How to align your Jeep Wrangler TJ

Well, after 1K plus in new parts, I'm almost there. Every part I replaced helped. The PO drove this thing for 92K miles and did nothing. From a poorly installed RE 4.5" lift with all arms having 1/4" play to the dropped pitman arm. The rear lower arms were even and the rear uppers were like 1/2" different. (I get they might not be even when set, but I evened them up and am 1/32 square to the frame). I am not a RE fan. I'm pretty sure the track bars are hollow and flex way too much. I'm bringing it down to 3" over the holidays. I am a fan of Currie, however my wallet isn't. What I'm trying to say is all these parts with their fractional play added up to a dangerous driver. I've had it for a few months now and am enjoying the sorting. Today I set the toe. These are the measurements AFTER I paid a shop with a Hunter Hawkeye to do it. wow..... I am now
wheel 2.jpg
wheel1.jpg
1/16 toe in....
 
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Glad you got it sorted. I had to look up where you live. You are really down there. Can't get much more southern US than you!
 
ac_ said:
Glad you got it sorted. I had to look up where you live. You are really down there. Can't get much more southern US than you!
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looks like a 1/4" of toe in
rraulston said:
Well, after 1K plus in new parts, I'm almost there. Every part I replaced helped. The PO drove this thing for 92K miles and did nothing. From a poorly installed RE 4.5" lift with all arms having 1/4" play to the dropped pitman arm. The rear lower arms were even and the rear uppers were like 1/2" different. (I get they might not be even when set, but I evened them up and am 1/32 square to the frame). I am not a RE fan. I'm pretty sure the track bars are hollow and flex way too much. I'm bringing it down to 3" over the holidays. I am a fan of Currie, however my wallet isn't. What I'm trying to say is all these parts with their fractional play added up to a dangerous driver. I've had it for a few months now and am enjoying the sorting. Today I set the toe. These are the measurements AFTER I paid a shop with a Hunter Hawkeye to do it. wow..... I am nowView attachment 68238View attachment 68239 1/16 toe in....
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looks like a 1/4" toe
 
Thanks for posting this, I have used this method successfully. I have a question- if I want to do a quick toe in check can I use the tire parting line in the center of the tire instead of flat stock? Or should we not assume that the plane it creates is perpendicular to the axis of rotation? It seems like the parting line would be at the center by design...
 
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I recently purchased my 2000 TJ. I plan to check the alignment myself via the method in this thread. My question is, do you think it is worth bringing the TJ into a shop for the camber and caster? Will they even be able to make these adjustments on my jeep. I am currently running 33x12.50 tires, a 4 inch lift with adjustable lower control arms. Will I just be wasting my money bringing it to a shop for the camber and caster?
 
jazz-n-tj said:
I recently purchased my 2000 TJ. I plan to check the alignment myself via the method in this thread. My question is, do you think it is worth bringing the TJ into a shop for the camber and caster? Will they even be able to make these adjustments on my jeep. I am currently running 33x12.50 tires, a 4 inch lift with adjustable lower control arms. Will I just be wasting my money bringing it to a shop for the camber and caster?
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So they could adjust the camber, but you can too. You should just point your pinions to your drivelines, and see what you get. With a 4 inch lift your camber probably would cause more problems if you adjusted it to factory specs. You want your pinion angle to be the same as your driveline angle and you want your steering to return to center. Sometimes that is a juggle.

There are no camber adjustments. Personally I have never taken any of my Jeeps to the front end shop, and have no issues. That said you may have to play with the TJ a bit to get it dialed in.

Good luck keep us posted.
 
I like to use the tire center line for the final check, RE: toe-in. One of the issues with using the brake disc is that the disc is loose on the hub. The disc could be stabilized using lug nuts and spacers. I also saw in a post on this forum and interesting tool for setting tow-in. It's sold by Low Range Off-Road.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/diy-alignment-toe-set-tool-5-lug-patterns.html \

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andy29847 said:
I like to use the tire center line for the final check, RE: toe-in. One of the issues with using the brake disc is that the disc is loose on the hub. The disc could be stabilized using lug nuts and spacers. I also saw in a post on this forum and interesting tool for setting tow-in. It's sold by Low Range Off-Road.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/diy-alignment-toe-set-tool-5-lug-patterns.html \

View attachment 86658
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We have a handful of 1/2-20 nuts with washers. Takes 30 seconds per side to hold the rotor in place.
 
I lift the front tires off the ground just enough to rotate freely and put jack stands under the axle. I screw a 1/4” long self tap screw into a tread sipe on each tire around the center line and take a measurment with both screws facing straight ahead, then rotate the tires until the screws face toward the rear of the Jeep then take another measurement, then adjust the tie rod until the front measurement is 3/16” smaller than the rear measurement.
I’ve been doing it this way for 20 years without an issue.
 
Thank you for this thread! Would’ve taken me longer to drive to the shop in town than it did to set the tow and align steering wheel up. Thank you
 
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When using the plates wouldn't the raised lettering on the tires play a factor if the plates didn't line up on in the exact same spot on each tire?
 
Thank you Jerry for your (older) post! (and everyone else that contributed after)
I just did this alignment method (Jerry Bransford's original post on page 1) after installing my new Savvy Ultimate Steering (Currie Correctlync w/ aluminum tie rod).

You just saved me a lot of money, a lot of time and convenience. (Due to the complications of travel to the club's recommended 4x4 alignment shop vs work hours). I wish I knew about this method earlier.
fyi - your contributions to this forum have helped me personally a good number of times. I just want to state that it's highly appreciated.
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Jerry Bransford said:
Here's how to check and adjust your own toe-in that also includes how to center the steering wheel. Using the info at http://www.4x4xplor.com/alignment.html, set your toe-in so the fronts of the tires are 1/16" to 3/16" closer together in front than in the rear. This is done by loosening the clamps that hold the tie rod to the tie rod ends, then rotating the tie rod until you get the desired amount of toe-in. Use a tape measure to measure the distance between the tires at the front and rear.

View attachment 116

If the tie rod is too tight to turn using pliers or vise grips, spray the ends with a penetrant like Kroil, Break-Free, or Liquid Wrench. No, WD-40 is not a suitable substitute. Give it some time to work its way into the threads. Then use a pipe wrench on the tie rod to break it loose from where it was seized to the tie rod ends. Better yet, entirely remove the tie rod and dab a little Antiseize on its threads so it will never seize again.

For an easier and more repeatable way of measuring your toe-in than measuring between the tires, use a pair of 1" square aluminum tubes as in the below photos and use them to measure between. Center and hold the square tubes to the rotors with spring steel clamps after marking them at points equal to the diameter of your tires.

Using just a little care, your toe-in setting will be just as accurate as an alignment specialist can produce using an alignment rack. Plus you can be done in 5-15 minutes from start to finish, quicker than you can even drive to the alignment shop. Not to mention you can do this on your own for free vs. the $70-90 an alignment shop charges for something that is far easier to do than most people would ever guess.

This is all that an alignment shop can do to your TJ, this is the sum extent of an alignment where a TJ is concerned. Neither your caster angle nor your camber angle is adjustable without aftermarket parts so without those, only your toe-in is adjustable. There is no real need to waste your money by paying an alignment shop for an alignment since all they're going to do is set your toe-in and center your steering wheel. Both of which are too easy to do for anyone here to pay for.

Re-centering the steering wheel is required whenever the toe-in is adjusted or when the suspension height changes. That is easily done by rotating the short adjustment link on the drag link after loosening its two clamps.

Make sure the front of your TJ is supported by jack stands placed under the front axle. The front axle must be supporting the weight of the vehicle, the Jeep cannot be supported from the frame during the toe-in check and adjustment.

View attachment 115

The above two photos are courtesy of Mrblaine, a true guru of all things jeep.
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Great write up Jerry, love the bars. for others, I have an alternative method that I used for years - learned it at the race track. Tie a string around the tires. String should be in the center of each tire, and on the edges of the tires, not on a knob. This checks the 4 wheel alignment and gives you a close estimate of toe in. With the rear of the front tires touching the string, there should be 1/16" between the string and front of each tire. That's a total of 1/8" toe in. The string is easy to tie and again, checks the alignment of all 4 tires and makes setting the front super easy without the error of a tape measure. Note: it is more difficult to check toe in vs. checking toe out, however, it still gives you an approximate alignment balance between the tires to check steering wheel center.
As most of you know, Jeeps have a natural camber because the bottom of the wheels slant out further than the tops. When aligning, its critical to measure at the same height in the front and back of the tires when measuring toe out or toe in. if you don't, there can be big differences just from the "camber" in the wheel.

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I’m going to start doing these at home going forward.

I bought the Firestone lifetime alignment and got wicked shakes this week (not even 2 weeks after my second usage). After thinking it’s a million other things since I just got an alignment, I found they forgot to tighten every single clamp bolt. Potentially incredibly dangerous. No thanks...
 
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