LJ handles worse after 4" RockJock and Fox 2.0 install
- Thread starter kafrank05
- Start date
The track bar at the frame mount would benefit from being straightened out.
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View attachment 660199
Your wife lets you park your Jeep in the living room?
Thanks all and sorry for the late reply! This does appear to have a drop pitman arm as you all suggested. The shop didn't mention anything about the pitman arm. Not throwing anyone under the bus. Totally my fault. I should have been the one to research more. Now that I see this, it appears this is a pretty widely known issue in the community.
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Disclaimer - I admittedly know very little about TJ's in relation to the people on this forum. Stupid configurations and questions should be expected.
Apologies for this neverending thread. And everyone was right about the drop pitman arm. I did indeed have one. I replaced it with a stock pitman arm, which by the way turned out to much more difficult than I thought it would be ( felt like I needed a degree in physics to get the pitman arm off ). I took my jeep out after the replacement. In my head it drove better. The steering also felt lighter. Then I tried adjusting my toe angle to the recommended 1/8" to 1/4" (the before measurement was 1.5".) I adjusted it the best I could to 1/4". This seemed to make the ride a bit worse than the previous toe angle though. Now that I have put quite a bit of miles on it since doing this work, I'm at a loss as to why this thing handles like it does. The pitman arm replacement had a mild improvement. But the ride remains harsher than my previous LJ. Admittedly the roads where I live now are ridiculously bumpy. Driving them feels like being on an old wooden roller coaster that is about to collapse. The ride characteristics I'm experiencing: extremely jarring, and twists when hitting bumps. Can someone recommend anything else to check? Shocks / springs, geometry of something else? I can get more pictures if needed.
Apologies for this neverending thread. And everyone was right about the drop pitman arm. I did indeed have one. I replaced it with a stock pitman arm, which by the way turned out to much more difficult than I thought it would be ( felt like I needed a degree in physics to get the pitman arm off ). I took my jeep out after the replacement. In my head it drove better. The steering also felt lighter. Then I tried adjusting my toe angle to the recommended 1/8" to 1/4" (the before measurement was 1.5".) I adjusted it the best I could to 1/4". This seemed to make the ride a bit worse than the previous toe angle though. Now that I have put quite a bit of miles on it since doing this work, I'm at a loss as to why this thing handles like it does. The pitman arm replacement had a mild improvement. But the ride remains harsher than my previous LJ. Admittedly the roads where I live now are ridiculously bumpy. Driving them feels like being on an old wooden roller coaster that is about to collapse. The ride characteristics I'm experiencing: extremely jarring, and twists when hitting bumps. Can someone recommend anything else to check? Shocks / springs, geometry of something else? I can get more pictures if needed.
Shocks are the #1 factor in ride quality. They need to be the right length for your lift so half the shaft is showing at ride height. They have to be the ones you like. Most here like Rancho 5000x or Skyjacker Blackmax.
After shocks tire pressure should be right. 24-25 for 35’s, 26 for 33’s.
Your Fox 2.0’s, are they non reservoirs? If so those are known to ride very stiff.
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Where ride quality is concerned, the reservoir matters far less than the valving does. The two should not be conflated.
Are they tunable? Or is there just a little dial for self-adjustments?
You need tunable or try another shock.
I’m assuming you have adjustable arms if theyre rock jock, how are your pinion angles ?
That reservoir looks like it's asking to get ripped off in that position
If the reservoir hasn't been ripped off of the upper spring seat, then you can make a few educated assumptions about other things that have and have not happened.
Must live near a mall without speed bumps
Is there some reason the left swaybar link is disconnected?
Ok. This is what I was hoping for. These are the things I struggle with. Yes they are rock jock adjustable. Very likely the adjustments and angles are out of whack. Perhaps i can plug in pinion angles in the search on this forum to see if there are some recommended specs...
The pinion specs are whatever eliminates driveshaft vibration and also position the axle in a place that stuff doesn't crash into other things as the suspension cycles. The spec is not a measurement.
I was waiting for this. Thank you for looking closely at the pics Sir! That was indeed one of the handling issues I was dealing with. The shop that did my lift installed the wrong bolts. Long story behind that.
I am boycotting the mall due to their perilous speed bumps. When they decide they want my business again they are going to have to remove those.