Getting the steering alignment right

OK, so I got under the Jeep at the weekend to fix my sloppy steering by trying to adjust the trackbar and draglink to somewhere approaching the recommended numbers and noticed that the wheels just, well, seem to be pointing out too much. I've measured the difference in the offsets of the wheels front to back, and got it back within tolerances, but am a little concerned that one wheel looks as if it's toeing out. I started to adjust the drag link to counter this, and am fairly happy with the result, but it still doesn't look right. And that in turn has made my steering wheel off-centre!

I thought about duct taping a suitably straight bit of 2x2 to the back wheels (extending all the way to the fronts) to see whether I was just seeing things, but that just sounds too Heath-Robinson even for me!

I'm going to be putting a poly bushing set in in any case, but I'd just like to get it all done right for once - know what I mean?

Is there a more scientific way I should be approaching this?

The patient in question is a 93 4.0 with 231 Tcase and 155k on the clock.

I'm not sure that I have done this correctly, but when I attempted this, I used a plumb line(string), and bare rims(no rubber).

If you haven't already been there, check out GoJeep's site.

I checked GoJeep's site as my first stop, but he said nothing about adjusting the drag link, probably with good reason. Hmm, your suggestion sounds a little better than my bodge-job, and I've got some spare rims waiting to be powder coated. Thanks for the tip!

FSM says to adjust draglink first -- centre steering wheel, then adjust tie-rod.

I have a 88 XJ Pioneer and had sloppy steering. I had a 89 buick century and installed new sway bar bushings and that make the buick drive like it was on rails.

I did the sway bar bushing replacement on the XJ and no change. I then decided to have the control arm bushings changed out, actually new lower control arm and new bushings in the upper control arms, and that fixed the sloppy steering. The XJ drove like it was on rails.

I recommend you install either new upper and lower control arm bushings or new control arms. You can buy control arms with bushings installed for not much more than the bushing kit alone. I also say replace sway bar bushings also...don't leave that out.

After I had the front end work done I purchased a steering box brace from Mountain Off Road (MORE) and installed it. That took all the steering wheel movement caused by pot holes in the road or rail road crossings.

Also take your vehicle to a place and have them do the alignment on a machine. Tires are too expensive to trust an alignment to something I do in the garage.

The tie rod is what adjusts toe-in / toe-out. The drag link is what centers the steering wheel.

Ignore the rear wheels. Measure the front tires fore and aft as described on GoJeep's web site. Adjust as required.

You can¿t set anything by eyeballing it. The front fenders and flares are not parallel to the centerline of the chassis, so if you try to eyeball it you'll fool yourself.

Many thanks all, I'll go and centre my steering wheel and forget about it.