My Rubicon as a toad behind our motorhome has an issue.

The amount of caster (not castor, which is a bean) angle you need to have added is not likely to be possible with aftermarket cam bolts which have a very limited amount of range of +/- 1.5 degrees. With your stated 1.5/1.7 degrees of existing caster angle, an additional 1.5 degrees from cam bolts is not enough to bring your caster angle up 5.5-6 degrees where it needs to be. Does that make sense or will you disagree since it came from me?

But your alignment shop says cam bolts can do it and you believe them so by all means pay them to install them. My bet is with cam bolts they won't be able to achieve much past 3 degrees, if that much, which is simply not enough. But what do I know, not to mention you don't seem to appreciate anything I suggest when I try to offer help to you which you pretty much always have a problem with.

I'll close by saying that if your aftermarket control arms are adjustable, they're what should be used to correct/increase your caster angle. Cam bolts are not the way to go. But, again, what do I know?
 
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BendLarry said:
The control arms are not stock.


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Which arms are adjustable, upper or lower? if either one is adjustable, you can adjust your caster without cam bolts. Lowering the jeep will help gain you some caster too, so keep that in mind.
 
BendLarry said:
Uppers are adjustable and lowers are not.


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I suspect that the cam bolts along with adjustable upper control arms will do the trick. The tech just so happens to own an 05 lifted TJ . He showed me a few things I didn’t know about my lift, but that’s not saying a lot [emoji4]


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I'd skip the cam bolts personally. They tend to not be the most reliable thing when it comes to holding an adjustment. If you have adjustable uppers I'd make the fix there. Right now your lower control arm bolt is located in a round hole. When you put the cam bolts in that hole is turned into a slot, and the arm is located by the rotation of the cam bolt and the eccentric washer that's pushing against a U shaped bit of metal welded to the axle bracket. If that bolt ever loosens at all am rotates you are back to the alignment shop. If you use the arms for adjustment and the control arm bolt loosens, you tighten it and keep going.

If the arms are adjusted make sure the jam nut is tightened by hitting the wrench with a hammer to set them. Before doing that I had all my jam nuts come loose on the first wheeling trip. After doing that one has come loose in 5 years.

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I think with the combination of lowering your jeep 2"+ and adjusting your upper arms, you should get back to where it needs to be. Heck, even 5* would be better than what you're at now.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
I think with the combination of lowering your jeep 2"+ and adjusting your upper arms, you should get back to where it needs to be. Heck, even 5* would be better than what you're at now.
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I agree but it might be a while before I get it lowered. I will be towing before it’s lowered. Right now I think my focus is going to be on getting a smoother ride and it looks like I’m going to be buying 5 new tires and wheels so I can stay with 33’s and go to a c rated tire instead of these rock hard E rated tires. Money, money, money!


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BendLarry said:
I agree but it might be a while before I get it lowered. I will be towing before it’s lowered. Right now I think my focus is going to be on getting a smoother ride and it looks like I’m going to be buying 5 new tires and wheels so I can stay with 33’s and go to a c rated tire instead of these rock hard E rated tires. Money, money, money!


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You know by now what J.E.E.P stands for brah! Ask your alignment guy if he can adjust your caster with the uppers for now. Stay clear of those alignment cams.
 
bobthetj03 said:
You know by now what J.E.E.P stands for brah! Ask your alignment guy if he can adjust your caster with the uppers for now. Stay clear of those alignment cams.
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He let me in the pit with him today so I will see what he recommends and why, and go from there. I hear what you are saying but this guy seemed to have a pretty good grip on these rigs and their issues. I just hope improving these numbers doesn’t cause some other issue. This Jeep drives great and I have always felt that if its not broke don’t fix it.


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It shouldn't cause any issues, I'm really surprised you can keep it between the lines at less than 1 degree. Unless he maxes out the arms I don't see a good reason for cams

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when we could have said no.
 
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BendLarry said:
He let me in the pit with him today so I will see what he recommends and why, and go from there. I hear what you are saying but this guy seemed to have a pretty good grip on these rigs and their issues. I just hope improving these numbers doesn’t cause some other issue. This Jeep drives great and I have always felt that if its not broke don’t fix it.


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Not to be snarky, but all of us (for the most part) have a good understanding about how to lift a TJ correctly as well. At least 5 or 6 people have said to not use cam bolts. But if you want to believe one guy because you’ve met him in real life, go right ahead. Cam bolts are not the right solution. If you want a jeep that drives well and is reliable, look at adjustable arms like everybody has been saying. I’m going to be honest, if you think your jeep with caster angles like that drives well, you probably haven’t driven a Jeep that is properly set up.
 
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jodomcfrodo said:
Not to be snarky, but all of us (for the most part) have a good understanding about how to lift a TJ correctly as well. At least 5 or 6 people have said to not use cam bolts. But if you want to believe one guy because you’ve met him in real life, go right ahead. Cam bolts are not the right solution. If you want a jeep that drives well and is reliable, look at adjustable arms like everybody has been saying. I’m going to be honest, if you think your jeep with caster angles like that drives well, you probably haven’t driven a Jeep that is properly set up.
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I have driven several nearly new stock JK's and my poor ol TJ drives nearly as good. Think what you want. The world seems to be full of internet experts!
 
Let's remind ourselves why BendLarry originally posted, which was to discuss potential reasons why he is having issues with his Toad not properly tracking behind his motorhome during slow, tight turns, not the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of control arms vs. cam bolts..

Since BendLarry intends to lower his jeep in the near future it makes no economic sense to add new adjustable control arms to his current suspension. Cam bolts are a simple and relatively inexpensive means for experimenting to see if too little caster is contributing to his issue. Whether cam bolts are the "right" or "wrong" way to do things long term is largely immaterial to Larry's immediate concern.
 
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Mr. Bills said:
Let's remind ourselves why BendLarry originally posted, which was to discuss potential reasons why he is having issues with his Toad not properly tracking behind his motorhome during slow, tight turns, not the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of control arms vs. cam bolts..

Since BendLarry intends to lower his jeep in the near future it makes no economic sense to add new adjustable control arms to his current suspension. Cam bolts are a simple and relatively inexpensive means for experimenting to see if too little caster is contributing to his issue. Whether cam bolts are the "right" or "wrong" way to do things long term is largely immaterial to Larry's immediate concern.
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I would argue the opposite. If he only lowers the jeep by an inch or so, he could keep the same adjustable arms. Also, I’ve never really understood fixing the problem the wrong way, only to fix it the right way a few months later. It’s his Jeep, he can do whatever he pleases, and forums are for recommending the correct solution to a problem, not telling people what to do. Cam bolts are not the correct solution to the problem. If something is not a long term solution, is it really a solution at all?
 
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Mr. Bills said:
Let's remind ourselves why BendLarry originally posted, which was to discuss potential reasons why he is having issues with his Toad not properly tracking behind his motorhome during slow, tight turns, not the theoretical advantages and disadvantages of control arms vs. cam bolts..

Since BendLarry intends to lower his jeep in the near future it makes no economic sense to add new adjustable control arms to his current suspension. Cam bolts are a simple and relatively inexpensive means for experimenting to see if too little caster is contributing to his issue. Whether cam bolts are the "right" or "wrong" way to do things long term is largely immaterial to Larry's immediate concern.
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Well said thank you!


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5" lift on 35's no problem, I wouldn't lower it. Maybe the ready brake wire snagged going into the lot and put a drag on the front brakes and pulled them around? It's a stretch I know, but maybe leave the ready brake unhooked and try to duplicate what happened.

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Dozerdude said:
5" lift on 35's no problem, I wouldn't lower it. Maybe the ready brake wire snagged going into the lot and put a drag on the front brakes and pulled them around? It's a stretch I know, but maybe leave the ready brake unhooked and try to duplicate what happened.
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I have a dash light in the motor home connected to the Jeep brake light switch so I always know when the brake pedal moves. No brake pedal movement when the issue occurs. Thanks for the thought!


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Update..... Back from the alignment shop. My caster is now +3. No cam bolts required. The tech said the reason he suggested cam bolts was because when I was in before he didn't know if there were enough threads left on the adjustable control arms to get the caster close enough and then he would have to use the cam bolts. He said he understood that I plan to lower it soon and then I could just remove the cam bolts. Buying new control arms didn't make any sense to him or me.

For those of you who thought my ride would improve with better caster, you were correct. It's noticeably better. I guess I was just used to how it drove and it didn't bother me.

Now to the original issue. Towing behind my motor home. I won't be hooking it up for a while to see if the following issue is now gone or not so stay tuned if you are interested in what I find.
 
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Good news on not needing to experiment with cam bolts. Its always a good day when one can obtain an improvement without purchasing additional parts.

It will be interesting to see if the additional caster eliminates the tracking issue in slow, tight turns.

Have you given any thought to the best way to lower your rig without having to replace the entire suspension (i.e., by changing as little as possible)?
 
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