I took my 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 3.6L and got an alignment on it after I replaced my upper and lower balljoints on the front. My steering wheel is still very touchy and it stills pulls to either the left or right depending. Highway speeds over 50 and I'm all over the road, hoping not to get pulled over for my jeep swaying. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what was the conclusion.

 

I'd guess your toe-in might have been adjusted out-of-spec. There are varied opinions on what it should be, but I run mine at 1/8" toe-in.

It's easy to check. Jack up the front of the JK and put jack stands under each side to both tires can spin freely. Put a grease marker or use some chalk to put a mark on the tire. It's not hypercritical where you put the mark. I like to put it on the outside of the tire so it's easy to get at. Have a partner help you here - rotate the tires so the mark is about horizontally even with the hub and both tires have the mark on the same side (front or back first, doesn't matter). Measure between the marks. Rotate the tires 180 degrees and measure again between the marks. Whatever the measurements are, the front should be about 1/8" less than the back. If you are more than 1/4" off either toe-in or out, that's likely your problem.

The other problem might be the caster adjustment. There are good writeups on the internet on how to measure and what it should be. A quick way to check is to put a digital level on top of the top ball joint. Assuming you are on level ground, with the wheels pointing straight ahead, you should read around 5 degrees toward the back Again, this measurement varies from opinion to opinion, but 5 is about the middle of the spectrum. If you don't have a dedicated digital level, you might be able to use your cell phone but check it for accuracy first.

If you don't have a perfectly level place to park your vehicle, you can check the level of the surface with your digital level and add or subtract that from the ball joint reading. Like the toe-in measurement, you are looking for ballpark data. You need to be just good enough to see if it's really out of whack or not. Having said that, I've done several driveway alignments this way with great results as confirmed by the alignment shop. "You don't need an alignment, sir. Everything is within acceptable tolerances." Good enough! At least for toe-in and caster.

 

what ball joints did you install? typically new ball joints will be really tight till they break in a bit. people will typically refer to this as "loose" or "flighty" steering, but what is happening is the BJs are tight and not allowing the steering to return to center as easily as it should so it feels like you're having to constantly correct. usually it can take ~500 miles or so before things get back to normal. pretty common.

 

Resharp is correct. I just got mine back from repairs one being new greasable ball joints (I moved to townhouse so no more major Barry repairs). Drove the highway coming home with x-wind and sure looked like I had come out of the bar. What happens is steering at normal straight line will always return to center even if off a little. The stiff ball joints will not allow that and one has to steer it back to center which means too much inout to overcome stiffness. Mine is getting better but I have only driven it about 60 miles this week and probably needs 200miles or so. I recommend around town driving for a week if you can. Lots of steering input needed and good wear in. I also added a new stiff jointed MC tie rod. $100 more than stock so no-brainer.