for the advice.

 

[73CJ]

If you've got 2.5" wide (not counting the bushing) springs, somebody's replaced them already. 72-75 were 1.75" wide.

The problem with the shackles you have the link to will be too narrow.

Measure the diameter of the eye in the spring and actual width of the spring. The give Daystar or Prothane a call.

As far as dropping it down, the steering shaft may have been lengthened. Check to see if they lengthened the drive shafts. Or maybe they are running on the end of the splines?

The brake hoses maybe be too long as well.

As far as bump steer - That is not a problem with tie rod and drag link on the 72-75s. On the earlier ones -yes.

Balancing would be a good start and not to costly.

Have someone crank the steering wheel back and forth and see what moves. The front frame rails like to crack by the steering box. Put your hand on each tie rod end and check for movement. Ball joints are another possibility.

Let us know what you find.

 

[CJKrawler]

If you have 2.5" springs, someone has put YJ springs in there, which is a good thing, helps with stability.

 

[jerseyben]

Took it to a shop and had them just balance all 4 wheels. 2 were really bad and 2 were decent. I had them put the 2 best wheels up front and on the drive home I noticed my "death wobble" was almost gone.

While they had it on the rack, I had them shake down the front. All the steering components on the axle seemed solid (tie rods, ball joints, etc). The play is all in the shaft/steering box. I do not know how to tell if the shaft or the box (or both) is the problem though.