So I bought my first jeep and it's in very good condition!! Only problem I'm having is it's got 2" wheel spacers with 32" tires and on brick ,dirt and rough roads it's like I can't keep the jeep going straight???? On a nice highway or paved road it's a lot better !! Is this due to the spacers or not? And if I take the spacers off will my front tires hit ?? It does have a lift on it I'm thinking it's 2" but not for sure !!
Squirlie jeep
- Thread starter JohnBravo81
- Start date
Well, that's pretty normal actually. If you're driving down a rough road with imperfections in it, there's no way it's going to go straight without a lot of input from you via the steering wheel.
Now if it does that on the highway and on smooth roads, then you'd have an issue.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check your alignment and toe-in just to be sure. That should always be done after installing a lift anyways.
BTW, nice TJ!
Now if it does that on the highway and on smooth roads, then you'd have an issue.
I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check your alignment and toe-in just to be sure. That should always be done after installing a lift anyways.
BTW, nice TJ!
Also, if you take the spacers off your tires likely won't hit the fenders. Of course that depends on two factors:
1) How much you're flexing
2) If the lift was properly bump stopped
If the lift was properly bump stopped, you won't hit the fenders no matter what.
Personally I would remove those wheel spacers. 2" is way too much for wheel spacers, and they can be kind of dangerous in all honesty.
1) How much you're flexing
2) If the lift was properly bump stopped
If the lift was properly bump stopped, you won't hit the fenders no matter what.
Personally I would remove those wheel spacers. 2" is way too much for wheel spacers, and they can be kind of dangerous in all honesty.
Squirrely steering on a very lightly modified Jeep like yours is usually nothing more than overinflated tires, possibly combined with an improper toe-in setting. Your 32" tires should have no more than 27 psi in them when the Jeep is lightly loaded, or 29 psi when the Jeep is fully loaded with gear or people. My bet is a clueless tire shop guy overinflated them to no less than 35 psi. And pay NO attention to the air pressure molded onto the sidewall of any car or truck tire. That pressure is only its maximum safe air pressure, not its actual recommended street pressure which varies by the weight of the vehicle it is mounted on.
Check its toe-in setting too. Even a short suspension lift will increase the toe-in more than what the factory recommends. If you have a wrench, tape measure, and big set of pliers, you can set your own toe-in. Using the directions at http://www.4x4xplor.com/alignment.html just rotate the tie-rod until the fronts of the tires are 1/16" to 1/8" closer together than in the rear.
2" spacers are WAY excessive, I'd never recommend that much of a spacer. At the most 1" is more than enough for 32x11.50 tires when mounted on the factory wheels. But since you have aftermarket wheels, you don't even need spacers. Those wheels have reduced backspacing so they'll position the tires out further just enough so they'll clear. In other words, get rid of those spacers entirely.
Check its toe-in setting too. Even a short suspension lift will increase the toe-in more than what the factory recommends. If you have a wrench, tape measure, and big set of pliers, you can set your own toe-in. Using the directions at http://www.4x4xplor.com/alignment.html just rotate the tie-rod until the fronts of the tires are 1/16" to 1/8" closer together than in the rear.
2" spacers are WAY excessive, I'd never recommend that much of a spacer. At the most 1" is more than enough for 32x11.50 tires when mounted on the factory wheels. But since you have aftermarket wheels, you don't even need spacers. Those wheels have reduced backspacing so they'll position the tires out further just enough so they'll clear. In other words, get rid of those spacers entirely.
Last edited:
Thanks guys I'm gunna check the toe and get rid of them spacers !! O and check the tire pressures to [emoji106]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If it's still a little squirrelly on the road, consider the control arm bushings. I had two shops, one a Chrysler/Jeep dealer inspect the suspension. They both claim the same thing; just some slight wear in the RH tie rod end. Turns out, all these shops are incapable of checking control rod bushings. I went ahead and changed the bushings in both the upper and lower rear and it made a huge difference going down the highway. It actually tracks decent now. I'm going to do the fronts soon.
Squirrely steering on a very lightly modified Jeep like yours is usually nothing more than overinflated tires, possibly combined with an improper toe-in setting. Your 32" tires should have no more than 27 psi in them when the Jeep is lightly loaded, or 29 psi when the Jeep is fully loaded with gear or people. My bet is a clueless tire shop guy overinflated them to no less than 35 psi. And pay NO attention to the air pressure molded onto the sidewall of any car or truck tire. That pressure is only its maximum safe air pressure, not its actual recommended street pressure which varies by the weight of the vehicle it is mounted on.
Check its toe-in setting too. Even a short suspension lift will increase the toe-in more than what the factory recommends. If you have a wrench, tape measure, and big set of pliers, you can set your own toe-in. Using the directions at http://www.4x4xplor.com/alignment.html just rotate the tie-rod until the fronts of the tires are 1/16" to 1/8" closer together than in the rear.
2" spacers are WAY excessive, I'd never recommend that much of a spacer. At the most 1" is more than enough for 32x11.50 tires when mounted on the factory wheels. But since you have aftermarket wheels, you don't even need spacers. Those wheels have reduced backspacing so they'll position the tires out further just enough so they'll clear. In other words, get rid of those spacers entirely.
My tires are 32x12.5 x15
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's an uncommon width for 32" tires but your aftermarket wheels should still be fine with that width. Those tires wouldn't fit with factory wheels but most aftermarket wheels have around 3.75" of backspacing which is fine with a 12.5" wide tire.