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Whats my next step?

nathan2288

NAXJA Forum User
Location
portland
So I'm hoping someone smarter than me can give me some advice. My steering wanders when on rough or uneven pavement, but seems to track much better on real smooth/newly paved roads. I'd like to tighten it up/ improve steering geometry but not sure what to do next.

When going over a speed hump the jeep veers to the right which would lead me to believe draglink/trackbar problem. When I measured the angles from bolt to bolt on both the trackbar and the draglink they are both at 20 degrees. Im at 4-4.5 lift with drop brackets and stock uppers and lowers (which I will be replacing with adjustables soon). Could the steering angles be too severe or would correcting the caster alone(currently at 3.5 degrees) fix this problem?

I have an adjustable trackbar right now. Would a drop bracket for it and/or a corresponding drop pitman arm help or just a waste of money?
Thanks for any advice.

-all tre's are good and trackbar is tight
-have zj steering upgrade
 
you could also check your ps gearbox I know mine has some slop in it so I am looking at rebuilding or upgrading it.
 
When on smoothe roads when the suspension is not really cycling everything feels tight which would lead me to believe its not in the steering box. Would bringing the draglink/trackbar angles closer to parallel with the ground have any potential benefits?
 
When on smoothe roads when the suspension is not really cycling everything feels tight which would lead me to believe its not in the steering box. Would bringing the draglink/trackbar angles closer to parallel with the ground have any potential benefits?

draglink and trackbar should be parallel. i would adjust the toe setting as suggested.

IIRC, caster should be around 5-7 degrees.
 
I think your caster (or lack of) is causing your problem more than anything else. You should be around no less that 4 degrees. 7 is around OEM, I run 5.5 on 6.5" long arm set-up. I had it set at 3 and it did the same thing you are talking about. Moved it back 5.5 and problem solved. The further forward (less caster) it is, the more it will wander, and will not center itself as easily.

Im not sure if your steering anlges/track bar are right, but I dont think its causig your wandering issues. If you have dead spots or crappy steering, then sure.

~James
 
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