As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the RK 3.5 Max Travel installed at a reputable shop. I paid a total of about $1900 worth of labor for sleeves, gussets, truss, welded on front and rear TB brackets, axle swap, and lift install. I also dropped $1300 on some custom Tom Woods drive shafts.

I had about 3" of lift off my previous AEV 2.5 lift. It may have settled some, but not really sure. Once my RK 3.5 was installed I gained about another 1.75" of lift giving me anywhere from 4.25"-4.75" of actual lift. I'm guessing the control arms were set to the instructions recommended starting lengths and never properly adjusted.

Another thing they didn't do is move the rear sway bar back 1" per the instructions. so the rear sway bar is hanging way down and the rear sway bar links are tilted way forward at an angle. They also didn't set the control arm Krawler Joints to the neutral position as per instructions.

Now I am ALL OVER THE ROAD. I have to keep a death grip on the steering wheel to keep it in the lane of traffic. I'm sure I need to dial in more caster from everything I've ever read. I do have the high steer setup so I am sure it's not bump steer.

The shop that installed it said they'd make the adjustment, but they don't have an actual alignment rack. Would I be better off just going to an actual alignment shop? I called 4WP and they quoted about 2.5 hours/$250 worth of shop time if they had to adjust control arms and pinion angles.

I know there are some DIY alignment write-ups but I just want to be sure everything is dead-on-balls accurate.

Does anyone know of any good 4-wheel alignment shops in D/FW??? I can't take much more of this!!!

 

"...a reputable shop" my eye!

You seem to know more about the your Jeep than the shop does. That's OK. Many of us are intimately aware of every nuance of our Jeep's mechanical systems. Many (including myself) do the mods themselves.

Most shops don't know squat about live axles and preloaded pinion bearings.

Easy things to check:
1) Caster - park the Jeep on a level surface (check with a level). Locate the 2 round protrusions on the front of the front axle on either side of the "pumpkin'. Use a level to see how far the circles are from being perfectly vertical. This should give you an idea of how far off your caster is. (P.S. you can use a smartphone level app too)
2) Have someone move the steering wheel side to side while you check each steering joint, Panhard bar coupling and control arm for play.
3) Do a basic front end alignment yourself:
Basic Do-it-Yourself Jeep JK Wrangler Front End Alignment

Harder things to check:
1) Loosen all control arm bolts and while the Jeep is sitting with full weight on the wheels, retighten all suspension and steering components to spec torque. Shops are notorious for tightening components on the rack while they are easily accessible and that's the absolute wrong thing to do.
2) Do the complete suspension checkout:
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/

 

Call around and find a alignment shop that offers free 'checks'. Take it in, throw it on the rack, leave with the printout.

There is your baseline for adjusting the arms using the DIY writeup, or for taking it back to let the installer adjust.

 

Actually just read through that and used an iphone app to get an idea of the caster angle. I set it on too of the ball joint and it read ZERO. Not sure just how accurate it is but if it is, no wonder it's driving like total crap!

I also just checked those two round protrusions and depending on where I set my phone on there it's between 5-6 degrees from vertical (tilted forward).

So if any of this is even close to being accurate, am I running 0 freakin degrees caster???

Great idea!!!

 

0* and if its toed in too much will definently make for a interesting ride.....just redid mine and a buddies....did a bunch of work to em....

 

It is really hard to use an angle finder or Iphone to get a true caster reading unless you know exactly where to place it. I forgot who mentioned it to me but what was recommended was to find a shop that will put it on an alignment rack and let you go back there when it is being done. Bring an angle finder with you and then place it on the axle where you get the proper reading from the alingment machine. That way you know where to place it each time if you decide to tweak your caster.

When my 3.5" RK lift was installed (professionally by a friend of mine), the recommended settings only got me about 2 degrees of caster so we made them a bit longer to get to about 4.5. It takes time so it's better to know the proper placement to do the measurement so you don't end up creating something with too much caster which causes an entire other set of potential issues.

 

Even after you set caster you may end up with drive shaft vibration

 

We will post our response we put on another forum. No one will have a magic answer without getting some info to really help you out. There are a lot of great people in the Jeep community. We just need a starting place.



"Sir, What we would like to have first is just simple castor settings. We have seen systems installed in every fashion possible. Also, knowing it is a Max. Travel with high steer, there will be a few more things we would like to have you check. However, we need to know what we are starting with...

We do not know if you need to shorten the uppers, lengthen the lowers or a combination of the two yet. We do not have the slightest idea of how it is installed yet.. Lets start with the basics....

Also, check your tire pressure to make sure they are not over inflated... There are so many things to check it is crazy. "

RK

 

Thanks for all your help RK! The lift itself is awesome. Rides much smoother than my previous lift! Once I get it aligned it'll be golden.

Heading to an alignment shop now...

 

After striking out at a few alignment shops, I finally found one that would align my Jeep.

The toe-in was way off and the caster was right around zero.

If anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area needs an alignment, Tom's Brake & Alignment in Richland Hills is good to go! Only charged me $100! The off road shops all wanted $200-$250.