98 TJ steering woes

[longdude17]

Gents,

I've recently re-entered the the jeep scene with a recently acquired 98 TJ that is having some steering issues. When I drive it, it is twitchy as hell....like going around a curve at 55 mph hit a bump and takes 2 seconds to recover from swerving around. Its to the point where my wife doesn't really want to drive it.

A little about the jeep...
98 TJ-137,000 miles
4.25 Zone lift, fixed length lowers front & rear, adjustable uppers front, stock uppers rear
Bilstein 5100 series shocks
2" body lift
35" Fierce Attitude tires mounted on 17" JKU Rubicon rims w/ 2" wheel spacer adapters
Auto Trans
3.73 gears w/ Yukon Spartan lunchbox lockers, up graded axles and a few miscellaneous mods to the engine.
Lift and mods have less than 30K miles on them

Looking at the tire wear patterns, it appears to be out of alignment, which is getting remedied at the moment, but I have no faith that will work. Another issue I've noticed is when going down a straight road at speed, if i let off the gas, coast for a sec, and get back into it, the ass of the jeep wants to pull to the right....or so it feels. Like there is a noticeable shimmy to the right side... thinking rear upper control arms or track bar is shot as they are most likely factory...

I adjusted the slack in the steering box which solved most of the hunting / sawing back and forth once the suspension was upset from the wonderful Louisiana roads.

From what I can tell, the Drag link and the track bar are factory, I'm guessing its a stock pitman arm, and the tie rods were changed within the last 25K miles.

So, my initial attack is if the front end alignment doesn't fix my twitchyness, I'm going to lower tire pressure to 25-25psi (currently at 30-32) and test ride....

If it still drives like its on ice, I'm going to start changing parts....BUT what are the best budget friendly parts to buy?

Also, I have adjustable upper arms on the front, please explain if adjusting these will help...

 

[2001slvrstntj]

Looks nice, lower the tires pressure as mentioned, get the alignment, and be sure the tires are balanced real good...then see how it acts. Good luck

 

[DaYooperTransplant]

Post up some decent clear pictures of your front end. The wise ones on this forum will be able to tell a lot from them, and hopefully get you on the right path to a well behaved Jeep.

 

[Gollywomper]

Alignment will make a bigger difference than you think. Our lifted jeeps are very sensitive to toe setting. 35s should be less than 25psi. Over inflated tires will cause it to ride rough and bounce around your lane on the road.

 

[Rubicon88]

You MUST do a dry steering test!!!!
Do this before any alignment and any suggestions from this forum....tire psi...etc..

Dry steering test first and foremost.
KOEO (key on engine off)
Tires on solid ground.
Have helper slowly steer back and forth a few inches...
(THIS IS NOT A RACE)
Check every joint...including the pitman (pitman arms are a softer material than steering box output shafts and do wear out)so yes watch very carefully both sides of the pitman. The splined side and the tie rod side.
Watch every steering joint post pitman.
Watch the track bar as well. Both ends.

It doesn't take much slop in these little machines...especially if modified and with big rubber...to make the vehicle go loco.

I'd start there and the more you observe I'd be willing to bet you find some worn items.

*****if you do find something bad...replace and retest. If you've got bad components further in the daisy chain than that bad one...they might not show up as the bad one is too sloppy to see the others.
Fix the bad item and retest.

Good luck.

 

[longdude17]

Well guys, just got it back from the alignment shop down the road....HOLY COW what a difference.

While its still not perfect, its immensely more driveable. Talked with the guy at the shop and he said it was out of toe pretty bad...like one was out one direction and the other out the other. Im fixed up and its much more pleasurable to drive now.

 

[AndyG]

No offense, just a neutral observation- that entire set up is going to fight good road manners and performance ——not sure the tire load range, but from your post , if the front end is stock and original at that mileage you need to check the unit bearings for play and every part with a dry test, consider lower psi and softer shocks and make sure your sway bar links are in great shape. A TJ can drive great, but it won’t by accident. Also the pitching it does points to loose control arms or more so to worn control arm bushings.