I dont know...lol..running in gear on jackstands?..Id probably end up going through a wall...lol
Intermittent steering wheel shake
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Thank you for including the picture, I forgot which one was the drag link. I will have to try again as I don't recall trying to rotate it, I do remember that I could not detect any movement when I tried to move it perpendicular to the length in two axis nor along its length.
It is going into my mechanic next Wednesday to have the tranny filter changed and fluid flushed. I will ask if they can look for any slop in the front end.
The track bar is still the stock one and by my best guess the bushing has not been replaced. I have been considering an adjustable track bar and might start with that if my mechanic doesn't find anything.
I just got back from the mechanic's shop. It was in for a tranny fluid flush and filter change, I just didn't have the time and had put it off too long. Anyway, he looked at the shake and thinks it might be the original track bar. So, I ordered a JKS adjustable track bar for 1-3" lift. I will report back once I have installed it and determine if it worked.
Another method that i use, is pull one front tire up on a ramp, and turn the steering, just a little, back and forth while running. The front of the Jeep should stay fairly still, but if it looks like it's climbing opposite where you turn the wheel (ramp under drivers front, turn wheel to right, drivers side gets higher), it is probably the trackbar. Sometimes you wont see movement with the dry test, but will under a load.
UPDATES & QUESTION
Three things happened close together, so, even though I took it for a test ride, that first test ride was rather short and I am not sure that I can rely on the analysis. First, I installed the new front JKS track bar. It rode nice on that short 45-50 mph test ride. Then I mounted a new, matching spare tire and swapped it with the right rear tire which I suspect may be out of round... and things got much worse. Finally, I swapped the two right tires (new and old) front to back. Now it rides much better most of the time but the shake comes back at time although not as often. However, I now have a bounce starting at 60 mph that gets worse as speed increases.
Currently the two left tires have been there for 5000 miles. The new tire is on the front right position and the old front right is in the rear. Old right rear is the spare. Next, I plan to swap the spare with the right rear and test that. Then maybe move to the left tires.
Now the question. I recently had the gears changed. As part of this the shop said that they would change the bearings. Would this include the front wheel bearings? If not, I am starting to suspect that this might be the problem and I am just not seeing the movement when I look for play/looseness.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Three things happened close together, so, even though I took it for a test ride, that first test ride was rather short and I am not sure that I can rely on the analysis. First, I installed the new front JKS track bar. It rode nice on that short 45-50 mph test ride. Then I mounted a new, matching spare tire and swapped it with the right rear tire which I suspect may be out of round... and things got much worse. Finally, I swapped the two right tires (new and old) front to back. Now it rides much better most of the time but the shake comes back at time although not as often. However, I now have a bounce starting at 60 mph that gets worse as speed increases.
Currently the two left tires have been there for 5000 miles. The new tire is on the front right position and the old front right is in the rear. Old right rear is the spare. Next, I plan to swap the spare with the right rear and test that. Then maybe move to the left tires.
Now the question. I recently had the gears changed. As part of this the shop said that they would change the bearings. Would this include the front wheel bearings? If not, I am starting to suspect that this might be the problem and I am just not seeing the movement when I look for play/looseness.
Thank you for your thoughts.
I remembered that the last time on the trail I had heard some clunking from the front left. Stuck my head out the window while going 45 today and noticed the front left wheel shaking about as bad as the steering wheel. This was true whether they were both shaking a lot or a little. I could not find anything loose around there, control arms, brake rotor, bearings, etc., but swapped the spare with the front right tire. Let's see if that makes any difference.
On the bearings... In the rear it would be plausible for them to replace the axle bearings when doing a gearchange, they're fairly inexpensive. The front unit bearings area lot more $$ so unless they suspected they were bad I doubt they would have replaced them.
If all your steering components are good and tight if your steering wheel is shaking your front tires will be too, in unison.
Bearings can be "bad" and not "feel" loose.
So, you think it is possible that the front left unit bearing might be bad? Would this also explain the clunking that I heard on the trail while going over two or three short, quick, closely spaced bumps? And how expensive are the Unit bearings with installation?
It's possible, but if it were bad enough to "clunk" I would think you should be able to see noticeable movement in the bearing with just a simple shake down. If there's movement of the wheel and tire assembly and no movement of the knuckle then it's definitely shot. That is not to say that the unit bearing is good if there's no noticeable "play".
If the bearing surfaces (ball type IIRC) are starting to pit then you may notice a growling or a vibration at speeds without easily noticeable movement while doing a shakedown. The best way to check for bearing pitting would be to remove the bearing all together and spin it by hand to see if it still runs smooth or is chunky feeling. It's a lot of work going that route though.
In the absence of finding anything obviously worn, bent, or otherwise not the way it should be. a bearing that is "starting to go out" will get worse exponentially the more it wears. There's no real danger letting it progress until it's more easily diagnosed, it wont cause catastrophic failure until long after it's obvious.
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