Installing control arms and aligning help

[MtnRanger160]

So, moved to Missouri now and I think I've got some sever alignment issues. I have all 4 control arms from Savvy installed up front and will be putting on the 4 rear this weekend. Right now, I've got steering wheel shimmy, a slight pull to the right, vibrations between 20-40mph and then again about 60. The steering wheel shudders when going up hill and down hill, but goes away downhill if I coast in neutral. Replaced all u-joints up front. Toe-in is good and is at 1/16" toe-in. I've got a loud smacking noise on take off too and a squealing pitch that is loud at slow speeds but goes away at higher speeds.

After I put these rear control arms on I'm not sure where I should go with it. Anyone done their own full alignment that could provide some pointer? The more I read the more I think I'm missing things: Squaring axles, pinion angle up front should be 1 degree lower?, bump stops for 4" lift, and many more things. The Jeep is in bad shape right now and I've got this whole weekend to fix it. I appreciate any assistance.

 

[tworley]

Ive used this thread before, lots of information
https://bit.ly/2NjBJSw

As well as this
https://bit.ly/2NG4WY5

And this
https://bit.ly/2NE5KMZ

 

[MtnRanger160]

Thank you, I've read one of these but there's good info in here. Hope this clarifies things for me

 

[tworley]

Is it just me or do the links not work?

 

[Alex01]

Is it just me or do the links not work?

you need to insert (wrangler forum .com ), in the middle where the ******* are

 

[JeepmanMcGruber]

I did mine on my own.
First things first, are the control arms adjustable?
If so, screw them all the way in until they’re all exactly matching.
Next, unscrew them X times until they’re to the length you need. Do this for all of them.
Your upper CA’s are different than lower, and since you put a lift on it, you’re going to need to extend your uppers out a little more to get the correct pinion angle.
You can eyeball the alignment until you get it to a shop to dial it in, but that should get you there until then.

 

[Chris]

Is it just me or do the links not work?

I fixed them for you. JeepForum and WranglerForum started some sort of war with me (for unknown reasons), which I documented here: Why are Wrangler Forum and Jeep Forum blocked?

Anyways, sorry to derail this thread. Just wanted to point that out.

Carry on!

 

[MtnRanger160]

I did mine on my own.
First things first, are the control arms adjustable?
If so, screw them all the way in until they’re all exactly matching.
Next, unscrew them X times until they’re to the length you need. Do this for all of them.
Your upper CA’s are different than lower, and since you put a lift on it, you’re going to need to extend your uppers out a little more to get the correct pinion angle.
You can eyeball the alignment until you get it to a shop to dial it in, but that should get you there until then.

Thank you. I got them pretty well adjusted this weekend. I made sure the axles were squared by measuring from the nutserts on the skid plate. Then I adjusted them to by measuring diagonal from axle to axle. Rear pinion was about 3 degrees lower than the D/S and is now only 1 degree lower. The front is also 1 degree lower than the front D/S. Should the front pinion angle be just as low as the rear. The beast drives way better now and even shifts better too. However, I noticed today that my passenger side ball joints are moving and I literally replaced them only 7k miles ago. They were Synergy. Drivers side is tight and do not move at all.

 

[JeepmanMcGruber]

Thank you. I got them pretty well adjusted this weekend. I made sure the axles were squared by measuring from the nutserts on the skid plate. Then I adjusted them to by measuring diagonal from axle to axle. Rear pinion was about 3 degrees lower than the D/S and is now only 1 degree lower. The front is also 1 degree lower than the front D/S. Should the front pinion angle be just as low as the rear. The beast drives way better now and even shifts better too. However, I noticed today that my passenger side ball joints are moving and I literally replaced them only 7k miles ago. They were Synergy. Drivers side is tight and do not move at all.

You should always have things re-tightened around 500 miles after install. I had a loose bolt or two that i thought would never move.
Get it checked out. Ball joint shouldn’t be “loose”.