Steering is all over the road above 50 mph

mroth911

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Mar 21, 2016
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I have a 1997 jeep TJ 4.0 automatic. with 4 rc lift and 33's . I upgraded the trackbar The steering stablizer and the draglink. if i go over 50 ia m all over the road. I have to counter steer like crazy. Aligment is dead on balls, I dont know what the problem is. If it's really windy forget about it I dont drive the jeep. Could my steering box need to be upgraded. Almost every part in my front end is new. except the stock steering box. ?
 
Did you check the toe in? What's it at?

Is there a dropped pitman arm on there?

It could be the steering box, yes.
 
its weird cause i could be going fine no problems.. then all of a sudden out of no where i am moving into the other lane.. and I have to counter steer bad.. the fast i got the worse it gets of course..
 
Okay, so now it has the stock pitman arm, right?

Check the toe in for sure. It needs to be between 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch in.
 
I changed the pitman arm to bring it back down to facttory spes after I did the lift. i was told to get it
 
I changed the pitman arm to bring it back down to facttory spes after I did the lift. i was told to get it

Yes, you DO NOT want a drop pitman arm, you want a factory pitman arm.

really why would it be balljoints and or ujoints

Both the ball joints and u-joints are commonly associated with this very issue (the Jeep moving all over the road, even when it's aligned perfectly), I've heard of it more times than I can count.

If you don't know the last time the ball joints were changed, I would start with them first. Next I would do the u-joints. They are cheap and easy to do.

And if you replace the ball joints, absolutely, positively, do not use Synergy ball joints (they are garbage). Use the factory Spicer ball joints, which you can find here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014OGCP7Q/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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The Spicer 5-760X is the u-joints you want, no question about it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009X1XDZG/?tag=wranglerorg-20

They are sealed (which is better than the factory ones since you don't need to constantly grease them), and they are an upgrade over stock.

My money is on the ball joints. However, if you don't know when the last time the u-joints were changed was, for the price of them (they're very cheap), it's really worth doing since you'd already be in there doing the ball joints at the same.
 
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what do you recommend for dual steering stabilizer
We do NOT recommend dual steering stabilizers. Not to mention the steering stabilizer is more correctly called a steering damper... its job being to help isolate the steering system from bumps and jolts on the road. No, steering stabilizers do not "stabilize" the steering... in fact when everything else is good, you don't even need one.

Unstable steering usually caused by improper toe-in, insufficient caster, or a bad/worn-out steering box.
 
Make sure the steering damper (aka stabilizer) kit you buy has this threaded stud in the kit which is required by the TJ. The kit Chris linked to just above includes it. Not all steering damper kits come with it.

Steering stabilizer tapered stud.jpg
 
I have mine 4.5” lifted with stock pitarm all the front end new, including ball joints, I will be check toe in any good Alignment reference for the cast and toe in?
 
I start with 6 degrees caster if I can get it and 1/8 inch toe in and see how it drives and adjust from there.