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Modified JK Tech Tech related bulletin board forum regarding subjects such as suspension, tires & wheels, steering, bumpers, skid plates, drive train, cages, on-board air and other useful modifications that will help improve the performance and protection of your Jeep JK Wrangler (Rubicon, Sahara, Unlimited and X) on the trail.

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terrible steering

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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 08:56 PM
  #1  
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Default terrible steering

ok i know my tires arent balanced and that might be my main problem but my jeep pull to the left really bad and sometimes when i go over a rough spot in the road the steering wheel goes crazy and everything starts shaking and i have to almost stop the car just to get the shaking to stop what can i do to fix this? also my esp light is on and my bas light is on what can i do to make them go off
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 09:15 PM
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Sounds like you need to do 2 things: 1. Center your steering wheel, that is why your ESP is going off. Great write up in the Project jk section. 2. Sounds like you might have death wobble, do a search for it and youll see a ton of people have experienced it. Get underneath your jeep and make sure everything is torqued to spec and go from there. I would look into adjustable front lower control arms as well if you dont have them..with those big meats your running and that much lift your steering is probably pretty flighty. Hope this helps.

Mike
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 09:16 PM
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Man I know I have at least 2 tires out as the wieghts fell off them ..and it shakes at bit but no going crazy..and I know it rides different from stock as far as tracking (315's) I start by centering my steering,Check torque on everthing! caster and toe need checked. just for starts good luck
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 09:17 PM
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by 1 min...but great minds..lol
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 09:20 PM
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Originally Posted by bcboy1969
by 1 min...but great minds..lol
Good team effort!! I forgot toe, and that is huge
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Old Apr 14, 2010 | 01:13 AM
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What they said. When your lift was installed, are you certain that all of the suspension components were left untorqued until the full weight of the vehicle was on the suspension? It's important that everything is not preloaded before final torque. If not, you might lift the vehicle, loosen everything, lower the vehicle, then retorque. Here are the torque values you want ...

JK Wrangler Torque Settings

If your steering wheel is off-center (it will be after a 4" lift if not recentered), follow the procedure in this write-up to fix that ...

Basic Do-it-Yourself Jeep JK Wrangler Front End Alignment


Also, large tires and a lift combine to give pretty squirelly steering--some describe it as "flighty" or "like driving on ice". You need to dial in more caster to take care of that. The above alignment article tells you how, but the stock JK does not have adjustable front lower control arms (LCAs). If you want to take care of this, I suggest that you spend some money on the LCAs and adjust the caster. If you take it to an alignment shop and they offer to install cam bolts, decline. Cam bolts are subject to slippage when off-roading, and I'm told that they don't provide enough adjustment to get the caster you need (probably 6~7°).

Finally, if you have a tire out of balance, you should take care of that. Over time you may find that there is damage to the tire in the form of uneven tire wear (cupping or scalloping). That could lead to high road noise and vibration at speed (don't ask me how I know this).
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Old Apr 14, 2010 | 04:14 AM
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I am running a 3.25" RC lift, with 35" MT ATZs. I had a similar problem after my install and found that the tire shop had aired the tires up to 35 psi. This was much too high and caused vibrations and squirrely steering. I aired them down to 30 psi and it made a huge difference. I'm considering going even lower after reading some recommendations on this forum.
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Old Apr 14, 2010 | 04:25 AM
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If the bumps are triggering steering, that's typically bump steer, and the track bar and drag link are probably not parallel...so making them parallel can help that.

After FIXING THAT, caster and toe adjustments are typically at fault, and should be checked (The post above with the links is a great thing to read over).

After checking that, the wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc...should be checked out for damage.

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