Howdy,

I am pretty new to these forums and I bought my first Jeep which is a 2013 JK Unlimited Sport. It came with a 2.5-inch lift and some crap shocks, it has BFGoodrich ATs LT285/70R17's on it.

A few things I noticed was the ride is terrible, I put some Bilstein shocks on it and that helped a little however it just feels like there are little to no shocks. It feels like a bucking board. I don't expect it to be a Cadillac but it can't be this bad.

The other thing was the alignment, I had the dealer do a 4 wheel alignment and it is still all over the road. The front end wanders a little bit. I added a dual shock steering dampener and that helped a little but not enough.

Its really not fun to drive at all. I don't mind spending some money to get it all fixed however I rather figure out what I need and do it myself. Can anyone suggest a good 3-inch lift with shocks that will ride smooth and not wander all over the road?

Thanks

BigD

 

I'm willing to bet the caster is out on the front axle. Did your lift come with adjustable control arms?

 

I believe it did, I will have to pop under it and take a look this evening. Would that explain the wandering? What about the ride? It rides worse than my F350 Dually.

 

Sure it can. You have LT tires on it, which have very stiff sidewalls, and this is not a problem with shocks. Shocks (dampers) do not make the ride more smooth. They dampen oscillations. Keep it from bouncing up and down and back up again after going over a bump. To make it ride softer will require softer springs. This will also make the marginally handling much worse and make the body roll, pitch and dive, etc. intolerable IMHO. But so it is. JKs ride a lot better than previous Wranglers but are nowhere near car ride quality.

Sorry to inform you after the fact but there is nothing to adjust except front toe on a Wrangler. There's nothing adjustable in the rear at all. Basically there's no justification to having an alignment done.

Actually I'd suggest removing the lift and putting different tires on it, such as the Bridgestone Dueler AT that would have come on a Sahara. Those tires ride pretty good, comparatively. As long as you are committed to LT tires and a lift, you are going to wind up with a rough ride.

 

The wheelbase is a LOT shorter than your F350 dually.

Too little caster is a common issue with lifted JKs. Actually bone stock they have too little caster, but it is much worse with a lift. This will make the steering have very vague on-center feel.

Too much toe (out) will make it feel darty like it is constantly trying to change direction. You can measure (and adjust) this yourself in the driveway with a few pieces of steel square tubing, some bungee cords, a level and a good tape measure.

Many Jeep JK owners will run very low tire pressure on the road in effort to reduce ride harshness, and as a result they make the handling very soft, vague, and reduce lateral grip along with braking traction. To make a more solid on-road feel, increase the tire pressure to up around 37-38 psi.

If it pulls to one side or the other and the tire pressure is right on, then something might be bent.

If you really want to fix the suspension and get it to handle and ride as well as it did when it was new, then you are better off starting with stock parts and settings, including tire pressure, tire size and type, lift, shocks, etc.

 

Thanks for your in-depth explanation, this really helps.

It doesn't pull to the left or right it wanders (just a little) just enough to make it annoying and my wife doesn't want to drive it. There has to be a lift and suspension upgrade out there that has a decent ride and adjustability, no? When I bought it I knew it wouldn't ride like a BMW but I never imagined. I think I will look into some springs that are a little softer, that might help.

I will take it in and have the caster checked to see if that might be the problem with the wandering. I like it lifted, I have had lifted trucks and Landrovers my whole like and have had one ride this bad. I know these tires have stiff sidewalls as well, I had them on one of my trucks. I might air them down a touch.

Thanks again

 

No problem! But I don't think you got my point

Lift is not an upgrade, at least not in terms of performance. It's an upgrade in terms of ground clearance and tire clearance, but that's it. It's a huge tradeoff in terms of performance. And softer springs PLUS a lift is compounding the problem. Raising the center of gravity while also reducing roll resistance will increase the chance of a rollover. Not good.

You can check this yourself. Or just look at the alignment numbers from your recent alignment. But it's not adjustable. You have to replace the "control arms" up front with longer ones in order to restore stock caster. Then it will firm up on-center.

BTW airing down the tires will make the ride smoother but the wandering worse.

 

So, some thoughts...

First, the BFG ATs in that size are an E-rated tire - like someone else alluded to, that will have very stiff side-walls. I run E-rated on our 1-ton diesel to haul horses. Those stiff side walls will cause a rough ride. Look up 'chalk test' on this forum. I'm betting your tire pressure is too high for that tire/jeep combination.

Second, with just 2.5" of lift, caster might be the problem but I'm betting no. Can you post the alignment sheet?

 

Thanks again, I had the alignment done at the dealer and they did not give me the sheet however this weekend I am taking it to a guy I know that can check everything. I did think that these e-rated tires were a bit much as I ran these same tires on my 2011 2500HD and towed a huge 5th wheel with it. I noticed those tires were stiff on that truck too.

If I have to replace the control arms I will for sure. You have been very helpful.

Thank you

BigD

 

I just finished installing AEV control arm drop brackets to correct just what you're going through.

Much better, night and day.