Jeep is wandering at 60+ mph

Emmakschroed said:
Ha! that's funny! And I am really glad I found my way here. The Facebook jeep groups were not cutting it... either way, i have been told to sell it by an immediate family member recently (not my dad) and I keep refusing for that reason. I couldn't find another TJ for sale near me that had everything I wanted the way this one does... There has got to be something I just have to find it.

On Another note... Took it for a trip in town this evening and had no trouble... maybe the added caster helped? we will see once dad changes the toe in tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!!
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These things can and will drive great if they have good tires and good settings and connections- otherwise they simply won’t.

Many of ours on here can be driven 70+ with one finger, and stay that way.

And- most everyone I have bought or worked on was like yours. Be patient- it is not defective. It has been messed with and needs to be dialed in.

We have a lot of success stories here.
 
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AndyG said:
These things can and will drive great if they have good tires and good settings and connections- otherwise they simply won’t.

Many of ours on here can be driven 70+ with one finger, and stay that way.

And- most everyone I have bought or worked on was like yours. Be patient- it is not defective. It has been messed with and needs to be dialed in.

We have a lot of success stories here.
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That is such a relief to hear. It was discouraging when my dad couldn't figure it out. He has been a mechanic for longer than I've been alive and I can't think of something he couldn't get to run and drive so I was worried I had bought a lemon or something... He has made it a lot better since the initial "oh shit" moment on the highway, but not where I want it. I have a few different people who I have talked to about it who work on jeeps for a living so I think one of them might be our next plan of action. At least get a second mechanic's opinion after test driving.
 
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I’m one, bought my son out 2005, it drove terribly, I got on this forum. I’ve now replaced everything, but, the main issue was bushings, control arm. Every gear shift the entire Jeep moved all over. I’ve been getting advice here and can drive 70-75 on the tollway and it’s dead straight and no issues.

Your dad knows how to fix it, and this group can steer tk where these TJs are notorious for problems. I would not sell it, no way. It can 100% be a care free drive.
 
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cpwolf said:
I’m one, bought my son out 2005, it drove terribly, I got on this forum. I’ve now replaced everything, but, the main issue was bushings, control arm. Every gear shift the entire Jeep moved all over. I’ve been getting advice here and can drive 70-75 on the tollway and it’s dead straight and no issues.

Your dad knows how to fix it, and this group can steer tk where these TJs are notorious for problems. I would not sell it, no way. It can 100% be a care free drive.
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I really hope so. No way im giving up hope yet!
 
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Whats going on here?
Jeep 3.jpg

Poly bushings are a bad choice for tj links. Id be replacing those arms. Even if they are tight it contributes to broken arms and brackets from lack of flex
 
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Rickyd said:
Whats going on here?
View attachment 393395
Poly bushings are a bad choice for tj links. Id be replacing those arms. Even if they are tight it contributes to broken arms and brackets from lack of flex
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Poly are what wallowed out on mine big time, and caused crap steer for lack of a better word, just floated all over. Question, I've looked, how is he adjusting the Caster? I can't see that these are adjustable length Control Arms, but they might be, I can't see that in the pics. Possibly with Cam Bolts. I had cam bolts and got adjustable Control Arms.

That does look poly, I'd pull that and see how the bolt and sleeve are in there, here's a pic of the Rancho Control Arms with poly bushings. Couldn't see this on the Jeep. Not saying it's your issue, but mine had similar driving, and this was a part of it, significant part.

IMG_5250.JPEG


IMG_5251.JPEG
 
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Emmakschroed said:
kind of..... we have it at a jeep specialist in fulton, MO right now. After driving it and looking at it he is putting on adjustable trailing arms and taking out some bushing that I do not need. We are hoping this is the fix!
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Here's hoping that's it! Give us the update when you get it back
 
Good luck with your Jeep, don't give up on it. Mud tires don't have the greatest on road manners, but that is all I run on my Jeep TJ too. You can try adjusting tire pressure in 2 lb increments and test how it drives. You have a very stiff tire for a light Jeep. There was a time that I drove my Jeep all the time with only 15 psi in the tires and it drove pretty well, but fuel economy took a hit. I have settled on 24 psi for on road driving which isn't a lot and offroad I start at 10 and go down from there.
Hopefully you have a good shop that knows Jeeps and adjustable links should help a lot. Making sure that the axles are lined up to the frame is pretty important and can be set with adjustable links by dropping a plumb bob from a reference point on the frame and measuring to the axle on each side and making sure this is the same. On the rear end this is sometimes refered to as THRUST angle and the closer to 0 the better.
 
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UPDATE: I got it back from the jeep guy I had look at it. He added adjustable trail arms on the front and put a new track bar with smaller and tighter bushing in the back. This fixed the wander but caused a lot of slack on my steering wheel. Doing this also knocked the alignment and toe in all out of wack. I told him if there is anything my dad can do please leave it and we will get it home and do it for cheaper; so that is what he left me with. After adding the toe in back to what it should be and an alignment, it was pretty close to perfect. The slack in the steering wheel was much better but not perfect. I decided I might as well get a new steering gearbox and see what that would do since i knew I'd need one soon anyway. That fixed the slack in my steering wheel completely! I am now driving over 50 miles daily to school and work and haven't had any issues so far! thank you to everyone who commented and helped me figure this out!
 
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Emmakschroed said:
UPDATE: I got it back from the jeep guy I had look at it. He added adjustable trail arms on the front and put a new track bar with smaller and tighter bushing in the back. This fixed the wander but caused a lot of slack on my steering wheel. Doing this also knocked the alignment and toe in all out of wack. I told him if there is anything my dad can do please leave it and we will get it home and do it for cheaper; so that is what he left me with. After adding the toe in back to what it should be and an alignment, it was pretty close to perfect. The slack in the steering wheel was much better but not perfect. I decided I might as well get a new steering gearbox and see what that would do since i knew I'd need one soon anyway. That fixed the slack in my steering wheel completely! I am now driving over 50 miles daily to school and work and haven't had any issues so far! thank you to everyone who commented and helped me figure this out!
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That's awesome. I try to steer the FB folks over here, and pay attention to what my mom always told me growing up "Jason, God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason, listen more talk less" .
Come here and read enough to figure out who has the experience you need to lean on, and you can get your TJ running tip top, no doubt.
 
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