Steering is crap!

roksld13

roksld13

Active Member
Joined
May 26, 2007
Location
Thomasville, NC
Hey guys. I have a prob that I need to pick your brains about.
My 97 tj was very unresponsive and felt very crazy. I had a rugged ridge hd crossover steering on it and it was not very good so I put factory back on her. New TRE And did not really fix issues. New steering gear box and it help a ton. Now it still has a bit of play(not as bad) and a bit of road wondering. Supper frustrated because all the Mecs I have talk to just keep telling me it's kist a lifted jeep. Well it was not like that till about 5 years after I lifted it. Thanks for any info.
 
thanks for the responses guys no i do not have UCA's and i still have the factory trackbar. I have not had the alignment done yet but will be done tommorrow. i was going to take it to a place here in greensboro that does our work vans. you think that would be ok? I have issues with people working on my rig. I dount really trust to much. thanks
 
thanks 72rockcruiser that is a good bit of info. it is getting an alignment today and im thinking of replacing the trackbar bushings over a new trackbar because i am wanting to get a new lift kit soon so i really dont want to spend the money on a new trackbar now if i can help it.
 
I am not too far down the road from you in Lexington, bring it by sometime and I will look it over, no charge and see if I can help you out.
 
sweet sqrl$$ i thank you. I will def take you up on that. I need someone who knows what to look for on this steering thing because i know absoultly nothing on it. where are you located in lexington?
 
Just checked out your site. You do some pretty sweet work. Im sure you may see me alot because there is not alot of offroad places around to do work and i also have a 07 4door bone stock that is going to need some attention soon! :^)
 
Give me a call when it is convient for you.

Tad
239-6061
 
just got it back from the shop and he told me me that he would not eaven align it because it would not hold one. he told me the tie rod(drag link where it connects to the drop pitman arm) was worn out. He was telling me it was a danger to drive. I hate this steering. It baffles me to the point of frustration.
 
i have the RR setup on my XJ...and it's been nothing but good for me. I also have some horrible steering, and the truck like to wander around the road. I had brandon at Rides align it...and it's still present, although i'm not sure if his alignment guy ever touched the caster since the factory shims are still in there like they were before the alignment...i think my track bar is worn....so that's my next step.

so please keep the thread updated as to what you find...because i'm going through the same thing
 
in order to change caster on a xj you would either have to get adjustable lower ball joints or havethe outer "c"s cut and rewelded. they may ahve just done a "tow and go" alignment.
 
Cool that's good to know. Thats one thing I'm not up to par on is the steering. Now would that be any diff on a tj. I would not think so depending on year. I still have not found the time to go to lexington but I'm trying to get up there this upcoming week.
 
I used the website below to learn how to check and set my own castor on a TJ. I know you don't have a TJ but I have an XJ high pinion so the place to check castor will be the same. I had mine aligned at Mineke and they told me my castor was in spec. But when I checked it my driver side was 4 degrees and passenger was 7 degrees. This caused it to wander something fierce.

I have adjustable control arms so it was fairly simple to adjust my castor. I am not familiar with XJ shims but I am sure you can do a Google search and it will tell you how to adjust the castor on a XJ.

http://web.mac.com/donpryor/caster_adjustment_on_tj.html
 
the shims are right behind where the front lower control arm mounts to the unibody. there's 2 bolts (i believe 10mm..maybe 13 like everything else)...you loosen them, then loosen the control arm bolt, then put a jack under the axle to lift it so it angles up...they shims drop out.
there's formulas and tables on the interwebz to tell you what you need to roughly get to what caster setting based on lift and other things...just do a quick search.

it's weird though, NO ONE i've talked to has known about the shims....even though it's obvious when you actually get under there and look lol
 
i actually do have a TJ. I dont have an XJ, i think someone else posted on here that did. Thanks for the info though, i think by the time i finally get this thing right i will know what is what on this steering and how to set it up. Thanks alot for all the info and the web sites links.
 
roksld13 said:
i actually do have a TJ. I dont have an XJ, i think someone else posted on here that did. Thanks for the info though, i think by the time i finally get this thing right i will know what is what on this steering and how to set it up. Thanks alot for all the info and the web sites links.
Click to expand...

Sorry miss read some of the post. Since you have a TJ you should have cam bolts on your lower control arms that are fairly simple to adjust. They don't give you much adjustment but it may help with your wondering.
 
like everyone else says, i'd definitely check on your caster.
As for "play", is that steering wheel play possibly? Ever check the intermediate shaft in between the box and steering wheel?
 
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