Front end help

Ok so I have a 99 xj with 6.5” lift. Everything is new under her.

My issue at hand is a little wondering in steering, and now with new steering set up a slight case of bump steer,

I know I have to give a little bit on caster vs pinion angle but with almost no to minimum front driveline vibes my caster is at 3.5+
I can deal with a little bit of wondering but what about bump steer? Is it location of steering stabilizer ? Attached is some pictures with my angles




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I see:

• Under the knuckle steering that should be over the knuckle.
• Drag link mounted on top of the pitman arm, that I think it should be underneath.
• Track bar axle side mounting bracket in stock location when it should be relocated to on top of the axle.

Wondering if you have measured, and the axle is centered under the body ?

Yes axle is centered, i put steering on like it was designed for, yeah you can put everything on top of the knuckles but then you have to address trackbar. Correct?


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when tuning out bump steer, there are 3 things to look for:
- track bar as parallel to the drag link as possible.
- track bar as close to equal length of drag link as possible.
- track bar mounting points as close to the drag link mounting points (when viewed from the front) as possible.

in that order of importance.


i personally wouldnt move the tie rod over the knuckle and under the drag link without double sheering the bolt at the knuckle.

moving the drag link under the pitman arm will both shorten it and decrease the operating angle at ride height. youll make better use of the heims through the range of motion (articulated). doing that youll also need to relocate the axle side trackbar mount.

another option... take a little lift out of the jeep. on a high pinion 30 around 4.5" of lift i was able to run about 5.5 degrees of castor. you wont lose any flex... your full bump will still be full bump, full droop will still be full droop. you are just taking it from one end and adding it to the other.

If I mount my trackbar over the axle dosnt that make my angle worse?


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Angles are off. Try a tj pitman arm mount the heim on the bottom of the pitman arm.

cwyman6 said:

Angles are off. Try a tj pitman arm mount the heim on the bottom of the pitman arm.

Click to expand...

going by the string showing strait line between mounting points... its pretty close with the eye ball.

JMOliver said:

Click to expand...

I agree on the angle with the string it looks almost perfect


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The first thing I'd do is remove the steering stabilizer, at least temporarily. I personally have removed them from both of my XJs and see no reason to ever put one back on. I like feeling what is going on. The stock design is absolutely horrible, completely wrong. What you have there is better but it's still going to be a PITA finding your issue. My suggestion is to take it off, drive it and hopefully your issue will be easier to isolate. Whether you leave it off or put it back on is up to you.

Also, have a helper turn the wheel, in park, while you're under it. Sometimes small side to side movements help, sometimes full stroke. Are there tapered spacers in the knuckles or were the holes drilled out to remove the taper? Have you replaced the steering box spacer? Any issues with the frame around the steering box? Loose bolts?

Alignment any good or just eyeballed?

Are your expectations too high perhaps? Solid axle with trackbar, it's going to turn when the axle articulates. Perfect geometry only helps when the axle stays parallel to the frame. Body roll is axle articulation and as we all know, it's worse the higher you are. Given that you have disconnects, consider an aftermarket sway bar, or at least the thickest OEM.

The angles don't look too bad. Assuming the ball joints are tight, and so are the control arms, I would suspect the 3-1/2 degrees of caster is contributing to the wandering.
I had this same issue with my 2001, when raised to 4", and adjusted to 1-degree of front pinion angle, it had just a little over 3-degrees of caster. Other than cutting and rotating the knuckles, the only other fix is to use an adjustable lower ball joint.
Changing to Napa's 1-3/4 degree offset ball joint brought the Jeep up to 5 degrees of caster, enough to make driving a little more relaxing, still, around 7 degree would be preferred.

Is the steering box in good shape? is the bottom bushing still tight? A worn box's problems are amplified with the lift, larger tires and less caster.
Installing a new box was one of the best things done to the 01'.

Wondering got a lot better with 35s more noticeable with 31s, guess rotating mass? ( pretty sure that’s in relation with caster) Steering box is original 200,xxx miles, I did tighten it up a 1/8” turn now it seems really responsive, wonder if a bigger steering stabilizer would fix the little bit of bump steer, wasn’t sure if stabilizer mounted to drag length instead of tie rod would make any difference?

Steering box spacer looks good, doesn’t move, also my winch mount goes past steering box and bolts in with it


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Also it might be high expectations, better sway bar might just be in the works now! Sounds like a no brainer. Any suggestion on one?


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The root cause is not add-on stuff like steering stabilizers, or sway bars, it most likely is the steering angles. Yes, the drag link and track bar are parallel, but they are both at an extreme angle. I have 5.5 " of lift, and stock steering, and there is no bump steer and no wandering. I have never measured the caster, which has to be kinda low, but it is not a problem.

you can take the driveshaft out and see if throwing more castor at it helps.

toe-in will cause wander

sloppy track bar joints will cause bump steer

It did, before i put my shaft in I had it smooth, then adjusted the axle to stop the vibes, I got it right now where it’s just a smudge of both


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From the pics the draglink has to much angle. I always run the trackbar with slightly more angle than the draglink to eliminate bump steer because the lengths are different.

I might try to move the drag length under the pitman arm just to see if that helps.


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