2.5 rough country on jku, minimal problems
 

Ok, I'm new here but not new to lifted vehicles. The jeep tho is new to me. It's a 2013 wrangler unlimited sport, dozer, hardtop. I put a 2.5 rough country lift on it which is shocks and springs. Added the rough country adjustable front track bar and steering stabilizer. The rear I did the teraflex axle raised track bar mount. Along with alloy wheel spacers and 285-70-17s. It drives really good and smooth, roads in pa suck...the big potholes the wheel shakes. Now the tires are at 35psi and all the joints are tight. It was aligned at the dealer b4 the lift. The only thing to adjust is the toe, would that help adjusted more..?

I'll touch a little more on it, I know the caster changed with the lift. The track bar and drag link are pretty close to the same angle. I have a straight axled silverado on coilover and never had this kind of problem. Its minimal but still bounces the wheel. Do you guys need to change alot on just a 2.5 inch lift..?? I seen aev makes a kit for the lower lca.

I guess this is the complaint, correct? Drives fine, hit a pothole, and the steering wheel shakes? Or a tire shakes? Or? Maybe you could describe the problem a little better ...

You paid for an alignment 'before' the lift went on, not after? From the factory, Caster is not adjustable. Caster gets worse as lift height increases, causing flightier steering. You did not indicate that any form of caster correction was installed, so, low caster = flighty/floaty steering.

Camber is not adjustable, but should not have changed due to the lift. From the potholes, quite possible. Toe is adjustable, but should not have changed due to the lift. From the potholes? Possible. Wouldn't hurt to have it checked, but again, since the issue isn't very clear, maybe its fine.

33" tires? Shops like to set the pressure high. Many with 33's or 35's tend to run down at 30psi or less. Might be worth some experimenting, but i would guess that steering wheel shake or tire shake is not caused by that extra 5psi.



You updated while I was writing this...

Trackbar and draglink angles (draglink flip or high steers) generally generally get corrected at 3.5" and taller. You have not installed a front trackbar bracket or a drop pitman by mistake, correct?

Caster - Either a set of brackets or a single set of control arms (fixed or adjustable) will correct it. But is that the cause of "the big potholes the wheel shakes" ? Don't know.

It was aligned before the lift, before I bought it. They put michelin mxl tires from a new jk on it. I was told the toe was good and that wont change with the lift...that was from a dealer tech.
On the front I put a rough country adj track bar, no bracket. The rear I did the axle bracket to put the rear track bar where it was. The wheel doesnt shake hard, just shakes when you go thru a pot hole or bump with one corner, when u hit a bump in the road with both sides at one time it's ok. I asked about the caster because that sometimes causes it but I wasnt sure about only this amount of lift. I know rough country isnt the greatest.

I have both a 4 link truck and a long travel leaf spring truck and neither do this and one is on 40 inch boggers.

Check your track bar bolts make sure they are really torqued down.

What's the proper spec..? 125 ftlbs..? I'll recheck that tomorrow.

Yup, 125 ft lbs. I'd guestimate that with 2.5" lift, your caster dropped from 4.2* down to the 3.4-3.5* range. If you confirm torque on that TB is correct, you might want to consider a means of caster correction. Looks like you've already seen the AEV brackets. Rancho and Metalcloak make nice 1-piece designs as well, or you could just do some adjustable lower front arms.

Track bar was 90ftlbs and tires were at 37. Tightened up to 125 and tires at 30 it seems alot better. Prob good enough that it fine.

Now one more question, is it worth doing longer sway bar links..?

It's not a bad idea. Many kits ship with longer rear links, then you move the stock rear links up front. Or get disconnects if you offroad it.

The problem some folks have run into is that with short links and longer shocks, when the suspension is flexed out, the swaybar can flip around backwards which will damage the brackets and turn the links into pretzels. This has happened on lifts at the shop, not just offroad. But, it depends on the travel of your specific setup, so there isn't a firm answer on whether it will or won't happen to you.

Thankyou, I appreciate the help. I still have a little bump in the wheel but its so slight that it's no big deal. I ordered a set of teraflex rear links. For now I'll move the rears up front. How do u check the caster..? Angle finder on the knuckle..? I'm curious how far off it is, so longer lower links would bring it back..?