Jeep is wandering at 60+ mph

Emmakschroed

New Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2023
Messages
17
Location
Jefferson City, MO
I have a 2005 jeep wrangler manual TJ I bought about a month ago. It has a rough country lift and aftermarket ironman tires. I had no issues driving backroads or highways when I first bought it and drove it daily to school and work on the highway; backroads on the weekends. My father is a mechanic and wanted to replace the wheel bearings because they had some wear when I purchased the jeep. After replacing them when brand-new wheel bearings my jeep will randomly swerve around on the highway after I get up to about 60 mph or faster. He has since then tried a few things to help: added maximum caster and toe in. checked all the bushings, aligned everything, and let some air out of the tires. While these things made it easier to manage on the highway, I still don't think I should give up on figuring out why it isn't driving how it did when I first bought it. I know sometimes the drop pitman arm can make a jeep wander as well but mine is stock. Any ideas or suggestions?
 
Welcome to the forum Emma. Can you post several good well-lit (use a flash) close photos of your front-end showing the steering system from straight on, from the side pointed at the Pitman arm area, and the driver's side mount for the track bar? And I am wondering what your father meant by "maximum" toe-in? It should be .30 total or .15 degrees per side, which is roughly what you get when the fronts of the front tires are roughly 1/16" to 1/8" closer together than the rears of tires are. What caster angle are they set to now?

Suddenly swerving has me concerned though, maybe a bad front brake caliper that is sticking?

FrontEnd.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum Emma. Can you post several good well-lit (use a flash) close photos of your front-end showing the steering system from straight on, from the side pointed at the Pitman arm area, and the driver's side mount for the track bar? And I am wondering what your father meant by "maximum" toe-in? It should be .30 total or .15 degrees per side, which is roughly what you get when the fronts of the front tires are roughly 1/16" to 1/8" closer together than the rears of tires are. What caster angle are they set to now?

Suddenly swerving has me concerned though, maybe a bad front brake caliper that is sticking?

View attachment 393141


The caster is 7 degrees and toe in is .3 inches. My dad is taking it in tomorrow to bring the toe in back down some and see how it does with that since it is at a point where I'm going to run through my tread faster than I really should. Below are the attached pictures.

Jeep 3.jpg


jeep 4.jpg


jeep 5.jpg


Jeep.jpg


Jeep2.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
  • Like
Reactions: TJ Jim
Those 12 ply tires aren't helping you any. I just looked and Ironman 35 12.50 18 are 12 ply. You might and this is something @Jerry Bransford knows more than me about, you might be able to run a lower psi.

I am running 24 in my 10ply 285 75 16 tires.

Okay! I'll have dad take some more air out tomorrow when he brings it in. He actually made a joke to me about that previously; that I could probably run about 8 and not hurt the tires, Haha! Thank you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: John Cooper
  • Like
Reactions: John Cooper
The whole front end looks clean and greased. How is the track bar bushing at axle (assuming tie rod end is fine? Any play in that will cause wondering or excessive steering. Otherwise your alignment looks within spec.

Note on alignment specs: that is for factory conditions: ie tire size and suspension height. Since both have been modified, caster and toe (camber is fixed for a solid axle, unless you make it smile) might have to also be adjusted to fit the different parts. If all the steering parts and hubs are tight, running 1/4" total toe in might be too much as it is designed to accommodate for wearing parts and play in components. As the parts wear, the tires pull out wards (trying to be straight) and end up closer to 0 toe while rolling down the highway. The opposite can occur that with the bigger diameter tires, may show 1/4" toe in but while on the highway be foing past 0 toe, and then once past 0 the vehicle has the pick which tire to follow. That is when wondering starts to happen.

Summery: start with stock alignment numbers and then test drive. Make adjustments either way and record findings. Once you find what drives good, record those settings. Then put 2k-4k miles and check tire wear. If excessive tire wear adjust as needed. If good, make a sticker with "new" alignment specs and place on door jamb for the next alignment.
 
so do you have any idea why it would still be wandering?

We see this type thread over and over.

These are the prime suspects in no certain order-

- bad unit bearings

- low caster- TJ jeeps need negative caster

- toe incorrect

- toe won’t set (called toejam)

- rear control arm bushings loose /worn allowing rear stear

- radial pull, common with mud tires

- loose/worn connections in the linkage

- bushings worn or soft in any connections, especially the track bar

- cracked control arm mounts

- I’m going to add a steering gearbox can contribute to issues but really is not normally a factor-

Sometimes it’s not just one thing it’s just several things contributing a little bit together.

I’m sure I’m missing something but these are things to look at-

Most importantly I want to tell you you are on the right forum and you got some of the best people responding to you they can give you great advice. We can make these drive great.

Yours has had some money spent on it and appears to have been maintained - be persistent, don’t let anyone tell you that it’s just a Jeep and you have to live with bad steering.

If they do, slap them and tell them that’s from Jerry Bransford.
 
Last edited:
The whole front end looks clean and greased. How is the track bar bushing at axle (assuming tie rod end is fine? Any play in that will cause wondering or excessive steering. Otherwise your alignment looks within spec.

Note on alignment specs: that is for factory conditions: ie tire size and suspension height. Since both have been modified, caster and toe (camber is fixed for a solid axle, unless you make it smile) might have to also be adjusted to fit the different parts. If all the steering parts and hubs are tight, running 1/4" total toe in might be too much as it is designed to accommodate for wearing parts and play in components. As the parts wear, the tires pull out wards (trying to be straight) and end up closer to 0 toe while rolling down the highway. The opposite can occur that with the bigger diameter tires, may show 1/4" toe in but while on the highway be foing past 0 toe, and then once past 0 the vehicle has the pick which tire to follow. That is when wondering starts to happen.

Summery: start with stock alignment numbers and then test drive. Make adjustments either way and record findings. Once you find what drives good, record those settings. Then put 2k-4k miles and check tire wear. If excessive tire wear adjust as needed. If good, make a sticker with "new" alignment specs and place on door jamb for the next alignment.

We are keeping the caster at .3 and changing toe in closer to what it should be tomorrow to see what it does. Thank you!
 
We see this type thread over and over.

These are the prime suspects in no certain order-

- bad unit bearings

- low caster- TJ jeeps need negative caster

- toe incorrect

- toe won’t set (called toejam)

- rear control arm bushings loose /worn allowing rear stear

- radial pull, common with mud tires

- loose/worn connections in the linkage

- bushings worn or soft in any connections, especially the track bar

- cracked control arm mounts

- I’m going to add a steering gearbox can contribute to issues but really is not normally a factor-

Sometimes it’s not just one thing it’s just several things contributing a little bit together.

I’m sure I’m missing something but these are things to look at-

Most importantly I want to tell you you are on the right forum and you got some of the best people responding to you they can give you great advice. We can make these drive great.

Yours has had some money spent on it and appears to have been maintained - be persistent, don’t let anyone tell you that it’s just a cheap and you have to live with bad steering.

If they do, slap them and tell them that’s from Jerry Bransford.

Ha! that's funny! And I am really glad I found my way here. The Facebook jeep groups were not cutting it... either way, i have been told to sell it by an immediate family member recently (not my dad) and I keep refusing for that reason. I couldn't find another TJ for sale near me that had everything I wanted the way this one does... There has got to be something I just have to find it.

On Another note... Took it for a trip in town this evening and had no trouble... maybe the added caster helped? we will see once dad changes the toe in tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!!