Big-time bumpsteer!

[Mandolinman]

Tj is all over the road except when on a flat concrete road. Just bought it 2 weeks ago. Very scary to drive. I think it has a 4in. Suspension lift and 1in. body. Also steering wheel does not return to center when turning left. Turning right it returns to center much better. It'll be on my friends lift next week. Maybe the 2 of us can figure it out. Here's some pics.

 

[97TJNM]

Ye gods, that dropped track bar bracket is an abortion. You need to get rid of that and re-establish the factory track bar mount location. Remove the dropped pitman arm and replace with a stock sized one.

With that much lift, get a decent adjustable track bar (I like JKS for value, but there are better ones)

Get upgraded steering. Currie Correctlync if you want really good, do a ZJ conversion if you want to save some money.

No need for a dual stabilizer setup. One should be fine. And if I wa sthat far into it, I'd probably do upper and lower ball joints just for the hell of it at that point.

All of that together isn't really a bad job. Should take less than a day. And depending on which parts you go with (JKS track bar, ZJ steering linkage, spicer ball joints, rancho stabilizer) it should run less than 500 bucks in parts. The biggest pain in the ass is going to be fixing that dropped track bar bracket.

Good luck!

 

[mrblaine]

Tj is all over the road except when on a flat concrete road. Just bought it 2 weeks ago. Very scary to drive. I think it has a 4in. Suspension lift and 1in. body. Also steering wheel does not return to center when turning left. Turning right it returns to center much better. It'll be on my friends lift next week. Maybe the 2 of us can figure it out. Here's some pics.

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First off, you don't have bumpsteer, you have shitsteer. Do NOT put it on a lift, that tells you exactly nothing. Look up and learn how to do the steering test with the motor running and diagnose the problems before you load up the parts shotgun and waste a lot of money and time doing crap you don't need to do.

 

[Mandolinman]

Thanks for the advice. Looking at my pics, the track bar and drag link are not parallel. Would that be the overall issue with the shitsteer. That's understood that I need lots of fixes with the suspension. I'm no mechanic by any means. Fact is I'm a disabled Veteran and my buddy will be doing most of the work. I just want to understand what's causing the problem.

 

[mrblaine]

Thanks for the advice. Looking at my pics, the track bar and drag link are not parallel. Would that be the overall issue with the shitsteer. That's understood that I need lots of fixes with the suspension. I'm no mechanic by any means. Fact is I'm a disabled Veteran and my buddy will be doing most of the work. I just want to understand what's causing the problem.

They are parallel enough to not cause your issues.

 

[AndyG]

The 2 stabilizers tell the story-someone was trying to get it under control- just ditch the dropped pitman arm and it will improve a lot- then dry test the steering and go from there-

The control arm bushings and sway bar link bushings need checked, check the caster and all toe too.

TJs will drive great if all is set up correctly and they have good tires. Otherwise they won’t.

Edited: Didn’t catch the dropped mount - I have one too if the mount is dropped and the pitman arm is dropped they are meant to work at the designed plane by doing that-

You need to find out what is moving the axle or linkage when you hit a bump.

 

[Mandolinman]

Your saying if I put the stock pitman arm on that would clear up most of the bump steer because I'd like to eliminate the bump steer first then move on to the rest of the suspension. Since this is the only issue with this tj .I want to know I'm moving ahead with confidence that this issue was resolved for the most part at least. Should I ditch the track bar fabbed mount simultaneously. Woooo!

 

[CMBD]

Your saying if I put the stock pitman arm on that would clear up most of the bump steer because I'd like to eliminate the bump steer first then move on to the rest of the suspension. Since this is the only issue with this tj .I want to know I'm moving ahead with confidence that this issue was resolved for the most part at least. Should I ditch the track bar fabbed mount simultaneously. Woooo!

A stock pitman arm is a needed part of your diagnosis path. Install it and go on to the next step.

 

[Mandolinman]

Understand. Thanks

 

[2001slvrstntj]

And welcome to the forum, you are all ready experiencing the knowledge here.

 

[mrblaine]

Your saying if I put the stock pitman arm on that would clear up most of the bump steer because I'd like to eliminate the bump steer first then move on to the rest of the suspension. Since this is the only issue with this tj .I want to know I'm moving ahead with confidence that this issue was resolved for the most part at least. Should I ditch the track bar fabbed mount simultaneously. Woooo!

I already said you do not have enough bumpsteer caused by that goofy trackbar set up and dropped pitman. Diagnose before you replace anything. Leave that trackbar mount and pitman alone until you find out what is causing the shitsteer.

 

[mrblaine]

A stock pitman arm is a needed part of your diagnosis path. Install it and go on to the next step.

No, if he does that, then he has to cut that dropped track bar mount off of the stock mount and that will fully bring the suck to do. He needs to diagnose using the test I told him to look up and learn.

 

[Woodrow]

With 4” of suspension lift, stock steering geometry should work well. So folks here get worked up about dropped pitman arms and rightly so. However, you also have a frame side track bar drop which should mostly cancel the effect of dropping the pitman arm. @mrblaine is quite the guru here (also sometimes grumpy). I’d follow his advice and do the steering test with the motor running before changing any parts. I also agree 2 steering stabilizers should not be required.

 

[mrblaine]

With 4” of suspension lift, stock steering geometry should work well. So folks here get worked up about dropped pitman arms and rightly so. However, you also have a frame side track bar drop which should mostly cancel the effect of dropping the pitman arm. @mrblaine is quite the guru here (also sometimes grumpy). I’d follow his advice and do the dry steering test before changing any parts. I also agree 2 steering stabilizers should not be required.

The steering test I told him to look up is with the motor running. Understand why I get grumpy yet?

 

[Woodrow]

The steering test I told him to look up is with the motor running. Understand why I get grumpy yet?

Yep. My bad. I edited my post.

 

[mrblaine]

Yep. My bad. I edited my post.

See the welds on that drop trackbar mount?

 

[Woodrow]

Yes, but perhaps not what you’re seeing. Rusty. Can’t say much about quality or if they are failing. I DO see a bolt vertically and what looks to be another horizontally connecting the drop to the stock bracket. I also would be nervous about the increased leverage on the weld of the stock bracket to the frame.

 

[mrblaine]

Yes, but perhaps not what you’re seeing. Rusty. Can’t say much about quality or if they are failing. I DO see a bolt vertically and what looks to be another horizontally connecting the drop to the stock bracket. I also would be nervous about the increased leverage on the weld of the stock bracket to the frame.

They aren't failing, at all which is pretty much the point. It is a right pain in the ass to cut that off of there and hope the stock mount is still useable. The leverage is a concern but easily mitigated after we find out what all is deficient.

 

[srimes]

Don't listen to the folks telling you to remove the drop pitman arm. That's standard advise for people with a drop pitman but stock trackbar mount. If you change the pitman you have to change the trackbar mount, and for now they look reasonably close.

Listen to mrblaine and do the steering check. Something(s) very worn, maybe broken.

 

[AndyG]

Don't listen to the folks telling you to remove the drop pitman arm. That's standard advise for people with a drop pitman but stock trackbar mount. If you change the pitman you have to change the trackbar mount, and for now they look reasonably close.

Listen to mrblaine and do the steering check. Something(s) very worn, maybe broken.

He’s right on that.