HELP!!! Steering/Suspension problems

[Yuel1298]

I’ve attached before and after photos of the work Ive done so far in an attempt to have a smoother and safer commute to and from work. The roads in New York are petty notorious for the rough rides they cause. I previously had a lot of trouble with death wobble and bump steer. Death wobble has stopped but I can’t seem to get rid of this constant bump steer and shimmy whenever I hit a rough patch on the road. I’ve replaced my track bar, did a drag link flip and replaced the drop pitman arm with an aftermarket oem one, tie rod has been replaced as well as my steering stabilizer. Also replaced all 8 of my control arms with adjustable ones as well as my upper and lower ball joints in the front. Wondering if there are any torque specs or Length measurements for optimal driving performance for each of these components. BTW My Wrangler has a 4” lift, with 35” tires. I’ve been struggling to fine tune all of these new parts as I’m new to Jeeps and I have a good friend of mine who has been instilling these parts with me. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[WJCO]

Track bar bolts torqued to 125 ft lbs? And when you had it off, the holes weren't ovaled? Are all of the adjustment clamps torqued down too? Shimmy and bump steer are two different symptoms as well. What's your tire pressure at? And what is your caster set at?

 

[Yuel1298]

Track bar bolts torqued to 125 ft lbs? And when you had it off, the holes weren't ovaled? Are all of the adjustment clamps torqued down too? Shimmy and bump steer are two different symptoms as well. What's your tire pressure at? And what is your caster set at?

I appreciate the fast reply, to be completely honest I don’t have the torque or caster specs on hand. Looking to get all of that information within a week or so when I link up w my buddy. But I was hoping someone would have their own optimal specs and measurements for all the steering/suspensions components for a 4” lift. (ie: torque specs, control arm lengths, etc). I do know that my caster was most definitely negative and out of whack prior to replacing control arms. I lengthened the front lowers to 23.5” to add caster without killing my pinion at the same time.

 

[Cousin Clyde]

This helped me a lot with getting everything dialed in:

https://www.wayalife.com/threads/basic-do-it-yourself-jeep-jk-wrangler-front-end-alignment.3861/

torque specs are here:

https://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-ups/jeep-jk-wrangler-torque-settings

 

[Snboarder113]

Did you do it all yourself or have a shop do it? Sounds like it needs to be tossed on an alignment rack at this point at a place that knows jeeps.

 

[FenderBender]

The drag link flip will raise the axle side of the drag link, changing its angle. If that angle is different than the track bar, the drag link will be forced to move when the axle moves up or down since the track bar is sweeping through a different arc than the drag link would. This what we feel as bump steer.

It sounds to me like your drag link and track bar are at slightly different angles. When you did the drag link flip, did you move the track bar up using a track bar bracket? The picture looks like it's still a stock bracket, but I honestly can't remember what they look like. Generally, a drag link flip requires use of a track bar bracket that moves one end of the track bar (usually the axle end) to match the new angle of the drag link. If you don't have one, you'll want to get one or move the drag link back to the stock location (if possible).

Your picture looks like the drag link and track bar are close to the same angle, but it doesn't take much difference for there to be noticeable bump steer.

 

[CalSgt]

The drag link flip will raise the axle side of the drag link, changing its angle. If that angle is different than the track bar, the drag link will be forced to move when the axle moves up or down since the track bar is sweeping through a different arc than the drag link would. This what we feel as bump steer.

It sounds to me like your drag link and track bar are at slightly different angles. When you did the drag link flip, did you move the track bar up using a track bar bracket? The picture looks like it's still a stock bracket, but I honestly can't remember what they look like. Generally, a drag link flip requires use of a track bar bracket that moves one end of the track bar (usually the axle end) to match the new angle of the drag link. If you don't have one, you'll want to get one or move the drag link back to the stock location (if possible).

Your picture looks like the drag link and track bar are close to the same angle, but it doesn't take much difference for there to be noticeable bump steer.

^^^This^^^

Comparing your before and after pictures it doesn't look like you raised the track bar mounting point after the drag link flip.

 

[Spazbyt]

Again, you need a raised track bar bracket. Beware some bolt on brackets tie into your sway bar end link tab and you won't be able to use your quick disconnect sway bar links. I'm currently looking into the Synergy weld on bracket with the sway bar end link relocation tabs for that reason.

 

[darrylK]

Again, you need a raised track bar bracket. Beware some bolt on brackets tie into your sway bar end link tab and you won't be able to use your quick disconnect sway bar links. I'm currently looking into the Synergy weld on bracket with the sway bar end link relocation tabs for that reason.

My buddy is looking to the same up and he's probably not aware of the need for a raised track bar bracket. I'll just finish installing the bumper onto the Ram this week and I'll visit him.