Am I steering my Jeep? [Archive] - International Full Size Jeep Association

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newwagwheeler

01-29-2009, 09:30 PM

Now this issue has been plaguing me for some time, I am just now gettin gto the point where I can address it. Driving down the road and all of the sudden my jeep tries to switch lanes. Never the same direction, always keeps me guessing. Very exciting stuff here. This will happen of rough or smooth surfaces alike. Any thoughts?

mudjammer

01-29-2009, 11:11 PM

Do you have a lift?

BarryL

01-30-2009, 12:56 AM

Any thoughts?

Worn tie rod ends, ball joints, etc.

Goat9

01-30-2009, 06:14 AM

I've got a 3" lift and mine did that bad too. I put a dropped pitman arm, and that seemed to help some but not totally. I'm starting to wonder if it's the 31X10.5 tires on stock rims or bent axle! Front end seems pretty tight.

newwagwheeler

01-30-2009, 06:41 AM

Oh yea. Sorry about that. The lift consists of a SOA with chevy 6" lift springs. runnung 33 x 12.50 x 15.

Headhoncho

01-30-2009, 07:07 AM

Oh yea. Sorry about that. The lift consists of a SOA with chevy 6" lift springs. runnung 33 x 12.50 x 15.

If you remounted the spring perches on the frame to mount the ch*vy springs OR relocated the spring pads on the axle for springover, my guess is the caster/camber (can't remember which it is) is way off and causing the truck to wander.

JR

Headhoncho

01-30-2009, 07:14 AM

Drive it right to an alignment shop and have them do a 4 wheel alignment and check the caster/ camber too. I guarantee it's way off. If it's not that you must be running 7" wide rims with your 12.5 tires.

JR

Tad

01-30-2009, 07:19 AM

SOA on top of 6" springs?
That's a lot of lift for sure.
Or are we talking SOA front and 6" springs rear?

newwagwheeler

01-30-2009, 07:23 AM

The rims match the tires. Last time i had the alignment shop look at it, they said that the @!#$^!&&% was off just a little bit. That meant that the top of the tires was pointed in just a little bit, front and rear. There are no adjustments for these settings.

newwagwheeler

01-30-2009, 07:27 AM

No. The soa and 6" lift springs are in the front. The rear has rebuilt/ relocated shackle hangers, AAL, and blocks bring it up even with the front.

billyrb

01-30-2009, 08:17 AM

When you did your SOA, did you convert over to High-Steer?

rustywagoneers_com

01-30-2009, 08:26 AM

I want to SEE the caster numbers. Not be told that ANYTHING is 'just a little bit off'.

peace
Dave

Headhoncho

01-30-2009, 08:28 AM

Last time i had the alignment shop look at it, they said that the @!#$^!&&% was off just a little bit. That meant that the top of the tires was pointed in just a little bit, front and rear. There are no adjustments for these settings.

Was that after all the mods to the spring hangers? I still say the caster is probably off some. Did you SOA your existing front axle pads or did you install a factory SOA axle? The tires pointing in at the tops will actually help the handling. It shouldn't really cause it to wander.

JR

newwagwheeler

01-30-2009, 09:29 AM

Wow. Lots of great ideas here. I appreciate all of the feed back. I installed a DP when I did the SOA. I used the original axle and just welded on new perches. The angle is right at 4%. I did not convert to high steer. When the alignment shop told me the problem, they did give me exact numbers. With no adjustment to be made........... those numbers have long since left my brain.

james1414d

02-01-2009, 10:18 PM

68glad

02-01-2009, 10:34 PM

How flat is the drag link? Pictures? It sounds like you have alot of lift :)

X2 spring over + 6" lift= very steep drag link. Spring over got what... 6" or so lift & even using a 4" dpa your already 2" higher than stock. Plus add on another six inches of lift and you suddenly have a pretty steep drag link. Any little dip in the road will now suddenly feel like your driving drunk. Time for high steer.

Gearhead 1990

02-01-2009, 10:38 PM

Its really not THAT much of a lift guys. He said CHEVY 6" springs, which are only like 3-4" lift on a jeep + the SOA. To me it sounds like it either has too much angle on the drag link or you have the pinion angle too high for the stock axle. If you steer all the way to either way does it look like the tires are pointing towards the ground at all? That can cause it to dart around like that.

This is how tall a FSJ sits with SOA + 6" Chevy springs and 38x12.50 tires

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/798/0315071606jq7.jpg

Smith

02-01-2009, 11:10 PM

One thing that really helped me with my bump-steer was taking pictures of my set up from a few angles and posting it on here for the guys.

Also, get all the angle measurements done like on your pinion, etc.

Mine turned out to be a bent leaf, bad steering stabilizer and shocks an' it needed a drop pitman arm to solve mine. Fun eh? Could have been worse.

The guys here are awesome if you can show them what they're dealin' with. Good luck!

elbastardo

02-02-2009, 06:59 AM

When i had a similar problem. After some "hard" wheeling my steering gear had come lose from the frame. Have sombody steer left to right slowly and look at your steering components (espically the steering gear). Having an extra set of eyes help too.

If thats not the case (and i have a feeling it might be). Then look into caster issues.

newwagwheeler

02-03-2009, 10:16 PM

Well it is parked for a while now. The rear axle got sick and started throwing up. I will get some pic up in the dext day or so.
Thanks

amc75matador

02-03-2009, 10:58 PM

are you running bias ply tires or radials?
Bias will wander all over, they follow low tracks on roads, radials will track straight.

newwagwheeler

02-04-2009, 11:51 AM

Running radial tires.
Some pics of front end set up...

10340

10341

10342

newwagwheeler

02-04-2009, 11:52 AM

First pic of jeep profile has a yard stick standing up next to the rear tire.

orangecherokee

02-04-2009, 12:55 PM

others may have said it but you have bump-steer. I ran into the same thing when I did my SOA conversion. You need to go high-steer and be done with it. A DPA and new TR ends won't fix it.

Also, that drag link scares me.

FSJ Guy

02-04-2009, 01:04 PM

mudjammer

02-04-2009, 02:23 PM

No. The soa and 6" lift springs are in the front. The rear has rebuilt/ relocated shackle hangers, AAL, and blocks bring it up even with the front.

You have almost the same lift I have. The only differance is I have stock springs and you have the Chevy 6" lift springs. From what I have read in other threads, your chevy springs are only giving you another 3 to 4 inches over stock. Either way, your has bump steer as bad as mine and it's not all that safe to drive. I am in the process of changing mine over to full high steer so it get the geometry back to were it is stock.

As far as the rear, if you like the blocks thats fine. But I know with mine, I have had alot of problems with them loosening up and or shifting. When I would hit a bump or a grove in the road I would just about loose control.
I am now going back to stock springs in the rear and using the TT Fab Works shackle flip kit.

newwagwheeler

02-04-2009, 04:23 PM

So how do you do this high steer thing without spending a fortune?
Or is that even an option? This is a 1988 GW.

Tad

02-04-2009, 06:21 PM

So how do you do this high steer thing without spending a fortune?
Or is that even an option? This is a 1988 GW. It's not really a fortune, but I know it does add up (everything does).
I am a firm believer in full High Steering, it puts everything back in the geometry that it was designed for.
But:
I have installed two of the BJ's Cross-Over kits so far.
It's a lower $$ option and it works dam well.
http://www.bjsoffroad.com/CartGenie/prod-883.htm
It's well designed and easy to install.
What I really like about it is that it's a solid cast setup, no knuckle machining, studs, cones, etc.
That, combined with the fact you can move your axle forward 1" (depending on the D44 perches you have) makes it very simple.