Adjustable Front Track Bar! What a difference that made!!!!
JK Junkie
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 3,068
Likes: 116
From: Bunnlevel, NC
Any more than 1/4" front axle offset will have a negative effect on handling & steering. Yes, the axle moves laterally as the suspension moves, but on a stock JK it does so from a near-neutral position, front & rear. As the axles move laterally they also steer slightly. The stack up of misaligned components caused by an off center housing causes any number of issues, such as wacky handling, triggered ESP, etc. From personal experience sorting out club members JKs the OP likely had at least a 1/2" -1" misalignment at rest.
Perhaps there's some other difference in the suspension system in his versus mine and I just happened to have other components that mitigated this.
JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,863
Likes: 1
From: Bossier City, LA
Now start throwing 3.5" and taller lifts on then yes I would probably agree that it has a negative effect.
JK Junkie
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 3,068
Likes: 116
From: Bunnlevel, NC
Any more than 1/4" front axle offset will have a negative effect on handling & steering. Yes, the axle moves laterally as the suspension moves, but on a stock JK it does so from a near-neutral position, front & rear. As the axles move laterally they also steer slightly. The stack up of misaligned components caused by an off center housing causes any number of issues, such as wacky handling, triggered ESP, etc. From personal experience sorting out club members JKs the OP likely had at least a 1/2" -1" misalignment at rest.
Last edited by jedg; May 8, 2016 at 06:50 AM.
JK Freak
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 775
Likes: 32
From: Colorado
Ok you guys got me curious, so after breakfast at McDonalds (a Sunday tradition) I stopped by my local Jeep dealer & at random measured the axle centering of six or so new '16 JKs, Rubicon, Sport & Sahara. Axle centering on all of them measured within 1/16" - 1/8" front & rear. In all cases the front axle was offset that amount to driver, the rear to passenger, meaning with a normal load the axles would shift to near dead center. With that in mind, it suggests the Jeep Nanny electro-whiz ABS/BAS/ESP, etc. plus the steering angle are all programmed with the assumption the axles are dead-centered under the frame.
JK Junkie
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,440
Likes: 0
From: CT
1/2 is pushing it, i do agree with that. My axle was only offset 3/8 at 2.5" .. Unless the coils net more height the offset should not be any more than 1/2 at 2.5, if so, a better option would be steering correction (w/ TB bracket) People measuring 1/2-3/4 (@2.5") should re-measure using the frame and common point on each tire.
Edit: also make sure when installing new coils to loosen all 16 CA and 4 TB bolts, give the jeep a good shake and tighten at ride height.
Edit: also make sure when installing new coils to loosen all 16 CA and 4 TB bolts, give the jeep a good shake and tighten at ride height.
Last edited by kjeeper10; May 8, 2016 at 10:28 AM.
JK Junkie
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 3,068
Likes: 116
From: Bunnlevel, NC
Ok you guys got me curious, so after breakfast at McDonalds (a Sunday tradition) I stopped by my local Jeep dealer & at random measured the axle centering of six or so new '16 JKs, Rubicon, Sport & Sahara. Axle centering on all of them measured within 1/16" - 1/8" front & rear. In all cases the front axle was offset that amount to driver, the rear to passenger, meaning with a normal load the axles would shift to near dead center. With that in mind, it suggests the Jeep Nanny electro-whiz ABS/BAS/ESP, etc. plus the steering angle are all programmed with the assumption the axles are dead-centered under the frame.
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 112
Likes: 5
From: Phoenix, AZ
I was on the stock track bar for a little while running a 2.5in Teraflex lift with 315/70 r17 GoodYear MTR Ks. When I was trying to find worn parts in my steering (turns out I had a bad drag link), I had my wife sit in the driver's seat, and turn the wheel back and fourth. When I had her go all the way lock to lock, you could see the axle walking back and forth in relation to the frame as the tires turned, due to the amount of give in flimsy stock track bar. I upgraded to a Synergy HD track bar, and all is better know.
Teraflex's website has a video for their HD track bar showing the give in the stock track bar when running 35x12.5in tires.
The combination of the flimsy track bar and the bad drag link had my jeep wandering all over the road. Now all is well.
Sent from my iPhone using JK-Forum
Teraflex's website has a video for their HD track bar showing the give in the stock track bar when running 35x12.5in tires.
The combination of the flimsy track bar and the bad drag link had my jeep wandering all over the road. Now all is well.
Sent from my iPhone using JK-Forum
Agreed. For those saying worn out bushings or improperly torqued bolts were the cause, they were not. I put the lift and tires on when the Jeep had 1,500 miles on it and it drove like this from the moment I did that. I just thought that was how it should feel after a lift and tires. It is not. The axle was off center about 1/2" before I put the TF track bar on and I don't see that causing the shimmy in the steering when hitting a bump. The flex in the stock track bar IS there if you want to believe it or not. Ask your SO to turn the steering wheel with you staring at it. Mine would flex just like the one in the TF video mentioned above.
JK Freak
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 750
Likes: 1
From: Huntington Beach, CA
I was on the stock track bar for a little while running a 2.5in Teraflex lift with 315/70 r17 GoodYear MTR Ks. When I was trying to find worn parts in my steering (turns out I had a bad drag link), I had my wife sit in the driver's seat, and turn the wheel back and fourth. When I had her go all the way lock to lock, you could see the axle walking back and forth in relation to the frame as the tires turned, due to the amount of give in flimsy stock track bar. I upgraded to a Synergy HD track bar, and all is better know.
Teraflex's website has a video for their HD track bar showing the give in the stock track bar when running 35x12.5in tires.
The combination of the flimsy track bar and the bad drag link had my jeep wandering all over the road. Now all is well.
Sent from my iPhone using JK-Forum
Teraflex's website has a video for their HD track bar showing the give in the stock track bar when running 35x12.5in tires.
The combination of the flimsy track bar and the bad drag link had my jeep wandering all over the road. Now all is well.
Sent from my iPhone using JK-Forum