alltrac2jeep

I'm have a problem with my drag link. I replaced almost all my front end (except for control arms) due to the death wobble. I bought a Moog DS1238 for the drag link, but over time I started hearing a clunk from the front end. Come to find out, the drag link was loose in the steering knuckle. I thought that perhaps the drag link was bad. When I went to replace it, it just slid through and didn't tighten. I thought that perhaps my steering knuckle was bad so I drilled it out and put an insert into it (Teraflex 990175 tapered insert). Still had the same problem with the drag link. Called Teraflex and they said that the Moog drag link didn't have the right size on the bolt going into the steering knuckle. I pick up a drag link from NAPA and sure enough, the bolt was bigger in diameter. I put it on, but it still went in too far through the insert. I'm not sure what my problem is. Anyone out there have any thoughts? Thanks

gat

Isn't the bolt supposed to completely go thru the knuckle? I think that the only chance issue would be a pressed fitment into the cylinder of the knuckle. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. A photograph of to might help me to understand.

Dave51

Yeah I'm totally baffled too but that's nothing new.

What year is the XJ?

If Teraflex 990175 has a 0.75 inch opening how could a Moog DS1238 at 22 mm be sloppy? What is the part # of NAPA product? That should be the same diameter as the Moog DS1238. By longer you mean the cotter pin hole is too high up? Would washers or a taller castle nut work?

Is the Moog DS1238 really a DS1238? Could it be a DS1046?

alltrac2jeep

Thanks for the interest, I'm baffled too. The bolt goes all the way through, but it should tighten on the taper. The taper on the MOOG was smaller and so it would pull through when you torqued it. I'm pretty sure the MOOG DS1238 was the MOOG DS1238. I never looked for markings on it, but I it got two from amazon (the second one I sent back). If I remember right, the diameter of the Moog at the top of the taper was less than .500 and the NAPA one was over .500 (I don't have the part number for the NAPA). I did put washers on top of the steering knuckle where the bolt came through, but when I torqued it the bottom (tie rod end) is pretty much touching the steering knuckle. Thanks again for your help. I'll try and take a picture later on today.

PatHenry

Your problem is that you got the wrong tapered insert.

The DS1238 is on the passenger side, which according to Teraflex requires 990113.

I don't know if the fact that this is for their "high steer" system, or that it only lists TJ's is going to be a problem, but the insert you listed is definitely listed as for the driver's side.

alltrac2jeep

Interesting about the insert. I actually called them and they said I got the right part, but now I don't remember if I specified it being the passenger side. I'll have to drill a bigger hole and that might have to wait till it warms up a bit. I'm curious why the insert that requires a bigger hole would have a smaller inside taper. Does anyone know the specs of the drag link tie rod bolt taper? Thanks for your help.

Dave51

Great comment Pat! But does that mean he needs to drill a 0.875 inch hole? If Teraflex 990175 has a 0.75 inch hole and it fit into the existing hole it would seem so. However that would seem to imply that somebody already drilled the knuckle out before. I have look of surprise that Moog DS1238 would not be a straight swap. Although it's bigger than stock (mine is 20 mm) it would seem that they would have mentioned that.

PatHenry

I have no idea on the drilling.

I put a Moog DS1238 on my 95 less than 6 months ago. It went right into the knuckle and tightened to spec without incident.

I did have spinning in the knuckle on the driver's side, so between that and the brake pad slider grooves, I replaced both knuckles. The tie rods sit nice and snug on both side now and were easily torqued to spec with no incident or extra parts.

Dave51

Or consider getting another steering knuckle.

PatHenry

New knuckles are nice. My beat up 95 XJ drives smoother on the highway than my meticulously maintained 2010 corolla now.

gat

I was thinking about a new knuckle before there was a bandwagon for me to jump on.

alltrac2jeep

I wondered about getting a new knuckle(s). So I probably shouldn't go to the junk yard and pull some off a poor Jeep rusting to death? Does it matter where I get them new (Amazon)? Thanks again.

PatHenry

I just got them off Amazon I think. About $90-ish for each. I usually check RockAuto and Amazon and do a price/shipping comparison. RockAuto seems to ship a heck of a lot faster than Amazon does, but their shipping costs can add up if you get parts from multiple locations. What's nice is that if you get the part number from RockAuto you can search it on Amazon to do an apples-to-apples comparison. I would never put any of the kajillion cheapo no-name parts from Amazon on my Jeep. You almost certainly get what you pay for.

You certainly COULD go grab a set at the junkyard, but there's a lot of risk and possibly a lot of work to get them off - you can't use the socket trick to pop the hub out if you can't turn the Jeep on! When I did my ball joints (the first time I took the knuckles off my New England rusty Jeep with 300k on the body) I spent more time bashing the knuckles off the ball joints than anything else. Then once you have the JY ones off you may find that the tie-rod tapers are wallowed out. Beyond the hard-to-determine risk, it may be hard to find one or both without the very common brake pad grooves.