Axles offset to driver's side

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jhw528

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I just got a 99 wrangler all stock except it's sitting on 31s with 15x8 rims, so the wheels stick out from the flares a bit. Since they stick out it wasn't until some time later i noticed the front axle is offset to the driver's side by maybe an inch. I noticed the lower control arm mount on the passenger side was bent and long story short had a shop swap in another front axle with a straight mount. It's still offset, and even before the axle swap I noticed even the rear axle is offset to the driver side by a little less than an inch.

Coincidentally, the day before i brought it to the shop I saw another stock height TJ with bigger than stock tires like man, and he had the exact same offset. we were driving so I couldn't get under it to inspect the setup, but being behind i could see they were biased towards the driver side. Is this a normal thing that i've never noticed on TJs before? I had a YJ in a previous life.

I have searched a bit but all the threads I found were concerning lift kits, which I don't have. At least I don't think it does.

Looking at the new axle, the spring on the passenger side is a little further from the wheel joint and the suspension in the front does feel slightly softer, so at least the new axle wasn't a total waste. I'm not terribly familiar with suspension parts and what they really do so I'm not sure where to start. The guy at shop has had plenty of jeeps and didn't seem too concerned about the offset so much as he was about the bent control arm mount, but maybe he doesn't wanna deal with, it who knows lol. any help is appreciated! The shadows make it a little hard to tell in the images on the rear, but the front is pretty obvious.

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The axles shouldn't be offset. That said, factory fresh vehicles had a lot more variability to them than you'd expect. In regards to lifted Jeeps, any ride height change from stock will also affect the centering of the axles. You have a track bar (or called a panhard bar in a lot of other automotive circles) that runs left/right and connects the axle to the frame. This controls the side to side movement of the axle in relation to the chassis. Because it runs from the axle to the frame, when you raise or lower the vehicle it travels in an arc and results in an offset. This can be fixed with an adjustable track bar. You would install the track bar then adjust the length to get the axle back under the center of the Jeep at ride height.

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What's odd in your situation is that you're saying both axles are offset in the same direction. The front and rear track bars mount in the opposite direction of each other, so when a height change offsets them, they offset in opposite directions.

My question would be what caused the bent control arm mount? If there was damage to the mount there could possibly be other bent items like the track bar mount at the frame, the track bar, or even the frame itself. Maybe some pictures of the various connections could be helpful, or even a trip to an alignment rack to see if something's out of square.
 
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No idea what bent it. the muffler has a dent too, so maybe some kind of rock? it's got 98k on it so it wasn't driven much, maybe a bit of light off road here and there. Here's some shots of the track bar mounts, a shot of the whole axle, and i have the sheet from the alignment they did after the axle was put in. All looks okay to me, except those red numbers on the sheet being outside the range. does that point to anything?

It looks like the bend in the track bar is to accommodate the diff, but i don't really know if it's too bent or what. I could see that being what's pulling it over. whatever hit the control arm mount also bent the track bar bit depending on what angle the impact occurred? like as the axle got shoved over

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That track bar looks normal to me, they're all shaped kinda like that.

Since you said you don't think it has a lift, maybe we should check. Please measure one of your front springs, right where it sits, from bottom to top of spring, not including the rubber cushion on top. Stock is 12" (with maybe some sag). Anything over 12" is the lift.
 
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An adjustable track bar can center the axle if it bothers you enough. Its possible a new factory track bar will center it, but no guarantees.

For caster being out of range you can roll the eccentrics on the axle side of the lower links so that the widest part of the washer is facing forward. If they are facing opposite directions id leave it as they probably did that to try and put the thrust angle closer
 
As said above, measure your springs and you will likely find a small lift. With a stock track bar that moves the front axle to the left.
 
jhw528 said:
The guy at shop has had plenty of jeeps and didn't seem too concerned about the offset so much as he was about the bent control arm mount, but maybe he doesn't wanna deal with, it who knows lol. any help is appreciated!
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The back doesn't look that bad.
In the front, I would bet on a bent trackbar. Hard to tell by looking at it since it already had a bend in it.
That's assuming the whole body isn't pushed over on the frame.
It seems a little odd that the caster is that far off with no lift.
 
If you have 31" tires, you can likely get rid of those extended bumpstops. Might ride a little nicer with some new jounce bumpers too.
 
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bty34 said:
If you have 31" tires, you can likely get rid of those extended bumpstops. Might ride a little nicer with some new jounce bumpers too.
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Good eye. Yeah thats f'd up having those spacers with no lift. He'll need to verify the shocks aren't also too long.looks like it may have been lifted in the past.or was on its way to being lifted
 
OldBuzzard said:
That track bar looks normal to me, they're all shaped kinda like that.

Since you said you don't think it has a lift, maybe we should check. Please measure one of your front springs, right where it sits, from bottom to top of spring, not including the rubber cushion on top. Stock is 12" (with maybe some sag). Anything over 12" is the lift.
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12 on the money. measured the rear for fun, 8"
bty34 said:
If you have 31" tires, you can likely get rid of those extended bumpstops. Might ride a little nicer with some new jounce bumpers too.
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I feel like i smash those in the front a lot even when being gentle, are those stock too? Can i get shorter ones if i don't want to remove that completely? some of the "dips" and "humps" in the roads here are just a little steeper than they look :( I took a look at the rear and there's definitely a larger gap for those bumpstops. I was thinking when I do get a new set of tires i might go to 30s, or even 235/75/r15 which works out to like 29? It will mostly see the road tbh and the 31s make 5th gear almost useless on the highway.

Rickyd said:
Good eye. Yeah thats f'd up having those spacers with no lift. He'll need to verify the shocks aren't also too long.looks like it may have been lifted in the past.or was on its way to being lifted
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how long should the shocks be? they're 15" exluding the mounting points. in addition to the 31s it also has a 1" t-case drop (i think) on the skid plate and i was also scratching my head why they did that with no lift. On it's way maybe... It pops out of 2nd on occasion which i read on here is likely due to that drop. It also doesn't go into 4Hi properly, which I suspect might also have something to do with the drop.

Rickyd said:
An adjustable track bar can center the axle if it bothers you enough. Its possible a new factory track bar will center it, but no guarantees.

For caster being out of range you can roll the eccentrics on the axle side of the lower links so that the widest part of the washer is facing forward. If they are facing opposite directions id leave it as they probably did that to try and put the thrust angle closer
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Any recommended OEM/after market trackbars? adjustable or not i suppose. I see Moog on amazon, I've heard that is a good brand.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C5403G/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I feel like an adjustable track bar might just be a bandage for what's actually wrong, but this seems to be a head scratcher lol. I was planning to get oem style 15x7 rims so the tires stay under the flares. it's just a preference for looks, and when i turn through a puddle water doesn't splash into the window. I was trying to figure out how wide these rims are and that's when i noticed everything was shifted over. I didn't change the rims yet in case the passenger side might rub or something when i turn all the way, since it's closer in than the driver side. I have no idea what you're talking about with eccentrics lol, i'll look into that later today. Is the thrust angle being that far out a big deal? it rides straight when i let go of the wheel.


driver side, passenger side (does the spring look like it's seated okay?), rear passenger
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A full shot and a closeup of the skid plate drop for fun

Roast my pavement princess :love:

For real though, thanks for all the help and advice everyone. This is my 5th heep over the years but still a lot to learn!

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It looks as though someone might have had a lift on it at some point and went back to stock springs. There are bump stop extension that shouldn't be there on a stock Jeep and there is a skid plate drop kit that shouldn't be there on a stock Jeep. How long have you had this?
 
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Andy-WhiteTJ said:
It looks as though someone might have had a lift on it at some point and went back to stock springs. There are bump stop extension that shouldn't be there on a stock Jeep and there is a skid plate drop kit that shouldn't be there on a stock Jeep. How long have you had this?
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I got it maybe a little over a month ago. I have a small running list of things to do including ditching the drop. When i got it the steering wheel was also off 90 degrees that the shop fixed when doing the axle. the dude i bought it from said he bought it that way. He didnt drive it much and it sat in his garage taking up space, so I wouldn't be surprised if he purchased it just as it is now and never really noticed anything was off. I inspected the best I could and clearly I missed a few things 😅
 
Stick around here. There are quite a bunch of us that can help you get to where you want to be with this Jeep. Looks like a good starting point. Nice looking Jeep.
 
Andy-WhiteTJ said:
Stick around here. There are quite a bunch of us that can help you get to where you want to be with this Jeep. Looks like a good starting point. Nice looking Jeep.
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I went through three cherokees and a YJ; became a honda bro for a minute: three EF hatchbacks, a couple DA integras, an 89 lude; had an altima and a corolla somewhere in there. Decided I was done buying and selling, picked out the nicest wrangler I could with a 4.0 and AX-15, and i just want to keep it as pristine as i can and leave it stock and just keep it as a daily and maybe do some light desert trails while im in california. I sold my YJ at a profit after having it a couple years and putting 30,000 miles on it. Since then I've watched prices on wranglers just skyrocket. I'd be an idiot to ever let this jeep go
 
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jhw528 said:
I went through three cherokees and a YJ; became a honda bro for a minute: three EF hatchbacks, a couple DA integras, an 89 lude; had an altima and a corolla somewhere in there. Decided I was done buying and selling, picked out the nicest wrangler I could with a 4.0 and AX-15, and i just want to keep it as pristine as i can and leave it stock and just keep it as a daily and maybe do some light desert trails while im in california. I sold my YJ at a profit after having it a couple years and putting 30,000 miles on it. Since then I've watched prices on wranglers just skyrocket. I'd be an idiot to ever let this jeep go
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Do you like Miatas?
 
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