Hi all,
after reading several interesting treads here, I decided to make some upgrade to my '05 Sport 4.0l TJ.
The jeep was basically equipped with: 2.5' complete lift kit by Rough Country (panhard, control arms, springs and shocks) Rugged ridge crossover steering link, RANCHO RS7000 steering stabilizer, Teraflex Belly up skid plate, JKS rear adjustable panhard with angled support, rugged ridge SYE, DC rear driveshaft, 1' MORE bomb-prof lifted motor mount, 1' MORE aluminium body lift and Cooper STT PRO 33'.
The driveability wasn't decent so I replaced the RC shocks with RANCHO XL 9000. Some improvement was achieved. After few months, RC control arms flexible joints worn out... I have replaced them with original Currie Johnny Joints and the driveability was much better than before (maybe also because springs started to seat so the overall lift was close to 2').
Then I went on 35' tires (Cooper STT pro again) on 15'x8 ion ally aluminium wheels. Maybe because new wheels have a smaller offset (-25 against previous -19) but with new tires I started to feel some bumpsteer. I tried to balance wheels and tires three times with no appreciable improvement. Finally, I used internal ceramic beads and tuned tire pressure at about 25 psi (on road pressure) obtaining a decent driveability. Anyway, in off road, my setup didn't allow sufficient clearance to the new tires so, after reading several tread, I decided to with Currie 4' springs (CE-9130H) ,Currie bumpstops (CE-9122R and CE-9122F) and RANCHO 5000x shocks. Due to belly up skid plate, taking into account the new lift amount, the SYE was replace by an extra-short SYE by teraflex and a new Tom Wood DC shaft was installed. All suspension geometries have been modified according to the new lift (some degree of caster angle was lost, I suppose).
That's the story, now my problems:
1) the on road driveability is poor due to a lot of bumpsteer and front vibrations;
2) steering wheel tremendously lost precision (the Jeep follows all street junctions)
and now my help requests:
1) is it normal that a TJ, with 35' tires and 4' lift, drives so poorly at 70-80 mph?
2) how many caster angle degrees are reasonable with my setup (all my control arms can be modified in length)? I guess the shop that installed the lift looked at the pinion angle only....
3) now, after reading a lot here, I know the crossover steering link could be involved. Could a Currie (RockJock) Currectlink kit be the way to go to improve driveability?
4) should I replace the RANCHO RS7000 steering stabilizer? Actually, it makes some pressure on the steering links. If yes what I should looking for?
Sorry for this long message, I really thank all of you for the patience and for the suggestions.
after reading several interesting treads here, I decided to make some upgrade to my '05 Sport 4.0l TJ.
The jeep was basically equipped with: 2.5' complete lift kit by Rough Country (panhard, control arms, springs and shocks) Rugged ridge crossover steering link, RANCHO RS7000 steering stabilizer, Teraflex Belly up skid plate, JKS rear adjustable panhard with angled support, rugged ridge SYE, DC rear driveshaft, 1' MORE bomb-prof lifted motor mount, 1' MORE aluminium body lift and Cooper STT PRO 33'.
The driveability wasn't decent so I replaced the RC shocks with RANCHO XL 9000. Some improvement was achieved. After few months, RC control arms flexible joints worn out... I have replaced them with original Currie Johnny Joints and the driveability was much better than before (maybe also because springs started to seat so the overall lift was close to 2').
Then I went on 35' tires (Cooper STT pro again) on 15'x8 ion ally aluminium wheels. Maybe because new wheels have a smaller offset (-25 against previous -19) but with new tires I started to feel some bumpsteer. I tried to balance wheels and tires three times with no appreciable improvement. Finally, I used internal ceramic beads and tuned tire pressure at about 25 psi (on road pressure) obtaining a decent driveability. Anyway, in off road, my setup didn't allow sufficient clearance to the new tires so, after reading several tread, I decided to with Currie 4' springs (CE-9130H) ,Currie bumpstops (CE-9122R and CE-9122F) and RANCHO 5000x shocks. Due to belly up skid plate, taking into account the new lift amount, the SYE was replace by an extra-short SYE by teraflex and a new Tom Wood DC shaft was installed. All suspension geometries have been modified according to the new lift (some degree of caster angle was lost, I suppose).
That's the story, now my problems:
1) the on road driveability is poor due to a lot of bumpsteer and front vibrations;
2) steering wheel tremendously lost precision (the Jeep follows all street junctions)
and now my help requests:
1) is it normal that a TJ, with 35' tires and 4' lift, drives so poorly at 70-80 mph?
2) how many caster angle degrees are reasonable with my setup (all my control arms can be modified in length)? I guess the shop that installed the lift looked at the pinion angle only....
3) now, after reading a lot here, I know the crossover steering link could be involved. Could a Currie (RockJock) Currectlink kit be the way to go to improve driveability?
4) should I replace the RANCHO RS7000 steering stabilizer? Actually, it makes some pressure on the steering links. If yes what I should looking for?
Sorry for this long message, I really thank all of you for the patience and for the suggestions.