Best Steering Upgrade?
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 368
Likes: 1
From: Fort Worth, Texas
Best Steering Upgrade?
Hey yall,
I have been reading around this forum and it sounds like steering stabilizers are a waste of money and more of a bandaid than a fix for wobbly steering. I just drove from Tallahassee to Fort Worth and pretty much was shaking the whole way. It was very drifty on the highway. I have a 2" spacer lift by Skyjacker with nitro shocks on my 2 door with 33" nitto terras. I was wondering if maybe upgrading to a more complete lift like teraflex or suggestions? or if i should get a trackbar (front or rear or even just brackets?) or anything else you can suggest...
Thanks yall,
Keith
I have been reading around this forum and it sounds like steering stabilizers are a waste of money and more of a bandaid than a fix for wobbly steering. I just drove from Tallahassee to Fort Worth and pretty much was shaking the whole way. It was very drifty on the highway. I have a 2" spacer lift by Skyjacker with nitro shocks on my 2 door with 33" nitto terras. I was wondering if maybe upgrading to a more complete lift like teraflex or suggestions? or if i should get a trackbar (front or rear or even just brackets?) or anything else you can suggest...
Thanks yall,
Keith
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
the shaking you were experiencing was most likely caused by your tires not being balanced properly. even if you just got them balanced, it can take 2-3 times to get large off road tire on right. regarding your drifty on the highway problem, installing a set of adjustable lower control arms so that you can add more positive caster will help out a lot with that. a more complete kit will have these components but, you can probably just add them to what you have now too. also, how much air are you running in your tires? for 33's, you shouldn't be at more than 28-30psi.
Last edited by wayoflife; Mar 8, 2010 at 06:11 AM.
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
not really. i thought my JK felt flighty right off the dealer lot. there are a lot of folks that feel their steering is flighty at highway speeds after doing a small lift especially on 2-doors. not that it's a big deal to me but it's there. 4.2° of caster ain't a whole lot.
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 368
Likes: 1
From: Fort Worth, Texas
I run about 32psi... I guess thats a little high? So control arms would be better than getting track bars? I did just get new wheels as well...how would i know if it was tire balancing and would i just go back to the tire shop and tell them to do it again? lol
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
you and your damn caster 
Both my JK's have never had flighty steering. Typical "every jeep is different" situation i guess. I'd still make sure the TRE's are good and tight. My buddy's 4 door had that "dead in the middle" feel from a worn TRE off the pitman arm. that gave it that odd flighty feel. Like you could never get it to hold a straight line.
also, i think people need to figure out what "flighty" steering is and what's normal from road round. My buddy was bitching about flighty steering and i drove it. some roads it was fine, others it followed the crown. he had 12.50's on his rig and I guarantee it was following the road round.
Both my JK's have never had flighty steering. Typical "every jeep is different" situation i guess. I'd still make sure the TRE's are good and tight. My buddy's 4 door had that "dead in the middle" feel from a worn TRE off the pitman arm. that gave it that odd flighty feel. Like you could never get it to hold a straight line.
also, i think people need to figure out what "flighty" steering is and what's normal from road round. My buddy was bitching about flighty steering and i drove it. some roads it was fine, others it followed the crown. he had 12.50's on his rig and I guarantee it was following the road round.
well, not really. going a bit lower can help out but 32 should be okay. getting a new adjustable track bar will allow you to recenter your axle but that's about it. being able to add a bit more caster and maybe even adding a bit more toe-in will help. new adjustable control arms will allow you to do this.
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
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JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
regarding speed, is that because of the flightyness or the shimming or both?