nfarrar
New member
I've got a question about alignment (completely inexperienced) ... but first, a summary of where it's at (follow up from this thread).
To keep things simple & inexpensive (and just get my daily driver back on the road again as quick as possible), I kept with the parts I had already ordered. I get that this is not a performance upgrade and for a little more money I could have gone higher quality/performance and I will replace this in the future, but for now, the suspension has new parts installed:
I put the wheels back on last night and was a little terrified. With the adjustable track bar not yet fully connected and the steering wheel centered the passenger side front wheel looks like it has a correct angle, but the driver side front wheel is angled out at approximately 15°-25°.
Here are some pictures of how it looks: Google Drive Photos.
Note: Unfortunately my garage is small and it's difficult to get good pictures of the front end, since there's only a few feet to the workbench that sits against the front wall.
I did some quick research on alignment and couldn't tell if this indicates a normal alignment issue after doing this kind of work or if that indicates a more serious issue. Based on what I've read there are three primary components that adjust the alignment:
Based on that, I think what I should do is:
This is all new stuff that I've never done before and have no experience with, so I'm hoping if I've got some bits and pieces incorrect, ya'll can sort me out - or if I've done my research properly, just confirm that I'm on the right path. I'm still nervous about the driver-side wheel being so far out alignment while the steering wheel and passenger wheel line up correctly - worried if that indicates I missed something that is bent or damaged or did something else wrong that needs to be corrected (and isn't a standard alignment issue). Any help/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
To keep things simple & inexpensive (and just get my daily driver back on the road again as quick as possible), I kept with the parts I had already ordered. I get that this is not a performance upgrade and for a little more money I could have gone higher quality/performance and I will replace this in the future, but for now, the suspension has new parts installed:
- Axle Straightening, w/ Sleeves & Reinforcements (through local specialist)
- Mopar® 52059976AF Front Upper Control Arm
- Mopar® 52059979AF Front Lower Control Arm
- Quadratec® Maximum Duty Nitro 8.0 1.5"-2.5" Shock Kit
- Teraflex 1155200 2" Leveling Kit
- Spidertrax WHS010K 1.5" Wheel Spacer Kit
- Teraflex 1753418 Monster HD Forged Front Adjustable Trackbar (upper end installed, but lower end (passenger side) not bolted in place yet)
- Teraflex 1513001 TERA Steering Stabilizer Kit (waiting on it to arrive)
- Body Damage: Still have a bunch of work to do and money to spend on this (hood, fender panels, fender flares, inner fender flares, grill, light housings).
- Wiring: Still have work to do on repairing the damage electrical wiring for the front electrical components. Installed a Painless switch panel, got a replacement winch body under warranty, need to repair the winch and fix all the wiring.
I put the wheels back on last night and was a little terrified. With the adjustable track bar not yet fully connected and the steering wheel centered the passenger side front wheel looks like it has a correct angle, but the driver side front wheel is angled out at approximately 15°-25°.
Here are some pictures of how it looks: Google Drive Photos.
Note: Unfortunately my garage is small and it's difficult to get good pictures of the front end, since there's only a few feet to the workbench that sits against the front wall.
I did some quick research on alignment and couldn't tell if this indicates a normal alignment issue after doing this kind of work or if that indicates a more serious issue. Based on what I've read there are three primary components that adjust the alignment:
- Tie Rod - Aligns the wheels to each other and body of the car.
- Drag Link - Aligns the wheels with the steering wheel.
- Track Bar - Aligns (centers) the axle under the body of the vehicle and controls the horizontal movement tolerance.
Based on that, I think what I should do is:
- Connect the track bar - take precise measurements of the axle alignment to the body, use some ratchet straps to get it lined up correctly, adjust the trackbar so it fits correctly and keeps the jeep body centered over the front axle, then finish bolting the track bar into place.
- Align the wheels - securely strap some leveled 2x4's to each wheel, take precise measurements of the distance at the back and front of each wheel, then adjust the tie rod until the wheels are aligned with each other and the body of the jeep (they should be angled in slightly towards the front, between 1/16" and 3/16").
- Align the wheels to the steering wheel - adjusting the wheel alignment in the previous step will likely push the wheels out of alignment with the steering wheel; adjust the drag link until the steering wheel is properly aligned with the wheels, while they are aligned to the body.
- Take it ASAP to get a professional alignment - this should get me close enough to drive it safely into a shop to get a professional alignment.
This is all new stuff that I've never done before and have no experience with, so I'm hoping if I've got some bits and pieces incorrect, ya'll can sort me out - or if I've done my research properly, just confirm that I'm on the right path. I'm still nervous about the driver-side wheel being so far out alignment while the steering wheel and passenger wheel line up correctly - worried if that indicates I missed something that is bent or damaged or did something else wrong that needs to be corrected (and isn't a standard alignment issue). Any help/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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