Anybody with aftermarket lift taken their Renny off road and have problems?

I got a 1.5" Daystar lift with 225/65/17 KO2s. I went out on this Jeep trail I read about in a Wrangler forum by where I live. It was rocky and slow going for the most part but I did not push the limits of my Trailhawk by any stretch. The trail was approximately 8 miles. I kept it in 4x4 auto for most of the trip. I put it in Low 4x4 Rock mode once. Anyway I was driving home and everything was fine. I stopped for a bite to eat and when I restarted my vehicle my steering wheel was way out of alignment. My steering wheel was turning about a 1/8 turn to the right and my vehicle was heading straight down the road, then the ESC light flickered on and off until I started getting all of these warnings on my dash.
"Dynamic Steering Torque Service Required"
"Service ESC System"
"Service Tire Pressure System"
"Service Hill Start Assist"
The service Tire pressure system actually has been coming on ever since I put the KO2s on. Had it serviced once, worked for a couple days and then it started warning again.
I'm wondering if my "upgrades" are leading to these problems?

 

At the dealership now, my alignment is knocked out of whack. Trail 1 Renegade 0. And apparently off roading isn't covered by the warranty.

 

Just found out that my front right bottom ball joint lost a bolt. They think it probably got sheared off on the trail. Gonna cost me $218. Guess I just have to be more careful and have better luck?

 

That sucks. I have the TeraFlex lift, & am only waited nag to install till I find tires/rims that I want to add w/ the lift. Sucks that a little off-roading caused this & isn’t covered. What’s the Trail Rated badge for then???

 

Yeah I'm pretty bummed. I go out on a fairly benign trip and it leads to $200+ in damage. I'm chalking it up to divine intervention. I can't imagine that my Renegade is this feeble that it breaks once after rolling over a rock. I've had my 2wd Pathfinder out on trails a heck of a lot more technical and treacherous than the one that I was on and didn't have any issues. I'm just thankful the bolt didn't actually fall out until I got back home as I was cruising down the interstate with my whole family in the vehicle. I shutter to imagine what would have happened had the bolt come out going 70+mph.
Overall it was a decent trip. I fit all 3 car seats in the back seat and everyone enjoyed the trail, even my wife ;<)

 

Something doesn’t add up. There’s absolutely no way that you taking it on a trail made that bolt come out.

 

I would tend to agree but, it was driving fine, went on trail, driving bad bolt not there. What else could have caused it? They think I might have had a rock or something stuck in the inner wheel as it looks like something was wearing inside there. I was told the plate that bolts into the lower control arm was bent and need to be pounded flat again. I have no clue what went wrong.

 

Is it just gone, as in it came loose, or is it sheared off?

 

Don't know for sure because bolt was gone. But there is evidence that it got sheared off because of all the scrape marks on bottom of the plate. I think the actual bolt stayed in until i got home as I drove down the interstate in a straight line and steering felt tight. I dont think the bolt came out until I cranked the steering wheel to do a u turn. That's when all the warning lights started going off.

 

Then something is def not right. If it was actually just gone, that means it vibrated or whatever itself out. Bolts shouldn’t just come loose. Right?

But the scrape marks maybe a rock got stuck in there while you were driving.

Idk. I’m not a mechanic or anything. But it just seems super odd that your little trip on a light trail would do that. But I’d love to know what comes of this, because I will use my jeep on light trails and I purchased the extended warranty.

 

The bolt that was missing was one of the 3 that connects the lower ball joint to the control arm. The nut that screws on is underneath. The nut was sheared off and the bolt shaft vibrated up until it popped out. I think that's why my steering was fine until I whipped a U-turn and that force caused the final bit of the bolt to pop out. Ended up costing me $255 for diagnostic, parts, labor, and alignment. Below is a picture that shows how it fits. The picture on the lower left is the ball joint. The larger picture is the whole picture of the ball joint as it fits into the control arm with the ball joint being at the bottom right of the larger picture.

It's a good idea to purchase the extended warranty, which I didn't. I didn't want the $40+ extra/month payment. I think this would have been covered. But then again I've been paying on my Jeep for about 2 years and $255 really isn't that bad for repairs.

 

Ok. That description help me picture what happened better.

The price of the warranty is hard to swallow. But it’ll be worth it IF something major happens down the road.