Crooked Steering Wheel after ZJ steering updrade

Finally got around to putting in the ZJ drag link and tie rods in my 89 XJ. Did the alignment, everything seems to work well... except for 2 things.

The most important, but might be because of the second, is that when I turn the wheel all the way to the right, I bottom out my dampener, turning left I can go to lock just fine, but when turning right I compress the dampener before it gets there,

2 ed is that my steering wheel is crooked, Which might be why I can turn it all the way until my dampener is compressed fully, its clocked about 80-90* left.

I've searched on here and found that all I need to do is adjust the drag link until my steering wheel is strait and that's good... what I'm worried about is weather or not that will fix the compressed dampener issue.


From what I understand (which is limited ) is that when you turn the wheel from "lock to lock" the "lock" is actually in the steering column itself and not a set "bump stop" in the steering box. If I'm right about that then great, all I need to do is adjust the steering wheel and it will fix the other issue. But I wanted to run it by people that are far wiser then myself beforehand =) Thanks in advance!

~Ed

Bump

Adjusting your drag link should cure your problem. The steering(not bump) stops are on your steering knuckles, not in the col. If your steering gear is disconected the steering wheels spins freely.

Ahh ok thanks chuck, so If the dampener wasnt bottoming out before, and is with the ZJ steering... well wtf lol, they are the same length right? Seems like adjusting the draglink will make it longer, which if its already bottoming out, will make it hit sooner right? Or am i thinking backwards. I think I'm thinking backwards...

I'll adjust it and if all else fails, I'll just go back to how it is now. Its what? a 10 min job at most? I just get hesitent when it comes to possably taking out the only rig i have to get to work in lol. Thanks again Chuck.

~Ed

Make sure the wheels are straight & leave the key on so the steering is unlocked, then just turn the adjuster untill the steering wheel is straight. Shake the wheel back & forth a couple of times before you tighten the sleeve, then road test. You might need to fine tune it, if not you're done. And yes, 10/15 minutes should do it. If you off road much you'll get good at it. We live in rock and mud country and both are hard on alignments.

sometimes the first time you align it, its not allways 100%.... id say ive gotten the alignment right the first time maybe ONCE...
set the steering wheel straight, THEN set toe, lockdown and test.
i assume you aligned it?

Yeah I alinged it for the first time since i bought it, which was bad becaus ei knew i needed it, and in the end, it was an inch toed in, with a 242 heh... but at least its not pulling left when im drivin it, I'll wrench on it tomorrow after work. I'm assumming I should re-align it when I'm finished?

~Ed

xcm said:

sometimes the first time you align it, its not allways 100%.... id say ive gotten the alignment right the first time maybe ONCE...

Click to expand...

2X, Maybe once for me too. Maybe.:thumbup: