Mud dauber's 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

OK Drama ensued!!

Front tires would not follow the Jeep Straight.
Key was in ignition, to one click.
reading the “Problem with towing “ thread It is probably a tire alignment/ caster issue. So I will have that checked tomorrow.

For a LJ what is the toe in specs is it this? Total toe: +0.30 degrees (or +0.15 degrees per side) +/- 0.06 degrees And is this best for towing?

I do not have adjustable control arms

The recommendation from the tow bar manufacturer is fully inflate tire? My BFG KO2 say 50 psi cold. What is the best suggestion for this?

Anything else I should look at or have checked. It really towed poorly!!

Thanks Scott
 
Sorry to hear, is the tow bar level with the ball hitch? It sounds most likely an alignment issue. Was the jeep wrecked before?
Mud dauber said:
OK Drama ensued!!

Front tires would not follow the Jeep Straight.
Key was in ignition, to one click.
reading the “Problem with towing “ thread It is probably a tire alignment/ caster issue. So I will have that checked tomorrow.

For a LJ what is the toe in specs is it this? Total toe: +0.30 degrees (or +0.15 degrees per side) +/- 0.06 degrees And is this best for towing?

I do not have adjustable control arms

The recommendation from the tow bar manufacturer is fully inflate tire? My BFG KO2 say 50 psi cold. What is the best suggestion for this?

Anything else I should look at or have checked. It really towed poorly!!

Thanks Scott
Click to expand...
 
Hi
Thanks for the reply.

There is a one inch difference between the tow bar connection and the hitch ball.

The Jeep has a salvage title. It was a low speed rollover. The beginning of this thread shows the truck when I first saw it. It rides down the road nice.
 
So the alignment shop said the co
Bushings have quite a bit of play in them. And the steering damper is leaking. That is all they did because “ he couldn’t get accurate alignment results.

So I have to decide what to do about control arms. I doubt I will go much above a three in lift and it has two inches now. My build plan is up in the air but I thought I would add lockers and replace the front axel with something stronger at some point. I certainly could be more
Precise after our trip.
Any thoughts about this situation?
 
So the alignment shop said the front
Bushings have some play in them. And the steering damper is leaking. That is all they did because “ he wouldn’t get accurate alignment results.

So I have to decide what to do about replacing bushings or adding control arms. I doubt I will go much above a three in lift and it has two inches now. My build plan is up in the air but I thought I would add lockers and replace the front axel with something stronger at some point. I certainly could be more
Precise after our trip out west this summer. If I spent the money on nice adjustable Currie control arms. Would they still be usable with a slightly higher lift.
Any thoughts about this situation?
 
This is the position of the front adjuster.

8B10EC04-D564-43BF-B06A-5F013F46AB43.jpeg
 
I'd find another shop. If they are shot (cracked and soft) you can replace all 8 with factory style replacements for about 200 bucks. They will be fine, most likely.
 
FYI while the vehicle is sitting on the ground I can wiggle the control arms. Probably not the way it is supposed to be!
 
Ok, I have read most everything I can find here about my needs. Here is what it comes down to. Stay stock! You can’t fix a design that is not broken. Just replace the worn out parts.

Bottom line is don’t go putting some crazy stiff control arms on the axel and expect the Axel control arm mount not to break off at some in opportune moment.

If you look at the amount of work necessary to just replace the bushings for me it is money well spent to replace the arms.

Again Thanks I think this will certainly help with my towing issue.

B9B8ED56-9087-4FBA-8BBC-7F0E8C0E877B.png
 
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So your towing issue was solved by putting setting the key correctly in the ignition? I.e. your steering wheel wasn’t free like you thought? That’s a cheap fix haha!

I’m interested in what you wrote above though; “stay stock, you can’t fix a design that’s not broken“.

Does this mean you’ve decided to replace your OE control arms with new OE control arms? What ultimately lead you to this conclusion?
 
Hughesy said:
So your towing issue was solved by putting setting the key correctly in the ignition? I.e. your steering wheel wasn’t free like you thought? That’s a cheap fix haha!

I’m interested in what you wrote above though; “stay stock, you can’t fix a design that’s not broken“.

Does this mean you’ve decided to replace your OE control arms with new OE control arms? What ultimately lead you to this conclusion?
Click to expand...
Hello

I don’t want you to think that Stock is the way to ultimately go.

I initially was surprised by the fact that my Jeep would not flat tow. I figured I was going to have to invest in some adjustable control arms to solve my towing issue.

Some of the available adjustable upper control arms are very stiff. Making it possible that they could under the right circumstances tear off a control arm mount.

I am under a time restraint. I am leaving for Colorado next week. I had no good plan to further upgrade my suspension within that amount of time. So I decided to stay stock and not upset a good design at this time. That I hoped would solve my towing issue. Hope this makes some better sense.
 
Mud dauber said:
Hello

I don’t want you to think that Stock is the way to ultimately go.

I initially was surprised by the fact that my Jeep would not flat tow. I figured I was going to have to invest in some adjustable control arms to solve my towing issue.

Some of the available adjustable upper control arms are very stiff. Making it possible that they could under the right circumstances tear off a control arm mount.

I am under a time restraint. I am leaving for Colorado next week. I had no good plan to further upgrade my suspension within that amount of time. So I decided to stay stock and not upset a good design at this time. That I hoped would solve my towing issue. Hope this makes some better sense.
Click to expand...
100% thanks for the clarity haha!

good luck and I hope you enjoy your trip.
 
Well the steering dampener was replaced today. I used a Rancho damper. The new one is about twice as stiff in movement as the one it replaces. I took it for a spin and it does feel pretty good. Ready to roll to Colorado.
 
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After my first expert trail I have quickly discovered the benefit of gearing upgrades. So I guess my first question to explore is, Do I want to keep the automatic transmission it came with stock. Maybe go with this one until it blows up. Next, Do I want to upgrade to a Dana 44 up front? I am leaning toward e-lockers because I am more comfortable chasing down electric issues. All questions I am sure I will find my answers to here.
 
New issue to report. During our recent field trip to Telluride the radiator decided to start a leak. Fortunately it was not a catastrophic issue so we were able to make it home to Crested Butte.

I have a OEM radiator on order. And expect replacement by a mechanic on Thursday at great cost to management. Not out of line with what I have seen charged to folks here but still, if I was home I maybe able to do it myself. They assured me they will go through the entire system and look for other problems.
 
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