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Axel wandering advice

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Dokkenj 
#1 ·
I have three questions:

1. I have 5.38 gears in Rubicon 44s and constantly spit gear oil out of the breather tube, do the breather valves go bad or is this something I have to live with?

2. Just had my ball joints replaced and front tires rotated to the rear and now the Jeep wanders all over. The shop says everything was in spec for the alignment even though they provide numbers. It seems likely to me that the badly worn tires are the cause, just looking for confirmation. Id like to have all of this figured out before I drop like $2000 on a new set of tires.

3. I'm thinking about new control arms. I have a 2 1/2 lift and won't be going any taller since I have plenty of room for my 35s and don't have the money for new axels, and more power to run 37s. Would the terraflex non adjustable control arms be good or should I spend the extra money and get adjustable arms. My main concern is caster, I put a lot of highway miles on my Jeep and just light trails in the PNW no reason for crazy flex.
 
#2 ·
1.if you are spitting oil the axles are overfilled.
2.Several things can cause wandering, air pressure, your tires, geometry, gas charged steering stabilizers, bad ball joints, bad unit bearings, loose steering links, bad steering box.
3. get adjustable arms, you say your jeep is in spec so I don't even see the need for after market control arms
 
#3 ·
1. I have never had this problem, that I know of. My guess is somehow the differentials got over filled. It should have fluid to the bottom of the fill hole. Anything more is overfilled.
2. If the tires are worn badly enough to change tracking, but not bad enough that they need replacement anyways, just change them back. There are a thousand reasons wh6 this could be happening...okay maybe not a thousand but a few.
3. Why do you want new control arms? If you aren’t doing some rock crawling, or another reason for flex, I would probably just stick with the stock control arms. If it is solely caster adjustment, then maybe you should get adjustable control arms.
 
#4 ·
I've heard that *5 if caster is best, but *3.5 is acceptable. I'm not sure how much difference it makes, but Id like to have the best handling I can get. I'm not looking for a Cadillac, I just don't want to fight the steering anymore. I'm pretty sure the diff covers are aftermarket and hold more lube. I put two quarts in and wasn't to the fill hole, but that was how I ran it and didn't seem to have any issues. I had it in the shop and they added fluid and now it's back to fluid coming out of breather tube
 
#5 ·
What ball joints did you put in? Some are extremely stiff out of the box and you have to drive a few hundred miles to break them in. Synergy are especially known for that but a number of joints in that price class can do this. Mine were so stiff it was almost undriveable, had zero return to center even at speed, and required a few minutes with a dead-blow hammer just to cycle a knuckle. Within a few hundred miles it was fine again but it driving it on the freeway would have been near suicidal.

OEM joints don't do that and when I later replaced with Rare Parts joints they were also fine (since the Synergy joints don't actually hold up).
 
#7 ·
Your axles are over filled. Front takes 1.35 qts, rear about 2.4.
 
#10 ·
OP : I cannot back @JKommuter statement more nor can I recommend anything stronger than what he mentions at end of his post; lots of folks find out the hard way that if you do not grease the Synergy ball joints, they can have a tendency to wear much faster than you will like. At a minimum, regardless of street or trail use, you should purge old out & refill them with fresh grease ( not the type as much as the need for a fresh purge ,but ,fwiw,Synergy recommends theirs) four times annually. If you don’t, you’ll be replacing them again way too soon. If you do that, the stiffness will not be prevelant as when new.

Also, either getvbreather tube extensions or let some gearoil out, as mentioned.

:jeep2:
 
#11 ·
Got a new front tracbar, seems a lot better. Still a little shimmy, but I have 7inch wide wheels with 35 1250 tires and the tires are pretty old. I was hoping to get new wheels and tires, but getting the clutch and a few other things are a priority. I get the Jeep back from the shop in a few days and once I pay the credit card off, I have to get the wireless control module replaced
 
#12 ·
So I replaced the steering box, added the synergy trackbar and sector shaft brace, lowered the front control arms and got new tires. Each one made an improvement. Last piece will be replacing the drag link again and alignment. Overall I'm very happy with how the Jeep drives now
 
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