How much movement?

[bradleyfutter]

How much movement in the ball joint between the drag link and pitarm bar is acceptable? And also down the other end of the drag link?

I spoke to some one who said there shouldnt be any moment? but that seems damn near impossible considering the the draglink bar rotates as the pitarm bar turns? or should it be tight as with zero movement?

[Will2003tj]

hey brad,

its will who sold you the steps.

Im wondering if youve solved this yet?

i think its definantly worth replacing the ball joint some how, yours did look like it had a fair amount of moment. if the wheels hit a bump theres nothing to control them, allowing them to move a tiny bit which is enough to create a shimmy or wobble. They are designed not to have any movement like that but are free to rotate, thats just the way they are designed. I just checked under my jeep and there was no play like there was in yours.

i read your other post and i dont really think castor is going to be an issue here. That would not always create a vibration but it would mean your steering wheel would be off centre when driving straight. I have 2.5" lift and whilst my castor angle is out, it doesnt give me any vibrations but my steering wheel is slightly off centre. I will fix it eventually though.

Have you put on the steps yet? you can keep that bolt i gave you because ive lost the others anyway. Left them sitting on the jeep when i went for a drive! haha

Hope you get it sorted.

[bradleyfutter]

Hey guys,

Ive still got a bit of a bump steer, wobble problem. I was under my jeep having a bit of a look around on Saturday before i jumped on stockton beach and im a little curious about how much movement there should be in the Drag Link? I assume its called a drag link because thats what it is labeled in the picture i found :)

I found this picture on a forum somewhere a little while ago, may have even been here, i dont remember, its of an america car, so its been mirrored for australia, so it should be accurate enough for my question.

When the car is switched off and sitting square on flat ground, if i grab the drag link i can actually rotate it easily with my hand. now im sure there should be a little play in this because it is a moving part, but as to how much play there should be im unsure? i get maybe 2-3cms of play at A and B which are marked on the pic.

Thanks for your help,
Brad

104

[Steve F]

Rotational movement in a ball joint is fine and perfectly normal, as long as the joint is not loose on the ball it should be OK, although this can be hard to test by hand as one end can be good stopping you manually moving it. Get under there and get someone to move the steering wheel and listen and watch for movement at any joint. I have to do the same on the weekend as I have shocking death wobble at the moment and need it sorted before Coffs. Also check the panhard mount and make sure it's bolted tight to the frame, check the bolt where the ponahard mounts at the diff and check for movement there as well. Basically it can be pretty much anything under there and it's just a case of moving or prying on bits and seeing if there is any play.

Cheers
Steve

[bradleyfutter]

Hey Steve,

thanks for the info. ive recently replaced the ball joint at the pitarm (A on the image), and a bit before that i replace the whole panhard too. Those two parts made a massive difference, because the death wobbles i was getting before made the car completely unsafe to drive !!

I still get them, but no where near as bad. my steering dampner has a small dent in it (im guessing happened while the lift kit was fitted because its in a strange position, almost like someone hammered it from the top), so im waiting on wooders for a new part. but im not sure thats going to fix the problem. Im thinking that maybe some adjustable lower control arms might be the fix because everything seems to be pointing to caster angler. I got it measure when i put my 31"s on, and its 4 degrees, and my research tells me it should be between 7-9 degrees, meaning its almost half what it should be. only problem is this is an expensive fix, small change from 500 for parts then the cost of getting it fitted.