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Wheel alignment now steering wheel up side down

canadianwheeler

NAXJA Forum User
Location
canada
I just did my RE 4.5 inch lift this weekend and i had to work today so my dad took my jeep to a shop for me to get the wheel aligment done since i work during the day. When i got home from work the jeep was sitting there but somthing looked funny... the steering wheel was upside down! I asked my dad what happend and the shop told my dad that they centered the best they could. Then i checked the invoice it stated " PLEASE NOTE STEERING IS WAS PUT ALL CLOSE CENTRE AS POSSIBLE. LINKAGE HAS BEEN APART BEFORE AT SOME POINT".... ya i know bad english but i get the point.

Any reason for this? What do u guys think?
 
I think they're retarded. They did something wrong, there should be plenty of room to adjust and get the wheel back straight. Loosen both ends on the collar on the drag link and twist it until the wheel is back straight.
 
adjusting the collar changes the toe slightly so you may want to take it back to the shop after YOU get the steering centered.
 
The change should be so minor it should not matter. You can verify it by doing a tape measure check.
 
WobblesXJ said:
Yes but like I said. They're retarded. Don't ever take it back there.


I am gonna go back and bitch tommorow after work if i get off soon enough. I just figured i might of been missing somthing... but i guess they are.
 
At a 4.5" lift turning the sleeve enough to rotate the steering wheel 180 degrees could change the toe as much as .25 inch. I'd get it close and take it back for a free reset.
 
bj-666 said:
adjusting the collar changes the toe slightly so you may want to take it back to the shop after YOU get the steering centered.
JJacobs said:
At a 4.5" lift turning the sleeve enough to rotate the steering wheel 180 degrees could change the toe as much as .25 inch. I'd get it close and take it back for a free reset.
adjusting the tie-rod changes toe, changing the lift height changes toe. I'd like to hear an explaination on how adjusting the drag link changes toe.

WobblesXJ said:
You know it almost sounds like they could have put the pitman arm on 180 degrees off. I'd check that too.
If the pitman was 180° off, the wheels would turn left when the steering wheel was turned right and visa versa. That would make for some funky steering
 
MaXJohnson said:
adjusting the tie-rod changes toe, changing the lift height changes toe. I'd like to hear an explaination on how adjusting the drag link changes toe.

If the pitman was 180° off, the wheels would turn left when the steering wheel was turned right and visa versa. That would make for some funky steering

Alright, one more time...
The reason is exactly the same as why lifting the jeep changes toe. It's an inverted Y setup, so raising or lowering the pitman arm changes the amount of toe where an inverted T does not.
So, adjusting the length of the drag link also changes its angle enough to affect the toe setting.
This has been verified by myself multiple times on alignment machines, not with a tape measure. The taller the lift the more pronounced the affect assuming stock steering. I'd say as a general rule 45 degrees of change left or right is about the max before the toe will change enough to merit another alignment.
 
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JJacobs said:
It's been explained a few times. Look at it long enough and you'll figure it out.

To me, this makes no sense. With the stock inverted Y setup, the draglink angle would change less than 1 degree from horizontal to get the steering wheel turned 180 degrees. How is that going to pull the tierod up/down enough to change the toe .25?
 
Well, if you don't replace the tracbar, that also moves the axle slightly to one side, changing the position of the steering wheel. You can notice this when you unbolt the tracbar, and turn your steering wheel, and the wheels will not turn at all, only the body will move.
 
Wolz said:
To me, this makes no sense. With the stock inverted Y setup, the draglink angle would change less than 1 degree from horizontal to get the steering wheel turned 180 degrees. How is that going to pull the tierod up/down enough to change the toe .25?


alignment machines don't lie.
 
JJacobs said:
Alright, one more time...
The reason is exactly the same as why lifting the jeep changes toe. It's an inverted Y setup, so raising or lowering the pitman arm changes the amount of toe where an inverted T does not.
So, adjusting the length of the drag link also changes its angle enough to affect the toe setting.
This has been verified by myself multiple times on alignment machines, not with a tape measure. The taller the lift the more pronounced the affect assuming stock steering. I'd say as a general rule 45 degrees of change left or right is about the max before the toe will change enough to merit another alignment.
adjusting the draglink doesn't raise or lower the pitman arm

JJacobs said:
alignment machines don't lie.
garbage in, garbage out

xjj33p3r said:
Well, if you don't replace the tracbar, that also moves the axle slightly to one side, changing the position of the steering wheel. You can notice this when you unbolt the tracbar, and turn your steering wheel, and the wheels will not turn at all, only the body will move.
get in the game.
 
Hey guys, look at it as a geometry problem. If you change the length of the arm, it will change the angle. Not much, but some. The key is that it will effect the toe in, but that is easily remedied.
 
OK every one stop for a second. they said "is was appart before"
there are marks on the pitman arm to make sure it's on the box right
there are ways to make sure that the tie rods and drag links are the right length.
it sounds like they did one of two things.
1 - the turned the tie rod and didn't touch the drag link.
2 - they made it all right, and the steering wheel was off before and was put on wrong prior to your 4.5 in lift... (this could be from an accident or from a steering box change of some sort.)

check to make sure that your pitman arm is about straight with the wheels when the wheels are straight.
I too have the 4.5 in lift, and when i was done with the lift the wheel was 1/2 turn off exactally, but the alignment shop fixed it correctly when I had it done.

good luck.


btw, if they only adjusted the tie rod it and the wheel is upside down, then it will drive strange, it will steer easliy to one side and then hard to turn the other way, and it won't return to straight.when you are rolling.
 
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