I just put a 2.5inch coil spring lift, along with new wheels and 33" toyo mt's on my 2011 JK. My wife doesn't like the added "squirrlyness". Do the sterring dampening shocks help with this or are they a waste of time and money. If they are worth it what brands do you recommend.

 

A dampener is only going to help with bump steer (when you hi a bump the wheel jerks). The squirrelyness or flighty handling is your caster... Do you have adjustable lower control arms on the front?

 

Do you mean the jeep likes to wander now?

If so you are probably dealing with the fact your track width is wider so your jeep will not follow normal ruts in the road.

And

Alignment more specifically if you didn't replace your control arms your caster is probably out and there wont be much you can do with it unless you go with adjust control arms.

Your toe could be out however it probably would have been out before the lift but still wouldn't be a bad idea to check it out.

 

Well i don't think its that bad but she does. She did say when shes on the road and goes over bumps she feels like she has to hold the wheel tighter. Which it sounds like a stabilizer may help that. I don't feel it wanders it just feels like when i move the steering wheel back and forth a little is where the squirlyness comes in. i just figured that was due to the larger tires and more rubber. I did have it aligned when the kit was placed. I don't know anything about the castor so could someone elaborate on the subject.

 

From wikipedia "When an vehicle's front suspension is aligned, caster is adjusted to achieve the self-centering action of steering, which affects the vehicle's straight-line stability. Improper caster settings will cause the driver to move the steering wheel both into and out of each turn, making it difficult to maintain a straight line."

When you lift, you change your caster. Lower front adjustable control arms will allow you to properly dial in the angle of the axle, giving you better on road stability.

 

+1 for caster angle.

Your 2.5 is probably closer to a 3 in reality and the squirrely tracking is the altered caster angle of your axle from the lift. One set of adjustable lower control arms on the front will correct this. Of course you'll have to look at the manufacturers recommended length for your lift height before you install them.

Cheers and good luck.

 

My jeep did this exact same thing until a week ago when I had a new lift installed with adjustable control arms. Once she was aligned and the caster was adjusted she drove better than the day I bought her.

 

Sounds like you need some adj. control arms to fix the common flightiness when lifting a JK. I'm running a 4"+ lift and mine tracks incredibly straight. Arms will help you immensely.