pulls to the right

[ehall]

My alignment has been pretty good overall since doing my lift but one thing is that the jeep pulls to the right going down the road, so I have to hold the steering wheel a little to the left to keep it straight. I assume my track-bar is off-center but I have it within 1/8" according to multiple measurements so maybe the jeep is racked, or maybe the rear is slightly crooked. I tried the local specialty alignment shop and they wouldn't touch it.

Feed me some things to try

 

[MoparManiac]

Caster?

 

[ehall]

Caster would affect a lot of things but I don't think it would make the vehicle pull to one side?

 

[hpfreak]

start by checking tire presure and condition then jack it up and check for suspension wear esspecially ball joints the only alignment issue that can cause a pull is camber angle which shouldnt be out of whack unless somethings bent or your ball joints are loose if all else fails it could be road crown effects being multiplied by taller tires. take it on the freeway and get in the left lane or drive down the wrong side of the road and see if it gets better

 

[hpfreak]

caster only controls returnability to center has nothing to do with pull and that bs the alignment shop wouldnt take its still the same job as if it wasnt lifted and as far as im concerned jeeps are one of the easiest things to align its all toe and go

 

[JNickel101]

^punctuation is your friend. Now my head hurts.

Just loosen the collar on the drag link and re-adjust your steering wheel. Unless you have a bad unit bearing or a caliper that is locking up, you're not "pulling" one way or another, your steering wheel just isn't centered.

 

[hpfreak]

^punctuation is your friend. Now my head hurts.

Just loosen the collar on the drag link and re-adjust your steering wheel. Unless you have a bad unit bearing or a caliper that is locking up, you're not "pulling" one way or another, your steering wheel just isn't centered.

im sorry i didnt know this was the north american english class association(period) and what exactly is a "unit bearing"(question mark)

 

[JNickel101]

Relax dude, just giving you shit...

If you're not sure what a unit bearing is, you might want to look at your front axle again, behind your brake rotors...

 

[hpfreak]

it called a hub bearing and if it was bad enough to cause a pull it would also be making a horrible growling sound the caliper is also a good thought but i dont see that getting irritated by a lift

 

[hpfreak]

i guess before we go any further lets make sure this is a pull. when you let go of the wheel does it put your jeep in the other lane? or is it you just dont like the way your steering wheel is pointing?

 

[ehall]

The jeep wants to go right, and I have to hold the steering wheel left to keep moving straight. The steering wheel is relaxed at noon position when it's parked in the driveway, but going down the road I have to hold it at 11 o'clock.

I just switched the front two tires and no major correction.

I think some of this problem is the loose steering. The gearbox is letting the jeep go where it wants, and so it doesn't take too much effort for the box to head right. A tighter gear box with less slop may have less pull.

 

[jbsjunk]

Start with checking tire pressure, then swap the tires side to side to see if the pull follows. If it follows, swap the tires to the rear.

Caster difference side to side will cause a pull. I do enough alignments on lifted trucks to know this is a fact.

 

[hpfreak]

you can adjust your gearbox by loosening the jamnut and turning in the bolt on the top of the box but careful going to tight can ruin your gearbox

 

[hpfreak]

Start with checking tire pressure, then swap the tires side to side to see if the pull follows. If it follows, swap the tires to the rear.

Caster difference side to side will cause a pull. I do enough alignments on lifted trucks to know this is a fact.

sorry to correct you but caster WILL NOT cause a pull on a jeep being a solid axle they can not be adjusted seperately I also being a master certified tech for 15 years have done ALOT of alignments

 

[MoparManiac]

sorry to correct you but caster WILL NOT cause a pull on a jeep being a solid axle they can not be adjusted seperately I also being a master certified tech for 15 years have done ALOT of alignments

Yes they can be adjusted separately.

Stock - there are alignment shoes behind each LCA at the frame side.

With aftermarket adjustable control arms, you can very easily get two different readings by having different length arms.

 

[ehall]

Would a regular 4-wheel alignment machine work to give me numbers?

Control arm lengths are identical and have the same shims. It's possible that one is compressed or something, which is why I wanted to get a pro to look at it. Actually for giggles I tried extending and collapsing the passenger side LCA to see if I could make it correct and it actually ran best at even length.

 

[hpfreak]

if your caster is out side to side it goes back to what I said before "something bent or broken even if it was out side to side it wouldnt cause a pull because caster makes the wheel go straight if it pulls because of caster that means your toe is also way out

 

[hpfreak]

Yes they can be adjusted separately.

Stock - there are alignment shoes behind each LCA at the frame side.

With aftermarket adjustable control arms, you can very easily get two different readings by having different length arms.

i will say it again SOLID AXLE theres no way to get diffent caster readings side to side unless you twist the axle

 

[MoparManiac]

i will say it again SOLID AXLE theres no way to get diffent caster readings side to side unless you twist the axle

You didn't say that before, way to backpedal.

Anyway, ehall, I'd first make sure everything is tight (ball joints, TREs, steering shaft, etc.). I know you just did a couple updates to the build so I'd bet they are, but doesn't hurt to double check.

Next, check out your tires. Swap them front to back. This helped reduce my front end pull to the right as the tires were worn odd.

Is your toe set to .125" toe in? Make sure of that first. Also, having the track bar offset to the passenger side seems like it would make the jeep want to wander that way, but I could be wrong.

 

[hpfreak]

Please tell me on a solid axle how your are going to lean one steering axis forwards and keep the other one the same without twisting the axle. I don't care how many adjustment points there are I'm well aware of these but they are for adjusting the axle as a whole. I want you to please try and adjust caster on one side so I can laugh at you when everything is all bound up.