Bump steer and track bar! Help!

Ok heres my problem- bump steer. My 1996 XJ had it from the start. I put on a superlift 3inch and it got slightly worst. So I bought the rough country track bar drop- that fixed nothing. I got an alignment- fixed nothing. So I just got used to it. I then bought RE 4.5 coils and JKS lower control arms. The lift made the bump steer even worst. So I took it to get aligned and they said that it needed an off set ball joint to align-$250. So here are my questions:
1. What does RE do to resolve this problem on thier lifts
2. Would a dropped pitman arm help.
3. Would an adjustable track bar help?
4. Should I try the off set ball joint?
Any and all input would be helpful!
Thanks Atom

Your drag link and track bar need to be parallel, and the more parallel they are to the ground the better. You can do this with one thing or a combination of things depending on your setup. An adjustable track bar won't help at all unless it lowers the mount point on the subframe (RE HD) or raises the mount point on the axle (Skyjacker) so that the track bar is more parallel to the ground. A drop pitman arm will probably help some also.

Atom said:

- bump steer. My 1996 XJ had it from the start...

Click to expand...

That statement makes me wonder if you have bump steer. It's common for Jeeps with worn front end components, tire problems or poor alignment to shudder and shake when hitting bumps, ruts and pot holes in the road. This is sometimes confused with bump steer, but it's not.

If you hit a bump or dip and the Jeep darts to one side OR the other due to poor engineering of the steering geometry, that's bump steer. Shaking and shuddering felt at the steering wheel is not.

Which do you have? Each requires a different approach to resolve. Some additional info would be helpful; such as alignment specs, maintenance history on front end and steering parts and bushings, tires and wheels, etc.

It's rare that you would have to resort to offset balljoints to fix either.

Well the offset ball joints are only for castor/camber changes.Since that has no impact on bump steer Id question your alignment guy on what he's trying to correct.If your LCA's are adjustable you should be able to correct castor with them(or shimming).I still have no steering problems with my stock setup w/ RE XD trackbar.