ride quality

[my86mj]

So i can't figure it out. i know its a pickup and everything but my truck just rides like hell. when i got it factory with the exception of rancho shocks it rode okay but after i blew a tire i swaped to some knobby 31s then the ride started going to hell. at first thought it was unevenly worn tires (got em used) and got em balanced and to no resolution. then found that one of my wheel joints decided to not be a wheel joint anymore and at slow speeds would knock at highspeed throw itself to one side and imitate a misbalanced tire. fixed that still bad ride. turns out my back right wheel was out of round and through a lot of swearing got new wheels new bridgestone A/Ts and still the steering wheel vibrates and the entire truck kind of vibrates as i go down the road. I'm out of ideas. can anybody help?

[MJRemi]

Two inexpensive possibles are alignment and/or wheel balance. Take it to a tire shop and check those before replacing more parts.

[mnkyboy]

Make sure all your u joints are good,a bad u joint or out of balance drive shaft would make it vibrate like that.

[skidoo_j]

I went through the same thing you've done. bought a set of used tires had issues with one, They "balanced it". and swore the rest were good. still had the issue so i started replacing parts. l replaced all steering joints, ball joints, u-joints, motor mount, trans mount. each was replaced and i'd still have the issue. then i replaced the trac bar. still issues. Keep in mind that between each change in part I would do an alignment, and if my issue happened i would have them check the balance assuming i threw a weight.

 

Turns out they only do a centripetal balance. With bigger off road tires ones they've been beat a few times they need "road force" it's a type of balance that causes them to be out of round when the tire spins on the machine and it measure the force required to keep the arm at a distance from the wheel. it will also determine if your tire is out of round, separating (internally) and if your wheel is bent too. They wanted 20 per tire to test it so I yelled and got them to test one for free and it was double what was consider defective and only got worse as they re-rimed and turned the tire several times. But because i was honest and told them I didn't buy the tires new they wouldn't replace or help. So rather than testing the remaining 3 i swapped wheels/tires w/ a friend. Oh i also tried doing dynamic balancing with air soft bb's some where in my trials, it reduced my issue but was still there.

 

I suggest swapping tires/wheels with someone for an hour of so and see if it keeps happening. It was the last thing i did and my problem went away. and i bought new tires... At best it will cost you a few beers while you and a friend swap tires. Run their good tires on your rig... This way you'll see if the problem is something else, also if the tires are a different size then your current tire/wheel combo run yours on his to see if the problem shows even the slightest. If their tires are smaller or offset is different the torque on the hubs and bearings would be different so you need to eliminate all possibles.

[ParadiseMJ]

So i can't figure it out. i know its a pickup and everything but my truck just rides like hell. when i got it factory with the exception of rancho shocks it rode okay but after i blew a tire i swaped to some knobby 31s then the ride started going to hell. at first thought it was unevenly worn tires (got em used) and got em balanced and to no resolution. then found that one of my wheel joints decided to not be a wheel joint anymore and at slow speeds would knock at highspeed throw itself to one side and imitate a misbalanced tire. fixed that still bad ride. turns out my back right wheel was out of round and through a lot of swearing got new wheels new bridgestone A/Ts and still the steering wheel vibrates and the entire truck kind of vibrates as i go down the road. I'm out of ideas. can anybody help?

 

When you say "the ride", is it just a wiggle or is it also a bumpety thumpety, or is it a wiggeldy wobbledy bumpety thumpety.

 

Bigger tires and lift?? Ever change bushings? control arms? TRE's? I've done all kinds of things that have changed the ride on my XJ and now I'm working on the MJ. The XJ rides nice and smooth with a bit of clunk over bumps but no wobble or wiggle. It is tight, and I definitely had to replace several parts.

The MJ is still a little rough and has a tire/wheel issue (they're old, I'm broke) but just tightening up and replacing the suspension components and going thru (not necessarily replacing) everything it's coming along nicely..

[my86mj]

ive got a new set of wheels and tires on it and so far just about all the U joints are done except the driveshaft thats next. I'm still running factory suspension until the end of the week when i put my 2 inch warrior shackles 3 inch mystery coils and rough country shocks on. then i will start sorting through everything and cursing the day i was born

[HOrnbrod]

I'm still running factory suspension until the end of the week when i put my 2 inch warrior shackles 3 inch mystery coils and rough country shocks on. then i will start sorting through everything and cursing the day i was born

 

Suggest you heed the possible solutions you have been given to correct your current "ride" problems and delay your longer shackles and mystery(?) coils plan until it's fixed. Then maybe you will not have to resort to "cursing the day i was born".