Ride Quality
- Thread starter Gasman1979
- Start date
Can you explain the drop ? I’m not sure what you’re referring to. That’s why I assumed it was a typo.
The skid plate that runs across the middle of the Jeep is what the transmission mounts to. It's fastened to the frame using 6 bolts, three per side, into nutserts in the frame. Normally that skid plate is mounted flush to the bottom of the frame, but yours is spaced down some. This isn't an uncommon thing for people to do, it helps eliminate drivetrain vibrations at the rear when the driveshaft angle becomes too severe from a lift. It's a compromise, as you're losing ground clearance. There are ways to lift that skid back up or even replace it was with a much higher clearance skid plate (ie tummy tuck) but it's involved and somewhat expensive.
This is almost certainly unrelated to your handling issues, I just wanted to point it out since you said you're new to all this stuff, and eventually you're going to see people talking about transfercase drops.
The drop is the spacers between the frame rails and the skid plate. Factory the skid plate is up against the rails... some lifts include the spacers, because at 3 inches and up on lifts, you could end up with driveline vibrations.
I also noticed nothing too far out of ordinary with the front setup, aside from the track bar frame mount. You'll want to take care of that by removing the bracket and using the factory location. Only issue you might see is the front axle no longer centered, but there are adjustable track bars that solve that problem.
Awesome. I didn’t even notice it ! I’ve had lots of 4x4 and a Cherokee once but never a Jeep like this. So there’s definitely a learning curve on some of this stuff for me. I appreciate the patience and good explanations
What would have been the purpose of it ? I mean the pitman looks OEM. I assume the bracket would mate with a pitman drop correct ? Possibly something that came in the lift kit they installed not knowing any better.
Let me try to explain the steering better. It wanders pretty bad. Hit a bump and it drives like my old Sonoma I used 3” tortion keys to lift. (Don’t do that btw). Bump steer BAD. when you take a turn it’s kinda jerky, like you steer and it takes a bit to catch up or over steers. I hope that helps some.
If you use stock mounting points for both the track bar and steering linkages your bump steer will be nil.
The bump steer is most likely being caused by the difference in angles in the drag link and the track bar, because of that track bar bracket. Both the drag link (from the pitman arm to the passenger knuckle) and the track bar (frame mount to the axle mount) should be on the same plane and angles... if not, bump steer.
Okay, I know I'm about to get toasted here, but I feel I just can't sit on this anymore. When I needed new shocks a few years ago, I really wanted to go with Fox 2.0s. At the time, I had a suspension lift of about 2.5". While measuring for shocks, I found that the front Fox shocks were not a good fit in that the 0-2" measured out too short for my application, and the 3-4.5" were too long, so I started looking for something similar, but in a size that would fit my build.
About the only thing I found that was of similar construction to the Fox 2.0 was the then new Rough Country V2, and the sizes were perfect for what I had. So, I started searching the web for "Rough Country V2 Jeep TJ". I couldn't find any direct hits. The only reviews I did find on these particular shocks were on bigger truck applications, but they were all positive reviews. I even heard some folks say things like, "Forget what you used to think about Rough Country. These shocks are actually nice.". At $130 per shock, the price was considerably higher than the "budget" shocks on the market, but still about $50 per shock less than the Fox 2.0.
I figured I'd roll the dice and order a set. I was replacing my worn out Rancho 5000 (pre X model) shocks. Once I had them mounted, I took them for a ride over a particular stretch of road in my area that I knew was rough and in need of some repair. I was really happy with the ride they provided. They were very complaint with no harshness. They were a real improvement over what I had been riding on.
Then, I found this forum. I had been familiar with guys like Blaine and Jerry from other forums they were once active on, so I figured this was the place to be. I was right. But, Imagine my terror when I started reading the absolute disgust for all things Rough Country around here.
I started thinking that maybe my old shocks were so worn that these new shocks just felt good in comparison, but were actually not that good at all. So, I decided to order a set of Black Max shocks to compare them to and decided that I'd keep the shocks that felt best and sell the others since neither set would have more than a couple hundred miles on them. To my delight, the Rough Country V2s rode at least as nice as the Black Maxes did on road and did really well off road, as well. I decided to go with the V2s. I didn't have to sell the Black Maxes because just after I made my decision, my son purchased a 2001 TJ that he immediately lifted 2" and was in need of new shocks, so he's riding on them now.So, to wrap up this rather long winded post, I would say that either my old ass is not an accurate tool for testing ride smoothness, or that ALL Rough Country components suck...except the V2 shocks.
Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I also have a Rough Country motor mount lift, but how do you screw up a chunk of aluminium?
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It looks like what you have is a Rough Country Track Bar and mount. The factory track bar is a stud design that mounts vertically through the frame side mount. The Rough Country mount swaps to a horizontal bushing. It honestly kind of looks like the difference in geometry would be fairly minimal, but I'm sure it's still present to get the clearance needed at the bushing. Why they chose to make that change I don't know. Cheaper parts under the guise of better articulation, maybe. Fixing something that isn't broken by breaking it.
So I'm not sure that's the biggest issue and you can't just remove the mount, you'd need a new track bar. For the time being I'd at least make sure that mount is 100% solid and not moving around, since it appears to just be bolted on.
I think the
And of course fixing that track bar geometry would also rely on ensuring that pitman arm is one with factory dimensions. I know others have said it looks like it is, but to me it's almost impossible to tell with certainty from photos.
Okay, I know I'm about to get toasted here, but I feel I just can't sit on this anymore. When I needed new shocks a few years ago, I really wanted to go with Fox 2.0s. At the time, I had a suspension lift of about 2.5". While measuring for shocks, I found that the front Fox shocks were not a good fit in that the 0-2" measured out too short for my application, and the 3-4.5" were too long, so I started looking for something similar, but in a size that would fit my build.
About the only thing I found that was of similar construction to the Fox 2.0 was the then new Rough Country V2, and the sizes were perfect for what I had. So, I started searching the web for "Rough Country V2 Jeep TJ". I couldn't find any direct hits. The only reviews I did find on these particular shocks were on bigger truck applications, but they were all positive reviews. I even heard some folks say things like, "Forget what you used to think about Rough Country. These shocks are actually nice.". At $130 per shock, the price was considerably higher than the "budget" shocks on the market, but still about $50 per shock less than the Fox 2.0.
I figured I'd roll the dice and order a set. I was replacing my worn out Rancho 5000 (pre X model) shocks. Once I had them mounted, I took them for a ride over a particular stretch of road in my area that I knew was rough and in need of some repair. I was really happy with the ride they provided. They were very complaint with no harshness. They were a real improvement over what I had been riding on.
Then, I found this forum. I had been familiar with guys like Blaine and Jerry from other forums they were once active on, so I figured this was the place to be. I was right. But, Imagine my terror when I started reading the absolute disgust for all things Rough Country around here.
So, to wrap up this rather long winded post, I would say that either my old ass is not an accurate tool for testing ride smoothness, or that ALL Rough Country components suck...except the V2 shocks.
Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I also have a Rough Country motor mount lift, but how do you screw up a chunk of aluminium?
I don't want companies to make shitty products, so if it turns out Rough Country is making good shocks now I'm glad and I'll stop trash talking them. But the ones I owned in the past were beyond garbage. They weren't the V2s. Does the OP have V2s? I can't see them and I'm not familiar with the branding. Bad reputations are hard to overcome. And I have no experience with Black Max shocks.
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I have the JKS TB, and it is great, and does what it's supposed to. I can't compare it to anything other than stock though. The biggest detractor to the JKS, and the Rockjock TB, is you have to bore out the frame side mount to go from the tapered fit to a straight through bolt.
Don't get me wrong, I fully believe Rough Country's negative reputation is well earned and I think people should be warned about them. I'm also not trying to ridicule anyone who points out how truly awful their stuff is, in general. I'm simply saying that I actually bought something they sell, skeptical of what I was getting, but, on paper at least, the product fit my needs better than anything else I could find at the time, so I decided to take the gamble and it worked out for me.
If anyone asked my opinion on Rough Country, I'd tell them that I own their V2 shocks and their MML, and I am happy with both products. But, in general, you can do much better than Rough Country products, so beware.
I don't believe the OP has the V2s, but not sure.
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Which in this case might be a good idea anyway, since the Rough Country bracket mounts with a bolt through that taper hole it looks like. I didn't look up installation instructions but it's possible it's already been drilled out or damaged. Something the OP will have to look into.
I’m not sure what they are to be honest. I just know they are Rough Country by what I can make out on the labeling. I guess I roamed off into my ADD territory when I posted. The ride itself isn’t terrible. It’s stiff as hell for sure. It’s more the steering really and you guys have pointed out some great things to look at when I get home today. It’s not my day to work the kennels at our dog rescue so I’ll have plenty of time this evening to hopefully make some headway on the lean running A/F ratio and this steering/ride stuff.
Your description of what it's doing definitely sounds more bump steery to me, so I probably wouldn't worry about the shocks just yet, especially if the ride doesn't seem terrible. If the shocks are so bad that it impacts vehicle stability, it's not comfortable.
You may have posted already, but what is your tire size, wheel width and backspacing, and what tire pressure do you run? Excessively small backspacing (wide track width and scrub radius) will make the vehicle want to follow imperfections in the road. I've seen people say even running too much tire pressure has made their TJ feel less planted.
Food for thought on the track bar...some people actually choose the RC track bar on purpose because the bend around the front axle pumpkin is actually very generous and clears the cover better than most. I've never had one in my hand to measure how much the pivot point moves from the OE rod end but it doesn't look like it'd be as severe as an actual "drop bracket" that goes between the frame mount and a more OE-like single-shear mounted bar.