tballer4596
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- NY
Hi everyone! I'll get right to the point. My steering sucks. I think I know why but let me share what I've done.
To start, when I got my jeep it had a 3.5" lift with 31s, stock steering and non adjustable control arms, everything was out of whack. It wandered like crazy, but a driveway tape measure alignment helped a bunch. Still not great though. My wheel also never returned to center on its own. I had to to physically turn the wheel back after a turn.
Fast forward to now, a year and a half later. Every single one of my steering components is brand new. V8 WJ steering pump, durango steering box, cafvab crossover steering linkages, brand new knuckles and ball joints on both sides. I also have a 5.5" rubi lift, adjustable upper and lower control arms, and 33s. The WJ durango swap is great, turns my 33s effortlessly. We are talking about a Dana 30 by the way, although I doubt that matters. After installing all this, I got an alignment, thinking my steering woes were finally over, now that my control arms could be adjusted properly. Heres the sheet:
(I cant attach images for some reason so I will transcribe)
FRONT LEFT:
Camber: -1.2
Caster: 3.6
Toe: .14
FRONT RIGHT
Camber: -0.2
Caster : 3.7
Toe: .14
Total toe: .28
My jeep still steers like absolute crap. The steering is incredibly unresponsive, and she wanders all over the road. It feels like it takes a large correction in the steering wheel to actually move the truck. Its not enjoyable to drive. The wheel also will not return to center, just like before. And like i said, everything is brand new, there is 0 slop anywhere, no bad joints, no worn out steering box, the usual. Everything is right and tight.
So first off, do those numbers look right in general? Specifically the toe. (I'm also not sure how its possible for the camber to be different from one side to the other, but I don't think I should worry about that) Second, I know you cannot adjust caster independently of pinion angle, and I know the mechanic favored pinion angle here (I cant show an image but it looks perfect to me. And when I picked up the truck he told me he chose to set the pinion angle perfect instead of the caster). Now after looking on the forums, it seems people recommend anywhere from 5-10 degrees of caster on a setup like this. Some say 1 degree for every " of lift (unclear if thats in addition to the stock caster), others say that plus some. So my next questions would be:
A. Would the difference of ~5 deg. account for such poor steering performance? Other than fixing the caster I don't see anything else that could be causing this.
and B. In order to maintain pinion angle but fix the caster, is my only option to remove the axle, cut the axle tubes and clock the C's at the ends of each tube? I'm not adverse to this option, as I'd truss and rebuild the axle as part of that project, but its a lot of work.
And finally, if we do all agree caster is the culprit here, what amount of caster would you guys recommend? How do your jeeps steer? Is responsive steering too much to ask for on a setup like this? Do your wheels return to center and do you have responsive steering? At the very least, I'd appreciate the ability to go straight down the road =) Thanks in advance
To start, when I got my jeep it had a 3.5" lift with 31s, stock steering and non adjustable control arms, everything was out of whack. It wandered like crazy, but a driveway tape measure alignment helped a bunch. Still not great though. My wheel also never returned to center on its own. I had to to physically turn the wheel back after a turn.
Fast forward to now, a year and a half later. Every single one of my steering components is brand new. V8 WJ steering pump, durango steering box, cafvab crossover steering linkages, brand new knuckles and ball joints on both sides. I also have a 5.5" rubi lift, adjustable upper and lower control arms, and 33s. The WJ durango swap is great, turns my 33s effortlessly. We are talking about a Dana 30 by the way, although I doubt that matters. After installing all this, I got an alignment, thinking my steering woes were finally over, now that my control arms could be adjusted properly. Heres the sheet:
(I cant attach images for some reason so I will transcribe)
FRONT LEFT:
Camber: -1.2
Caster: 3.6
Toe: .14
FRONT RIGHT
Camber: -0.2
Caster : 3.7
Toe: .14
Total toe: .28
My jeep still steers like absolute crap. The steering is incredibly unresponsive, and she wanders all over the road. It feels like it takes a large correction in the steering wheel to actually move the truck. Its not enjoyable to drive. The wheel also will not return to center, just like before. And like i said, everything is brand new, there is 0 slop anywhere, no bad joints, no worn out steering box, the usual. Everything is right and tight.
So first off, do those numbers look right in general? Specifically the toe. (I'm also not sure how its possible for the camber to be different from one side to the other, but I don't think I should worry about that) Second, I know you cannot adjust caster independently of pinion angle, and I know the mechanic favored pinion angle here (I cant show an image but it looks perfect to me. And when I picked up the truck he told me he chose to set the pinion angle perfect instead of the caster). Now after looking on the forums, it seems people recommend anywhere from 5-10 degrees of caster on a setup like this. Some say 1 degree for every " of lift (unclear if thats in addition to the stock caster), others say that plus some. So my next questions would be:
A. Would the difference of ~5 deg. account for such poor steering performance? Other than fixing the caster I don't see anything else that could be causing this.
and B. In order to maintain pinion angle but fix the caster, is my only option to remove the axle, cut the axle tubes and clock the C's at the ends of each tube? I'm not adverse to this option, as I'd truss and rebuild the axle as part of that project, but its a lot of work.
And finally, if we do all agree caster is the culprit here, what amount of caster would you guys recommend? How do your jeeps steer? Is responsive steering too much to ask for on a setup like this? Do your wheels return to center and do you have responsive steering? At the very least, I'd appreciate the ability to go straight down the road =) Thanks in advance