Need advice on TJ lift setup

[untchabl]

My brother just bought back a 97 TJ that he sold a couple years ago. He owned it for probably 7-8 years before he sold it. I'm an XJ guy and have zero TJ experience and I'm looking for some input/suggestions on getting this thing to drive better.

It has an unknown lift (think it was Black Diamond brand, all springs no spacers), it was on it when he originally bought it 10+ years ago and hasn't changed. And it has always drove like absolute garbage, it takes 2 hands and all your attention to drive it and keep it in your lane on the road. It's twitchy, has bump steer, wanders, etc. Pretty much everything bad driving trait except it has never had death wobble.

It's on 35's with 4.56 gears and stock fenders. We don't want to change tire size or do any kind of fender trimming or high line fenders. It is 100% a street Jeep and will not see any kind of off-road. Doesn't need to flex well, just needs to be able to drive 60mph with one hand and not try to kill you.

It does have a 2" or so body lift and that can stay. It does have a drop pitman arm and a track bar lift bracket on the rear. Everything else on the steering and the control arms looks stock.

Here are a few pictures I took of what we're working with now.

 

[StretchASU]

A TJ with <4” lift does not need a drop pitman arm. That is almost guaranteed to be a chunk of the steering issues.

Stock pitman arm
Currie currectlync steering

Adjustable arms to dial in caster would go a long way too. My 05 was a similar disaster when I first got it but now runs 65-70 with one hand on the wheel.

 

[untchabl]

@StretchASU upper and lower arms front and rear? Or just lowers front and rear? Any recommendation on arms for a street Jeep?

 

[LBarr2002]

@StretchASU upper and lower arms front and rear? Or just lowers front and rear? Any recommendation on arms for a street Jeep?

Metalcloak Duroflex joints are awesome.

The more adjustable you have the easier it'll be to dial it in. I swapped from single adjustable uppers to double to be able to easily make adjustments trying to get rid of a vibration.

 

[shawn]

@StretchASU upper and lower arms front and rear? Or just lowers front and rear? Any recommendation on arms for a street Jeep?

So long as the drive line angles in the back are fine, you don't need adjustable arms there. You probably have some driveline vibrations with 4" springs and no SYE, but you can deal with that later if needed. If the front track bar mounts are stock, the drop pitman is causing the bump steer. Swap that and dial in as much caster with the cam bolts on the lowers as possible. If it still doesn't track, add adjustable uppers and/or longer lowers.

Could always switch to 2.5" springs, too.

 

[untchabl]

@shawn it does have a t-case drop. Never had any vibrations that I've noticed but I avoid driving/riding in it as much as possible.

 

[shawn]

If anything in the front end (tie rod ends, track bar, etc) is loose, I would expect it to have DW... but I guess it's possible to have a bad TRE or something that would cause it to wander but not cause DW. That's a roundabout way of saying you should check everything up front for movement, just to be sure.

 

[untchabl]

Ok, I'll get a stock pitman arm ordered. I think I have an adjustable trackbar and some type of steering linkage setup (maybe the Currie setup) in my pile of XJ parts so I'll dig those out and install them with the stock pitman arm.

 

[tobaccoroad4wd]

adjustable control arms and a quality alignment will go a long way. TREs and ball joints shouldn’t be causing the wandering, but stranger things have happened. (Maybe they’re seized?)
Track bars and a Currie steering set up, plus quality arms should set you up nicely.
I sent you a text, but I’ll look through the shop and see what I have.

 

[shawn]

TREs and ball joints shouldn’t be causing the wandering

Slop in the steering allows the tires to follow changes in crown, cracks in the road, etc. Ball joints allow changes in caster and camber.

 

[GMAC]

I just did a lift on my tj. Fixed lowers and adjustable uppers. Followed the instructions for the front uppers… bad idea. I adjusted them shorter from a screenshot @getstucksome sent me. Now it’s pretty solid. They are at 15 3/8” if it helps

 

[Chris_Keziah]

A TJ with <4” lift does not need a drop pitman arm. That is almost guaranteed to be a chunk of the steering issues.

Stock pitman arm
Currie currectlync steering

Adjustable arms to dial in caster would go a long way too. My 05 was a similar disaster when I first got it but now runs 65-70 with one hand on the wheel.

This, I wish drop pitman arms just didn't exist for TJ's, never seen a need for them on any TJ I've worked on.

The currie steering is nice but if this is road Jeep quality factory stuff will be just fine. I would throw a ZJ tie rod at it if you're going to replace it.

 

[jeepinmatt]

This, I wish drop pitman arms just didn't exist for TJ's, never seen a need for them on any TJ I've worked on.

They are only useful with the RE style double shear front trackbar bracket, which only works if you have like 6" of lift, because it hangs down and hits the axle housing otherwise.

 

[getstucksome]

I just did a lift on my tj. Fixed lowers and adjustable uppers. Followed the instructions for the front uppers… bad idea. I adjusted them shorter from a screenshot @getstucksome sent me. Now it’s pretty solid. They are at 15 3/8” if it helps

You had some of the same issues the OP is having, right? Wandering/twitchy/not fun to drive?

 

[GMAC]

You had some of the same issues the OP is having, right? Wandering/twitchy/not fun to drive?

Yes. Measure your arms. Here’s what helped and fixed my issue