off-road arkie

just put a tf leveling kit on my rubicon, went the cheap way for now..going with a 2.5 AEV or OME or whatever everybody recommends.....OK---now my jeep drives like crap kinda darts around and pulls a little to the right, not bad though. measured tow in and it is not out all that bad. also put AEV rims on with 295 tires any ideas what could be wrong before I go get it checked out.....I did my daughters jeep and it drove like a dream...

busa250

If you did not have a alignment done start there. I know adjustable lower control arms adjustable drag link are the only way to center your axle and get a better alignment. Also a steering dampener can help. Sometimes the tires along with the lift just dont sit right or go together the best and make issues

resharp001

+1 on the alignment, but I think you mean the track bar, not drag link for that portion of re-centering.

Get an alignment. Without adjustable arms, they can really only correct your toe-in and make sure your steering wheel is straight, but you will get the print out with all the current readings. If you don't want to or can't afford an alignment, spend $10 at Lowe's or Home Depot and get a cheap angle finder out of the tool department (should be around the laser level area), Google measuring JK pinion angle, and calculate your caster yourself. It literally takes 30 seconds to crawl under there and measure it.

Tires make a bit of difference, but more likely than not is your caster is out of whack and now you’re feeling it. Pretty sure you’ll need to correct your caster/pinion angle. You can do that a few different ways…..1) cam bolts (highly NOT recommended), 2) some control arm drop brackets (you’re going to lose clearance if you off-road), or 3) adjustable control arms which would be the proper thing to do. At the VERY least, lower adjustable control arms in the front. If you think through the geometry of what happens, as you lift the jeep, you pull that front axle back towards the cabin a bit….which in turn raises the pinion flange a bit higher and in turn decreases your caster. The decrease in caster is most likely what is making you feel a bit flighty and making you pull to one side. I will say that way back when I set my toe-in myself using the tape measure method after upgrading my tie rod. I was certain I was spot on and after going in for an alignment I was way off.

busa250

Sorry i did mean trac bar. Lol

Quentin_T

This ^

Don't do it the cheap way first, you'll spend more money and have a poor handling Jeep. I did the same thing, RC BB 2.5 to the OME long travel kit from NR4x4, what a world of difference it is with the correct caster.

TeraFlex

Sounds like you didn't loosen up your control arms/trackbars when you installed the kit. All of your bushings are bound up right now. Loosen those bolts and rock the JK side to side. Unless you installed adjustable control arms, doing an alignment is NOT needed for this kit.

nthinuf

Start with having the tires rotated and re-balanced. (doesn't matter that they are new and were balanced when they were installed, rotate and balance again so you can eliminate a tire issue)

Then do Teraflex's suggestion. Unbind those joints and see what you think of the handling.

After that, call around to your local alignment shops --> find one that offers 'free' checks. They will throw it on the rack and print the specs for you to take home. Post the numbers and ask for opinions.

But, unless you buy more parts, they can not adjust caster, they can not adjust camber, they can not center the axles left/right or move them front/back. You will be paying the full alignment charge for them to adjust the toe and center the steering wheel. Both of which you can check yourself with any of the how-to guides or youtube vids that are readily available.

If you still think the handling is flighty, come back and start getting opinions on which form of caster correction will be best for your particular situation.