johnny joint help

[maddmike]

I recently pulled apart a 2.5" johnny joint on the frame end of my Currie track bar (2003 TJ), because it had frozen up on me for a little while, and now when I bolted it back on, the joint is not remaining in the same place if the jeep is sitting still and you turn the tires. It is moving back and forth to the left and right, a total distance of "i am concerned about this" and not "it's a jeep, don't worry about it". While driving, the jeep feels like the axle is moving around slightly underneath it...it "wiggles" a little bit at speed and over rough pavement, but no DW ensues. It looks like the joint is moving and the bolt is staying put, but these things can be deceiving with stuff moving all around when you steer.

I am about 99% sure that this joint should not move more than 1/32 or 1/64", or even at all. I am also about 99% sure that the frozen joint ruined my upper control arm bushings before I rebuilt it, and I am now worried that if I don't get this fixed ASAP I'm going to ruin another set, or something else altogether.

Can anyone enlighten me to the following:
1. I did something wrong when I re-built the joint
2. The urethane bushings are shot and the joint needs to be re-built again with new parts
3. Is it possible that the joint has movement due to the 9/16" hole getting wallowed out and needing the 5/8" bolt upgrade, and possibly also a new set of urethane bushings or thicker washers to tighten the joint?

Any help would be appreciated....I have spent many weekends under the jeep and all I keep doing is finding that one problem solved finds another problem that needs to be cured...and I'd like to try to get the jeep underway myself if I can. At this point I suspect my mis-diagnosis of the original problem has caused a domino effect of other things that went wrong, which I have since, or am still finding defective and replacing as discovered.