ESP on a lifted rig - tips
JK Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: Calgary
ESP sure isn't worthless when you live North of the border, lol... with a 2-foot snowfall, ESP suddenly becomes your best friend.
I will do whatever I can, with modifications, to keep the ESP on my X working properly. Does anyone foresee any problems if I go as much as 2.5" of lift? Is the caster adjustable stock?
I didn't think it was.
On a side note.. I picked up the may edition of JP magazine and it actually has a kickass write up in it regarding each stage of ESP, what it does, and how to disable it in increments. Way easier to understand and much more fun to read than what's given to you in your owner's manual. Also shows you what is disabled and what is still working on each stage! Really cool... if you're a geeky gearhead like myself.
I will do whatever I can, with modifications, to keep the ESP on my X working properly. Does anyone foresee any problems if I go as much as 2.5" of lift? Is the caster adjustable stock?
I didn't think it was.On a side note.. I picked up the may edition of JP magazine and it actually has a kickass write up in it regarding each stage of ESP, what it does, and how to disable it in increments. Way easier to understand and much more fun to read than what's given to you in your owner's manual. Also shows you what is disabled and what is still working on each stage! Really cool... if you're a geeky gearhead like myself.
JK Jedi Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 15,133
Likes: 0
From: O HI 4 Lo
ESP sure isn't worthless when you live North of the border, lol... with a 2-foot snowfall, ESP suddenly becomes your best friend.
I will do whatever I can, with modifications, to keep the ESP on my X working properly. Does anyone foresee any problems if I go as much as 2.5" of lift? Is the caster adjustable stock? I didn't think it was.
On a side note.. I picked up the may edition of JP magazine and it actually has a kickass write up in it regarding each stage of ESP, what it does, and how to disable it in increments. Way easier to understand and much more fun to read than what's given to you in your owner's manual. Also shows you what is disabled and what is still working on each stage! Really cool... if you're a geeky gearhead like myself.
I will do whatever I can, with modifications, to keep the ESP on my X working properly. Does anyone foresee any problems if I go as much as 2.5" of lift? Is the caster adjustable stock?
I didn't think it was.On a side note.. I picked up the may edition of JP magazine and it actually has a kickass write up in it regarding each stage of ESP, what it does, and how to disable it in increments. Way easier to understand and much more fun to read than what's given to you in your owner's manual. Also shows you what is disabled and what is still working on each stage! Really cool... if you're a geeky gearhead like myself.
You'll be fine, If people are having issues with ESP after the lift, its because they have not dialed in the lift correctly...
I love the esp system
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 179
Likes: 3
From: Prague. Czech rep.
I went through and fine tuned my suspension. When I first put the lift no I got a lot of ESP firing. Now that I have it all dialed it it's as good as stock (i.e. never fires under normal driving).
I learned a couple things that I thought I would share.
It seems like there only needs to be a few degrees of difference between the steering angle and the vehicle direction to cause ESP to fire. My guess is between 5 and 10 degrees. ESP is MUCH more likely to fire when it senses oversteer as opposed to understeer. This is actually helpful for figuring out if your steering is slightly off, which way it's off.
If your ESP only fires in right handers you steering wheel is probably slightly to far to the left. If your ESP only fires in left handers your steering wheel is probably slightly too far to the right.
Getting the caster right made a big difference. I had very little caster originally. Even though my steering wheel was completely centered I was still getting ESP firing. I believe this is because there is some inherrent slop in the steering. When there isn't enough caster to always want to return the steering to center the wheels and steering wheel flop around in that slop. That can cause the 5 - 10 degrees in difference between the steering angle and vehicle path causing the ESP to fire.
I dialed 6 degrees of caster into my driver's side and 7 degrees into the passenger side. Now the ESP never fires and the jeep drives REALLY nicely. I might still try to add 1/16" of toe-in (for a total of 1/8") just for giggles.
I learned a couple things that I thought I would share.
It seems like there only needs to be a few degrees of difference between the steering angle and the vehicle direction to cause ESP to fire. My guess is between 5 and 10 degrees. ESP is MUCH more likely to fire when it senses oversteer as opposed to understeer. This is actually helpful for figuring out if your steering is slightly off, which way it's off.
If your ESP only fires in right handers you steering wheel is probably slightly to far to the left. If your ESP only fires in left handers your steering wheel is probably slightly too far to the right.
Getting the caster right made a big difference. I had very little caster originally. Even though my steering wheel was completely centered I was still getting ESP firing. I believe this is because there is some inherrent slop in the steering. When there isn't enough caster to always want to return the steering to center the wheels and steering wheel flop around in that slop. That can cause the 5 - 10 degrees in difference between the steering angle and vehicle path causing the ESP to fire.
I dialed 6 degrees of caster into my driver's side and 7 degrees into the passenger side. Now the ESP never fires and the jeep drives REALLY nicely. I might still try to add 1/16" of toe-in (for a total of 1/8") just for giggles.
That´s exactly,what I ´ve found on my JK.
JK Jedi Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 15,665
Likes: 4
From: Hammond Louisiana
My esp issues went away quickly after I installed adj frt lowers. Got the castor set and I find myself trying to push it in those clover leaf turns of the interstate to try to make it go off. Before it went off just as soon as I turned into one.
Thread Starter
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
Teraflex recommends slightly more length on the lower passenger control arm to counteract the tendancy the JK has to pull right. That results in slightly more caster on that side.
JK Jedi
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5,168
Likes: 1
From: texarkana,tx