Centering front axle

[Jackjack97]

Okay so I am bumping my front axle and trying to get it centered front to back. Going down the road my steering wheel is turned about 1/4 of a turn to the right in order to go straight. My passenger side controll arm is shorter than the drivers side arm by about a 1/4 inch. My spring perch on the passenger side is also about 1/4 inch further back than the driver side. I do not want to fix that spring perch I will have to just deal with that part. Now my question is should I center the axle under bump stops, center it by making both lower controll arms the same length, or try and get it centered by adjusting the controll arms to where both sides of the axle is in the same point under the Jeep. One last thing. The passenger spring is slightly bent forward more than the driver side which I expect but both springs are still curved.

 

[Tob]

Bumpstops. There is an adjustment sleeve on the drag link to align your steering wheel. It's irrelevant to the alignment of the axle.

 

[LONGJP2]

If the control arm bushings are good, then the actual length is not important. Measure to check that the axle is square to the frame. Try using the skid plate mounting bolts as a reference.

Bumpstops should be lined up with springs out, or as close as possible with everything else clearing
Don't worry about springs bending.
Steering wheel can be adjusted with drag link.

 

[Goatman]

You want the axle square to the frame. If it isn't then it will want to crab walk it's way down the road. Steering is a separate system and needs to have the steering wheel at 12:00 for the power steering box to apply pressure eventually in both directions.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I start by centering the axle on the bump stops front-to-back. Then with the springs back in and supporting it's own weight I set both sides so they're equal distances from the middle transfer case bolt (front is fine, but the flange on the stock skid gets in the way of a straight shot with my tape measure). If possible, I try to take the difference out of both sides, but on the last one I did, I had to take it all out of the passenger side because moving the driver side forward would have pushed my diff cover bolt into the JJ housing gusset on my Currie track bar.

Centering side to side I do this:
How-to align your axle with an adjustable track bar | Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum