[Newbie] Steering Component Replacement - My First Project

[Snook55]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice from the community on doing my first at home project on my truck. I want to make sure I'm not missing anything with respect to parts, safety tools, etc.

About the truck:

• 2020 Rubicon
• ~48k miles
• 3.5" Rubicon Express lift kit
• Stock steering stabilizer
• Stock drag link
• Stock tie rod
• Clayton 3.5" HD Triple Rate Rear Coil Springs
• Teraflex rear trackbar
• 2 week old 37" Falken Wildpeak R/T
  • These were a change from 35" Nitto Exo Grapplers

How we use it:

• The Jeep is off road on forest roads 4-6 days per week (for dog walks and hiking trail access)
• More serious off roading 2-5x per month
• Overlanding 1-2x per month
• Towing a 19' airstream flying cloud 1-2x per month for camping trips

Why I'm here:

I just had a shop install the Mopar Trailer Brake Controller in the truck and they charged me $385 for the install. I'm trying to avoid paying even more for the next set of upgrades/repairs I need to make.​

​

(I suspect) Due to the new larger tires, constant / daily washboard road driving and frequent longer offroad driving I was getting a lot of wobble in my steering. While installing the trailer brake controller I asked the shop to look at the steering components. The tech tightened everything to spec but said I need to replace my drag link, tie rod, and (maybe) my steering stabilizer.​

​

After I picked up the truck and took it for a test drive the tightening of all the components made a significant difference but did not fix everything. The truck still wobbles a little at ~38-46 MPH​

​

Like I said, I'm trying to avoid paying too much for the shop to do the work for me so I'm considering doing the work myself. I've watched a lot of videos of installs for these parts and its seems straightforward enough. Although I have never done any work like this before, I figure I need to start somewhere.​

​

I'm here looking for help and advice from anyone who has done this work to their own truck before to make sure I'm not missing anything. ​

​

Parts I plan to order (tell me if you disagree):

• Metal Cloak Steering System
  • https://metalcloak.com/jl-wrangler-jt-gladiator-hd-fox-steering-system-rubicon-edition.html
  • I spent 3.5 months in Moab this spring and talked with many of the rental shops and tour guides around town. Many of them ran Metal Cloak components on their Jeeps and spoke very highly of them. I also spent some time this summer with a W.E. Rock champion who strictly ran teraflex. Thats the extent of my rational here... if they use it I figure I should. I'm looking for something bombproof that will last at least another 50k miles under similar or even harsher conditions
    • [Question] What other brands, if any, should I be considering?
    • [Question] Should I consider components with hyme joints instead of bushings? I am shying away from this because I had hyme joints on my front sway bar end links and within 8k miles they were knocking like crazy.
    • [Question] Is the Fox steering stabilizer a good or bad choice?
• Ball Joint Separator:
  • https://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html
• 1/2" drive Torque Wrench
  • https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-...e-10-150-ft-lb-click-torque-wrench-63882.html

More (newbie) questions:

• I dont need to jack up the truck at all for this project, right?
• Once these new parts are installed I'm going to have the shop do an alignment. Is this the right way to be thinking about the order of the process?
• The Rubicon Express front trackbar is adjustable and solid as can be. It also has not been adjusted after the jump from my very well worn 35" tires to the new 37" tiers. The shop will adjust this during their alignment, right?

Like the title says, I'm a complete newbie so feel free to make any suggestions that you think I should know. No suggestion is too obvious.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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[ShadowsPapa]

I just had a shop install the Mopar Trailer Brake Controller in the truck and they charged me $385 for the install. I'm trying to avoid paying even more for the next set of upgrades/repairs I need to make.

That's JUST for the install, which takes maybe an hour????
or
was that controller AND install?
If install only, wow, that's double what it should be even at a dealership shop.

Remember, your big tires, big lift and other aspects drop your towing capabilities. That rating is for a stock Rubicon. any mods drop it from there. So temper what you truly need vs. what you want or think you need/want based on what you've seen others do. Some of them go crazy overboard with stuff not truly necessary for the trails and use the Jeep sees. That's truly a Jeep thing - I can do it with this, but wow, it will be so much more impressive with that instead.

I see no reason to move away from standard bushings, personally. not unless you really get into the extremes.
Those big heavy tires may be part of your wobble. Don't forget - the higher you lift and the bigger and heavier the tires, the more risk of a wobble or steering issues. you've gone way outside of the design.
If you want to check for the cause of the wobble - swap tires around, even finding another set of wheels/tires to swap on as a test if necessary. Wobble in the speeds you indicate is often tire related.
I don't know what your caster is set to currently - but that should have been taken care of with control arm relocation brackets and adjustable control arms.
As far as alignment - a stock Jeep can't be aligned without changing out parts.
All that can be changed is toe and steering wheel centering.
A modified Jeep with adjustable control arms can have caster and toe set and steering wheel centered, but can't change camber without parts such as ball joint shims, which involves some disassembly up front.

ALWAYS do alignment LAST.
Big tires need special attention to balancing, in some cases, only road force balancing can resolve issues.

 

[Snook55]

That's JUST for the install, which takes maybe an hour????
or
was that controller AND install?
If install only, wow, that's double what it should be even at a dealership shop.

Remember, your big tires, big lift and other aspects drop your towing capabilities. That rating is for a stock Rubicon. any mods drop it from there. So temper what you truly need vs. what you want or think you need/want based on what you've seen others do. Some of them go crazy overboard with stuff not truly necessary for the trails and use the Jeep sees. That's truly a Jeep thing - I can do it with this, but wow, it will be so much more impressive with that instead.

I see no reason to move away from standard bushings, personally. not unless you really get into the extremes.
Those big heavy tires may be part of your wobble. Don't forget - the higher you lift and the bigger and heavier the tires, the more risk of a wobble or steering issues. you've gone way outside of the design.
If you want to check for the cause of the wobble - swap tires around, even finding another set of wheels/tires to swap on as a test if necessary. Wobble in the speeds you indicate is often tire related.
I don't know what your caster is set to currently - but that should have been taken care of with control arm relocation brackets and adjustable control arms.
As far as alignment - a stock Jeep can't be aligned without changing out parts.
All that can be changed is toe and steering wheel centering.
A modified Jeep with adjustable control arms can have caster and toe set and steering wheel centered, but can't change camber without parts such as ball joint shims, which involves some disassembly up front.

ALWAYS do alignment LAST.
Big tires need special attention to balancing, in some cases, only road force balancing can resolve issues.

Thanks Bill!

Yes... that was just for the trailer brake controller install...

Thanks for all your other advice! I'm hoping that the metalcloak kit will be more than enough for us. Then we'll worry about proper alignment! All my existing parts you mentioned are adjustable so a proper alignment should be possible.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

I absolutely LOVE my MetalCloak components. However, I didn’t have time to wait on them to fab the their steering system when I replaced mine.

I went with synergy tie rod, drag link, and fox ats stabilizer. The stabilizer was probably overkill for my use but it drives like a dream. I don’t think you can go wrong with MC or Synergy when it comes to steering components.

 

[kevman65]

Whatever system you go with, use the stabilizer they recommend. Most manufacturers design their system around a specific stabilizer. Yes, they all do the same basic thing, but there are differences.

 

[Gizmo]

Personally I prefer to run a stock SS if I run one at all. On my slightly modded TJ with 35s and Currie steering I have run a SS about a month out of 20 years so far and I tried a few . I prefer to not have something that can cover up things I prefer to feel so I can address it before it involves replacing more parts. TJ never has had death wobble.

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