Cherokee Caster Angle

siksaschevy

Active Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2008
Location
Havelock, NC
Ive got a 1995 Cherokee Sport that i built long arms for and have about 8.5 inches of lift. im trying to set the caster angle and when i built the long arms i zero'd out the caster. then rotated it up about 4 degree's and when i went to test drive it it had pretty bad death wobble. so i came back and looked at the pinion it was pointed downward. its negative 7 right now. all the jam nuts were tight and all hardware was and still is tight. coil springs have a slight bow to them. im going to rotate the housing back up today but i dont know how much caster i should have with that much lift. i figured it would settle but not that much. was not expected that much rotation in axle. any info would be greatly appreciated. also i would like any feedback on adding an extra heim jointed track bar to keep excess wobble down. im going to be driving this thing alot and would rather not scare the hell out of everyone comeing at me on the road.
 
How are you measuring the caster? Caster is measured by drawing an imaginary line through the upper and lower ball joint. Positive caster would be when the upper ball joint is further back than the lower. If your pinion is pointed down too far then that would mean your caster is too positive.


What kind of joints are in your new long arms? Poly, JJ's or heims. Did you do a 3 link, a 4 link, or Y links like most LA kits for Cherokee's. It sounds to me like you might be setting the pinion angle to 4 degrees instead of the caster. No matter how much lift you have its ideal to have around 3 to 6 deg. of caster. If you have negative offset wheels I would shoot more for 6 deg. it will track a little straighter.
 
the joints are ballistic fab brand balistic joints. and i made a 4 link front y link. yah i had it backwards. i figured out the problem when i set my wheelbase. i did not change the upper links. in the midst of changing the lower link length. i forget to adjust the uppers again so when i drove it and came back it looked like everything had moved on me. i just adjusted the uppers until the pinion and coil bucket was flat and then drove it and just kept at it trail and error style. it seems to be tracking pretty straight and doesent have alot of bump steer. i do need to redo the steering though cause it does wander quite a bit.
 
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