Wander Upon Bumps

I have a question here. When I hit a decent bump at highway speeds, the Jeep has like a delay or roll before returning to straight ahead, or the direction the wheels were pointing(if it occurred when the vehicle was turning). Since I am used to leaf sprung front and rear axles this is kind of a whole new ballgame. The suspension does feel kind of squirrely at times, so I am planning on new shocks and such. I have replaced the swaybar end links, and some of my control issues here got less severe. I am in the process of replacing the sway bar bushings. Will this fix this issue, or do I need to consider the track bar as a culprit since it also helps with stability of the vehicle at speeds?? I am also going to check ball joints and other bushings and such, its a weird feeling going straight ahead, hit the bump, go to the right(like swaying some), then back ahead, in like a split second. Thoughts??

Jeff

Is this Jeep lifted at all?

Sounds like bump steer to me.

Worn / loose lower control arm bushings will do what you are describing also.

Its stock height, with 30" BFG AT KOs. I was thinking that the steering damper might be shot, but between that and the trac bar, I was wanting to eliminate all issues for smooth on road steering. Once I do start to lift it I am sure other issues will come up as well.

Jeff

ihscoutlover said:

Its stock height, with 30" BFG AT KOs. I was thinking that the steering damper might be shot, but between that and the trac bar, I was wanting to eliminate all issues for smooth on road steering. Once I do start to lift it I am sure other issues will come up as well.

Jeff

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Steering damper DOES NOTHING EXCEPT COVER UP ISSUES. Replacing it is a bandaid - not a fix.

I'd check the TREs and the trackbar. If you do decide to get another trackbar, go with a Iron Rock Offroad.

Also take a look at your trackbar and drag link. They should be parallel with each other. If they're not, bumpsteer will occur.

By parallel i mean draw a straight line through the track bar ends, and the drag link ends. Take a look at this picture of mine to see what i mean. The closer, the better.

Kingkong0192 said:

Steering damper DOES NOTHING EXCEPT COVER UP ISSUES. Replacing it is a bandaid - not a fix.

I'd check the TREs and the trackbar. If you do decide to get another trackbar, go with a Iron Rock Offroad.

Also take a look at your trackbar and drag link. They should be parallel with each other. If they're not, bumpsteer will occur.

By parallel i mean draw a straight line through the track bar ends, and the drag link ends. Take a look at this picture of mine to see what i mean. The closer, the better.

Click to expand...

His is stock. I'd imagine his is a case of a worn part.

Lowrange2 said:

His is stock. I'd imagine his is a case of a worn part.

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This is what I was thinking. I am considering the ZJ TRE upgrade. I know that the steering damper is going to cover up issues. It will tighten some of the steering, it looks like its got some leaking going on, and well I was going to do Rancho RS5000s all the way around, to include the damper. I just wasnt sure what worn parts to check first so I can eliminate the good and find the bad. So I guess lifting the front off the ground, and working the wheel bearing assemblies as well should be done. Just changed the oil this afternoon to get rid of the remainder of oil/coolant left in the system from my head swap.

Jeff