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bump steer with one-ton steering

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etaniyani

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Santa Monica
hey guys, a few months ago, I did the one ton steering conversion, i was running the re3.5 kit on my 2001 xj, no bumpsteer what so ever. drove perfect. I just recently installed some custom built long arms, and 1.5" lift that was on my 1999 cherokee. the 99 cherokee drove perfect with the stock steering and the long arm setup.

after I installed the long arms and extra lift onto the 2001 with the one ton steering, I got some pretty bad bump steer going on.

I put the re track bar drop bracket and track bar, actually made it worse. I took some measurements for alignment of the track bar and draglink, which was slightly off showed in the first pic, with a corrected angle. I redrilled the trackbar whole to lower it a little, lines up perfectly in the second pic. it did go away slightly, but on the freeway, going over bumps gives me some bumpsteer, and definately somethign I do not want to keep.

anyone running about 5 inches of lift, with the one ton steering conversion having these problems? suggestions solutions? ive been messing with it making slight adjustments, but i cant seem to get rid of it. thanks.

213nsrl.jpg

2yvrzgw.jpg
 
It's really hard to tell much from your pictures. They were taken to close and you can't see the knuckles. Also it looks like they were taken at an angle from the drivers side in front of the diff. You need to take a picture straight on showing the full width, and draw a line through the trackbar and another one through the draglink. The lines should be parallel. Also, are you sure it is bump steer that you have? Bumpsteer should be evident even a lower speeds, not just on the freeway. If there is no bump steer when driving over bumps at 15mph then it might be something else. How good are your shocks? If the shocks are weak then the spring rebound can pitch your rig from side to side which might feel a lot like bumpsteer. This is especially true the with a high amount of lift.

trackbar4.jpg
 
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didn't realize the pics were too big, im using a pretty big monitor, sorry. I'll take a picture tomorrow farther back, and check the angles again.

I'm definately going to check the shocks, theyre about 5 years old. Hopefully thats it, but I still think there is bumpsteer.

Then I'll try switching the tres, but will that really make a difference? the angles will remain exactly the same.
 
eh, flex isnt' an issue because the tre on the tie rod end is just rotating on the ball itself, its not limiting it what so ever.

But that shock thing is definately the first thing Im going to look at, when i was putting the shocks back on, the front left one, felt a little off, but I didn't really think twice about it, was in a hurry to get the jeep rolling again.

I will also take a couple more pictures (smaller of course lool) and compare angles and go from there.
 
FWIW,thats not a RE drop bracket.Theirs has the hole even a little lower than the one you drilled.
 
etaniyani said:
eh, flex isnt' an issue because the tre on the tie rod end is just rotating on the ball itself, its not limiting it what so ever.
Click to expand...

It can limit it at the pitman arm. When the pass side droops, the ft. axle will want to go to the drivers side, but is limited by the track bar. The TRE that bolts to the other TRE will only go as far as the track bar lets it, if that makes sense.
 
no thats not the re drop bracket anymore, i put the one i made back on, the re drop bracket made the bumpsteer pretty bad.

I tested out a different shock for the front left, and basically took away the problem, i'll just order up some new front shocks left and right and I should be good to go. Thanks
 
okay peoples, just installed the bilstein 5100's in front, was driving around and took it on the freeway, make the problem worse/come back.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the steering angles from a farther distance, but i dont get how replacing the 2 front shocks would make it worse, especially when the original shocks were bad, and now i put on brand new ones.
 
etaniyani said:
okay peoples, just installed the bilstein 5100's in front, was driving around and took it on the freeway, make the problem worse/come back.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the steering angles from a farther distance, but i dont get how replacing the 2 front shocks would make it worse, especially when the original shocks were bad, and now i put on brand new ones.
Click to expand...

I don't see any way that new shocks would make bumpsteer worse.

First lets make sure we are talking about the same thing. Bumpsteer is when you hit a bump and the steering moves to one side or the other. Drive over a couple medium bumps at low speed, around 15-20mph, take your hands off the wheel and see if the steering wheel moves. Do this a few times, the movement should be consistent in direction and amount. If not then you don't have bumpsteer.

If your symptoms only happen at highway speed then you have some other problem. Improper caster of the front wheels can cause the steering to wander, making it difficult to stay in your lane on the freeway. Have you had an alignment done? Worn tierod ends can cause a lot of play in the steering and a steering dead spot at when driving straight. Worn ball joints can cause poor handling, wandering, and uneven tire wear. Bad bearings usually make a growling noise.

It can be tough to diagnose. You might just take it to a shop and ask them to check out the steering components. I would stay away from the Jeep dealer, they will try and sell you new everything.
 
ya, right now its bumpsteer, wheel turns over speed bumps, car moves, even at slow speeds. The part I dont get is, when i replaced the bad shock, with a different one, it wasn't doing this. Soon as I put these bilsteins in, it started doing this badly. heres a picture of the steering, slightly off, but would it make that big a difference?

aouf53.jpg
 
do you have a drop pitmen arm ?
i have a simmilar promlem with the almos identical set up !
i was going to go with the new track bar and drop brack to try and help the problem . the one with the re bracket the angles look better btw!
 
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Those angles look pretty good to me. I know they are better then mine, and I dont have any substancial amount of bump steer.

Have someone turn the wheel while your under it and look for play in the suspension. Make sure your TRE's are tight, axle side track bar mount is good, control arms, ball joints, etc.

I dont think the "1 ton" steering is causing your bump steer. Just made it more obvious without the steering stabilizer.
 
etaniyani said:
ya, right now its bumpsteer, wheel turns over speed bumps, car moves, even at slow speeds. The part I dont get is, when i replaced the bad shock, with a different one, it wasn't doing this. Soon as I put these bilsteins in, it started doing this badly. heres a picture of the steering, slightly off, but would it make that big a difference?
Click to expand...

Well your draglink and trackbar angles look pretty good to me. I don't know why you are experiencing bumpsteer. The only other thing I can think of is bad tierod ends.
 
The tie rod ends aren't that old. things went bad right after I put in the lift and long arms. When the shock idea came up, i took one off another jeep, tested it out, almost completely gone and I was able to drive freeway speeds no problem. Soon as i put in the bilsteins and went for a drive, started doing it again which is realllllly weird to me, also making me assume its not the angles of the drag link and track bar.

So lets assume its not bumpsteer anymore. and after I put in the Re brakcet and track bar, the wheel doesn't really shake that much anymore, im assuming the slight shake it does now over speed bumps, is due to the swaying motion of the jeep while going over the bumps.

Tomorrow im going to take out the spacers in the front, drive it and see what happens.

Any other thoughts, alignment is good, front axle and rear axle are parallel, the front axle is about 1/2" off center right now, but it was about 1 1/2" before, and when i corrected it, it made no difference. possibly rear shocks? im going crazy here, and running out of ideas lool.
 
My setup is not much different than yours. My 1-ton is OTK and I shortened the RE TB to run it above the axle.

Check the track bar bushing, axle side. Have somebody turn the steering wheel and look for play.
I have the same TB and my bushing went causing me to have bump steer and DW.

I replaced the bad bushing and it went away.
Wheeled it a few times, blew a wheel bearing, and the BS is back (No DW).

I also had problems with the RE bracket. It kept shifting on me (coming lose) after wheeling. I spot welded that hole to the *frame* and put the brace on. It helped but it still moves around a little in the rough stuff. I still have to figure that one out.

My point is, there was a short amount of time in between problems when everything was okay running that setup.
 
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i checked the bushing, its actually already been replaced once, but its happening with each track bar and bracket, one that i built, and one from Re. I dont get how the new shocks made a difference, in this problem.

One thing i noticed, that when i go under the car, and rotate the tie rod with my hand, and it pulls down/up on the draglink, it will slightly turn the steering wheel. not sure if you can visualize that, but maybe thats a problem? the Tre's all feel really solid though, no play in any of them.

Im going to start with the spacers in the morning. maybe replace the rear shocks as well, i was thinking maybe drop pitman arm help lower the draglink slightly to aid in the increased angle. I tried it last week, but I broke 2 pitman arm pullers, sucker doesnt' want to move.
 
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