Given the 308000KM on the clock, which is commendable and "never been replaced" comment, and i assume you bought the vehicle new, then it's a wonder you haven't had DW... altho i suspect u bought the vehicle 2nd hand and so the original owner did.
I have had 2 deal with DW in my 07 JKU 3.8L. Yes there are lots of experts, but this is what I did. Important to treat DW as a "whole of system" problem and not just 1 component. Have not had DW for years since.
I replaced the top and bottom front ball joints to better quality ones that could be greased. This was singularly the most important change. To check wear, with vehicle on a jack get a long handle shovel and put under tyre which is barely off the ground, get down on your knees, press down on shovel handle and see if there is movement in the ball joint... likely is. Both sides. But why bother to do this...if they are OE ball joints they will be stuffed for sure.
I also replaced the Pitman arm, Tie Rod, sway bar, steering links, upper and lower control arms, and put a better steering dampener on. The OE steering dampener is good but if OE will be stuffed for sure. And you might as well change it while u r doing the rest of it...
Make sure you ALSO replace all the bolts and nuts. Check that there is no wallowing out of bolt holes. Bolt shanks will be worn for sure, reducing the possibility of a tight fit... any looseness will predispose to DW. From memory, some of the bolts on the tie rod, sway bar etc are too small for the OE holes, so may need to put in wider bolts to ensure they fill the bolt holes. Any gaps will lead to DW.
While u r at it, put better quality front sway bar links: the OE ones r piss weak (JKS quick release is what I have fitted). Never had a problem with OE rear sway bar links.
Now, you could just change all the bushes in these components (Nolathane rather than rubber...yes here we go...), but the cost to do this would work out not much less than fitting upmarket components that come with already fitted bushes.
If you have a lift in excess of 2inches, DW much more likely to occur. I put HD Lovells springs front and rear on my JKU to give 2 inch lift. These are the same length as OE but heavier gauge steel to give the lift. These springs were supported by Jeep as solution to problem. It wasn't entirely since other contributing factors but Jeep seemed 2 believe that lift heights >2 ins was main culprit. Once u go over 2" lift height at front, DW all but certain. Did have a tiny bit of DW when first fitting the Lovell front springs but none now since the springs have probably settled down a bit and lowered the height slightly.
Last edited by humdingerslammer; 30-11-2023 at 07:45 AM.
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