Here are my symptoms:
-uneven front tire wear (severe)
-VERY loud front tires
-shaking at high speeds

What are some things I can do to check each of these components to see if they are bad?

I am mechanically challenged and I am not the best at knowing the components of cars so please help me identify this problem.

Thanks!

 

You tie rods will thump up and down if they are bad. Just grab the ends of them and try pushing them up and down, they are suposed to pivot, but not move and be lose. If the track bar bushings are worn it will move like the tie rods where the bushings are. You should be able to tell if the trac bar is bent just by looking at it.

 

Do you have a lift? how are your tires worn? too much toe in or toe out?

Go thru and check your ball joints, TRE's, track bar bushings, control arms bushings, and will probably need to rotate and balance your tires.

 

you can check everything mentioned above by yourself, but if you're not sure about your evaluation, just run it by a front end alignment shop and they should be nice enough to take a look at it for you and tell you what is wrong with it.

but i'll bet your toe in is off. that could be from a bent drag link or tie rod end.

your track bar only centers your axle under your jeep. and a loose/bad one will likely give you some death wobble or knocking when turning.

 

QUOTE=chiefcherokee;720143]Here are my symptoms:
-uneven front tire wear (severe)
-VERY loud front tires
-shaking at high speeds

What are some things I can do to check each of these components to see if they are bad?

I am mechanically challenged and I am not the best at knowing the components of cars so please help me identify this problem.

Thanks!
[/QUOTE]

 

I had some awful tire wear until I replaced all 4 ball joints. Truck drove insanely better after the install. The tires had a severe "feather" to them, and after some miles has all gone away.

 

i had same thing also look at tires and make sure there balanced
that is what mad me shake at 70mph

 

This should help diagnose your tire wear. I'm guessing toe adjustment and/or balancing might fix this.

 

Well I checked my track bar and tie rod. Track bar seemed fine, but when I grabbed my tie rod straight on and did a curling movement with my wrists it wiggled around. Is this normal? I'm assuming not.

Last time I was at the tire shop (Walmart) the dude showed me when he had the Jeep jacked up how the front tires wobble.

Would this be track bar or tie rod?

I will inspect the tires later tonight and give my best explanation of the wear.

Thanks for the help! Hopefully this will get correctly diagnosed soon with the help of y'all!

 

If the whole wheel moved in and out, trackbar. If they turned small amounts with little resistance (wiggled easily) it could be a tierod end on your tierod or draglink. If the top and bottom of the tire moved alternatively its the ball joints.

 

BEAUTIFUL pic here! I'm really glad you posted this, I've been looking for a nice, clean pic and breakdown of the front end of our Jeeps.

Being able to grab a picture and point at a piece and say "here, THIS is what I'm talking about!!" is just plain awesome!

 

word!

 

I'll bet he picked it up from one of my posts. It's a great pic.

 

Its fine if the tie rod wiggles around the pivot point. But if its lose, you will be able to feel it move UP and DOWN, not turning on the ball its positioned on. Jack up your jeep and try pulling on the bottom of the tire, and pushing on the top of the tire. Alternate back and forth. If there is any play in the wheel, as in it moving back and forth, ball joints are prolly bad. If you can stick your hands on the sides of the tires and move them back and forth, your tie rod could be bent or need replaced. Remember if both tires are off the ground, it will move freely to the left and the right...

Also, check your swaybar bushings, and swaybar endlinks. A good way of testing to see if either your sway bar endlinks/ bushings, or your ball joints, run over some speed bumps at about 15. If you hear some thunking/clunking, either your endlinks, bushings, or ball joints are possibly bad.

 

I picked it up from someone, I dont recall off hand but I give them my thanks for it.