Jeep wanders all over the road

[Nick_smallz]

Hello fellas, I’m new to the forum I just picked up this Jeep and did some work to it, a 2.5” rough country lift, rough country upper and lower adjustable control arms, 1” tcase drop, New moog steering components new upper and lower ball joints and I had it aligned. The Jeep wanders if the road is slanted it will go left or right depending on the road and the slant in the road isn’t that noticeable. I just replaced the last part which is the steering stabilizer and it didn’t help so I’m going crazy on what might be causing the issue. I appreciate any help or if there is a forum that is already created that I may have over looked in my search for the cure of my issue. Thanks

 

[Chris]

Steering stabilizers have nothing whatsoever to do with the vehicle wandering.

I need to see a better shot of the track bar where it mounts to the frame, as well as a side shot of the pitman arm.

My guess is it's either one (or both) of those, or you just desperately need an alignment (which is probably the case).

 

[Leinhit]

For me it was the front and rear sway bar bushings and the rear track bar bushing.

 

[Nick_smallz]

I replaced both track bar with rough country adjustable control arms and had them adjusted, I’ll get more pics for you now

 

[Nick_smallz]

I also replaces all the bushings on my sway bars

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Nick post your current toe-in and caster angles from the alignment you had done. From the symptoms my $$$ is that those angles are off.

 

[Nick_smallz]

Here are a couple different angles lmk if you need better ones and thanks for the feed back guys it’s much appreciated

 

[Chris]

That drop track bar bracket is part of the problem. The pitman arm is stock, which is good.

 

[Nick_smallz]

The shop that aligned my Jeep installed the front track bar, and unfortunately they didn’t give me a print out of my alignment...

 

[Jerry Bransford]

That drop track bar bracket is part of the problem. The pitman arm is stock, which is good.

That's not really dropped enough to worry about Chris, it pivots very close to the same point the OE track bar does.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

The shop that aligned my Jeep installed the front track bar, and unfortunately they didn’t give me a print out of my alignment...

You need to know what those numbers are. Either go back to the shop that did your alignment or have someone else measure those two angles and give you a printout.

 

[Chris]

That's not really dropped enough to worry about Chris, it pivots very close to the same point the OE track bar does.

Really? Wasn’t sure about that. Upon second glance I see what you mean now though.

 

[Nick_smallz]

Thanks guys, I’m gonna give them a call tomorrow and see if they can give me a print out. So those angles will cause the Jeep to wander left and right ? And not just one direction?

 

[bobthetj03]

An out of whack toe adjustment or not enough caster angle can cause a wandering condition, hence why we need the alignment readings to diagnose your condition.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Thanks guys, I’m gonna give them a call tomorrow and see if they can give me a print out. So those angles will cause the Jeep to wander left and right ? And not just one direction?

Absolutely. Caster angle is especially important to having steady steering on the highway. Which is why chopper bikes have extended forks to increase their caster angles. Toe-in too but insufficient caster angle is especially responsible for a lack of a steady steering wheel and poor return-to-center (steering wheel) after completing a turn.

 

[Nick_smallz]

Thank you so much for the information, I’ll get back to you with the print out hopefully tomorrow

 

[qslim]

That's not really dropped enough to worry about Chris, it pivots very close to the same point the OE track bar does.

Really? Wasn’t sure about that. Upon second glance I see what you mean now though.

Would either of you gentlemen expand on what you're talking about for me? Just trying to learn...

 

[AndyG]

Ok, here’s more :

That Jeep isn’t tracking is what you are describing.

That looks like a rough country track bar , I have one and the bushings are junk..,you need to knock them out and get replacements at o Reilly’s , under 20 bucks each. The rough country bushings have way too much flex .

Next dry test it for anything loose, even minutely. Lay under it and have someone rock the wheel , anything that moves NEEDS TO BE EQUALLY MOVING WHAT ITS ATTACHED TO. This is true up to the track bar , it’s job is to maintain axle center in motion and should not visibly move much at its mount points .

Caster is likely out , you need 6 + degrees , you can check in your yard with a Swanson magnetic angle finder . Printout will show.

Get your tire pressure down to 26 psi, yours look high .

Now raise the hood and pull the coolant jug and check the steering shaft u joints for slop..trust me, this can cause you grief.

Now stand back and see if the axles are aligned and centered , and see if the right tire to tire distance is the same as the left.


TJ’s are very simple in steering design , but they have a small wheelbase , horrible aerodynamics,,usually oversized tires , are relatively light , and will quickly tell you if they think they have been touched inappropriately.

They aren’t hard to get right , just easy to mess up.

 

[Chris]

Would either of you gentlemen expand on what you're talking about for me? Just trying to learn...

If the track bar is moved down (with a track bar drop bracket), the pitman arm has to be moved down with it (via a dropped pitman arm). If you do one without the other, your geometry is going to be off, and it can cause all sorts of issues with the steering / tracking of the vehicle.

Of course there is no reason to do either on a TJ that is lifted to typical lift heights (i.e. 4-6"). Any bolt-on lift kit that includes a dropped pitman arm (or track bar bracket) is more than likely a poorly designed lift and should be avoided.

I'm not saying that either of these doesn't have it's place, but it's definitely not on 99% of the TJs on this forum. It would be a special case, or an extremely built rig.

 

[AndyG]

The goal being to offset the lift changing the drag link angle upward by dropping the drag link via of the dropped pitman arm , and the dropped mount to drop the track bar end equally to keep the drag link and track bar both parallel and keep the them as horizontal as reasonable to avoid bump steer via of the track bar having more swing arc.

This is all theory.

This rig is odd as a dropped track bar needs a dropped pitman arm, all things being equal, and the track bar is low relative to the drag link angle. This has stock pitman arm. We normally see a dropped pitman arm and the rest stock.

In reality the , regarding the above , the rig needs neither and what rough country does is sells a “complete kit” ...which really means more parts than needed...then they get installed and screw up the geometry.

The only significant part is the adjustable track bar , and it’s on there because a stocker wouldn’t center up the axle after the lift , being then too short. Rough Country track bars have bushings made in Mexico , and the rolled center sleeve becomes tear shaped and the rubber is not dense enough . Under stress on a dry test you van see huge movement , controlled, but too much .