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Flighty steering?

xjAdam97

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Connecticut
Hey guys,

Having an issue with my Jeep wandering everywhere on the road, to the point where its kinda nerve racking.

Recently swapped all my stuff off my 98 over to my 99 xj, everything stayed exactly how it was as it was on the previous Jeep, all the way from the front tracbar length, control arm length, ***caster should be the same angle I’d imagine?*** wheel bearings, brakes, etc. All tie rod ends were fine as they are only a couple months old. Only thing that is NOT the same is the ball joints, which look kinda janky. Would ball joints have anything to do with my issue? Steering wheel is also quite a bit tighter then my 98 which confuses me


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Needs an alignment. Chassis are not identical even when they rolled off the assembly line on the same day. They all get an alignment. It takes 20 min in the drive way with a tape measure and an angle finder.

Check the faq section. There is alot of great walk throughs and info.
 
Needs an alignment. Chassis are not identical even when they rolled off the assembly line on the same day. They all get an alignment. It takes 20 min in the drive way with a tape measure and an angle finder.

Check the faq section. There is alot of great walk throughs and info.


Okay, I’d did do the toe In/out earlier, so that’s outta the way. I’m guessing caster is the big issue in this case, forgot to mention, steering doesnt return to center very well at all when going around corners


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wandering (which is sometimes misinterpreted as bump steer) and poor return to center are both indicative of castor.

im a proponent of as much castor as possible, on a normal lifted cherokee, which means as much as your drive shaft will allow. youre drive shaft (typically) wont let you find the extreme end of too much castor which will result in increased steering effort with mechanical steering linkage.
 
wandering (which is sometimes misinterpreted as bump steer) and poor return to center are both indicative of castor.

im a proponent of as much castor as possible, on a normal lifted cherokee, which means as much as your drive shaft will allow. youre drive shaft (typically) wont let you find the extreme end of too much castor which will result in increased steering effort with mechanical steering linkage.


So, your thinking caster? On the previous Xj, I had the same issue and then I just adjusted the upper CA and it got rid of the problem, I was kinda figuring the same CA’s at the same length would’ve worked with ought any adjustment on the new Xj. I can’t imagine the tracbar being outta wack cause bumps don’t really affect my steering at all so geometry must be okay-ish? It’s just certain spots in the road I find it veering off one way and then veering off to another, plus also the poor return to center I get outta the steering wheel *bad caster*


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I would check all of the ball joints really good. Jack up the jeep and see if you can wiggle the tire back and forth at all. If so, replace the worn out parts. If that doesent fix it, there is an allen srew with a jam nut located on the steering box. Im not sure if it is supposed to be adjusted or not, but it did a great deal in helping to tighten up my steering box. After you have done all that, bring it to an alignment shop and have them align it. Make sure they do the caster as well because if that is not adjusted properly, the wheel will not want to return to center as it should.
 
500% castor.

Sounds like its on the zero-negative side of the world.

Length lowers as stated above till drive line is straight at yoke then alittle more so its not quute straight. If yoke is pointing way up its very negative if yokes pointing down passed driveline its positive

Put an angle finder on upper balljoint to get a baseline so you know your getting it adjusted.

Lower ball joint as far forward as possible lengthn lower control arms shorten uppers.

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I wouldn't mess with the slack adjuster in steering box until castor is corrected.

Also wouldn't worry much up replacing any parts until castor is corrected.
Youl be throwing money at a dead horse

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How much lift, if any ?


Poor return to center, and janky looking ball joints means you probably should focus on the ball joints as the root cause.

Both my lifted XJ's have less than ideal caster due to the lift, but have no steering issues or poor return to center issues.
 
There are two adjustments on the gear box. The front adjuster nut and the pitman shaft. Most just adjust the pitman shaft. Look at Kevin's Offroad, for the pitman shaft. Also, there is a present thread on a PSC gearbox. I'd check the ball joints too. Different type of vehicle, but my MB 240D wandered a lot. I had resealed and adjusted more than a few years back the gear box. I was wondering if it didn't get the sector shaft ( pitman shaft) correct. The shaft gear was worn. When I went in for new tires and alignment, the said the ball joints were needing replaced. No, they were bad. I mean dangerous bad. I replaced them with new parts I had. Drives good now.

Also, check the gear box attachment, or bolts. Also, check the gear box spacer. The stock one is aluminum and does break. Yes, I did have that on my 2000 XJ.
 
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So, your thinking caster? On the previous Xj, I had the same issue and then I just adjusted the upper CA and it got rid of the problem, I was kinda figuring the same CA’s at the same length would’ve worked with ought any adjustment on the new Xj. I can’t imagine the tracbar being outta wack cause bumps don’t really affect my steering at all so geometry must be okay-ish? It’s just certain spots in the road I find it veering off one way and then veering off to another, plus also the poor return to center I get outta the steering wheel *bad caster*


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as said, the two chassis were not identical when they were new. each needs its own alignment. bolting everything on from the previous chassis is a good starting point, but obviously not perfect.

if you think the ball joints need replacing, go ahead and do them. its not expensive, and good insurance. especially do them if you are going to pay for an alignment.

definitely start with these before trying to fiddle with the gear box.
 
So, your thinking caster? On the previous Xj, I had the same issue and then I just adjusted the upper CA and it got rid of the problem, I was kinda figuring the same CA’s at the same length would’ve worked with ought any adjustment on the new Xj. I can’t imagine the tracbar being outta wack cause bumps don’t really affect my steering at all so geometry must be okay-ish? It’s just certain spots in the road I find it veering off one way and then veering off to another, plus also the poor return to center I get outta the steering wheel *bad caster*


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I would not dismiss the trackbar. My present XJ on 4.5" lift would switch 1/2 a lane. I found one of the trackbar bushings 'slotted'. I replaced it and had no issues. It did not cause DW, though.
 
Okay, I’d did do the toe In/out earlier, so that’s outta the way. I’m guessing caster is the big issue in this case, forgot to mention, steering doesnt return to center very well at all when going around corners


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If its not returning to center that is a giveaway that its caster related. Probably not enough. That will make it feel very unnatural when steering. Should be around 6* caster.
 
How much lift, if any ?


Poor return to center, and janky looking ball joints means you probably should focus on the ball joints as the root cause.

Both my lifted XJ's have less than ideal caster due to the lift, but have no steering issues or poor return to center issues.


5-5.5 or so, bumper & winch isn’t on so it sits slightly higher then with it on. Didn’t have steering probs with the same parts in my other Jeep so I kinda assumed everything would swap withought any problems, yah know?


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as said, the two chassis were not identical when they were new. each needs its own alignment. bolting everything on from the previous chassis is a good starting point, but obviously not perfect.

if you think the ball joints need replacing, go ahead and do them. its not expensive, and good insurance. especially do them if you are going to pay for an alignment.

definitely start with these before trying to fiddle with the gear box.


Yah ima save the gear box for very last, I don’t really think the gear box has anything to do with it, as the steering is pretty decent with little slob to almost no slip in it, I’ll do the ball joints tonight and adjust the CA’s and see how she plays out after, thanks for the help man!


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I'd say you just got lucky before with that much lift, do you have control arm drop brackets?
 
"Janky" is not very descriptive term for the condition of the ball joints. Assuming there is nothing obviously wrong with the suspension, then it makes sense to check alignment as others have said. Low caster, toe-out, and excessive toe-in can all contribute to vague steering. Its possible to get a rough idea of these values in your garage, but you'll get more accurate info taking it to a reputable shop that does alignments have them check and if needed/possible, adjust the alignment. And if that doesn't fix it, focus on suspension/steering components.

As a point of comparison, I just installed new steering arms on my XJ. On the way down to the alignment shop, steering was fairly vague. Turns out that my guestimate on toe was apparently pretty far off. I thought I had some toe-in, but it actually had a fair amount of toe-out. We set it to 0.1 deg toe-in, and steering was much better. Caster was 4.5 deg on both sides, and I didn't adjust it to higher values because my XJ has a D30LP, and with a 4.5" lift, the front pinion shaft-to-DS angle is already around 4.5-5 deg.
 
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