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jeepmojo Jul 1, 2014 08:34 PM

Those who understand alignments on stock settings
 
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The dealer a while back around 18,000 miles said my wheels were towed out while it was being worked on . They did a alignment on it no charge , they claim both fronts were to far out , set from factory . However my tires were wearing fine and drove nice too and tracked well . After their alignment ive noticed some drifting with winds and a bit more twitchy to steer it not horrific but
also my tires wearing fine still, I still feel a ever so slight shake and just cant find it . Ae these numbers good ? The dealer it was at I no longer go to do to the fact they were awful service techs and never fixed anything they worked on / whats it look like now to you experts good or no good ????
I now have 23,000 they also said track bar was fine but it was not (replaced ) said it was my tire balance but I had them done they were fine . said it was stabilizer shock but (replaced) still had it . then they quit said it was fine lol . No parts feel worn so wondering if this could have any effect ? No lift on this so just stock .

NiteFighter Jul 1, 2014 09:14 PM

Sounds like your running a little too much toe in, causing a touchy feel in the wheel. You are supposed to have a slight amount of toe in due to when you are driving, your front wheels naturally want to push toe out. When performing an alignment your looking for that perfect toe in amount to make your tires straight when driving down the road.

nthinuf Jul 2, 2014 01:43 AM

How much lift? Which components are installed? Since the caster is low, I'll assume that you do not have adjustable control arms?
What specifically did the dealership do/change? Anything where they would have loosened the control arms or trackbars while it was on a lift?
Have you checked the ends of the steering components? Trackbar holes for wallowing? (planmans DW writeup would be a good resource for this)
What size/type tires? Just because they were balanced, does not mean that they were balanced correctly.
Some people have good luck experimenting with different Toe numbers, a few even indicate that they are running Toe-Out.
The steering stabilizer masks problems, it doesn't fix them. Some people do not even run one.

jeepmojo Jul 2, 2014 02:34 AM

yeh i stated no lift stock
 

Originally Posted by nthinuf (Post 3941403)
How much lift? Which components are installed? Since the caster is low, I'll assume that you do not have adjustable control arms?
What specifically did the dealership do/change? Anything where they would have loosened the control arms or trackbars while it was on a lift?
Have you checked the ends of the steering components? Trackbar holes for wallowing? (planmans DW writeup would be a good resource for this)
What size/type tires? Just because they were balanced, does not mean that they were balanced correctly.
Some people have good luck experimenting with different Toe numbers, a few even indicate that they are running Toe-Out.
The steering stabilizer masks problems, it doesn't fix them. Some people do not even run one.

the dealer said not track bar over and over , when I got a hd teraflex track bar in there the dw went away completely all components in front end check out fine . I had rubicon tires on it bfg they claimed it was those . causing any shake so I put the trail grappler 33s on and still had a tremor . its very minor now in fact on a smooth road you cant feel it hardly , it seems to have a wop wop wop at all speeds on smooth surface like that of a tire out of balance or bounce . yet two different sets of tires and rotations don't solve it . its not front drive shat that was replaced with new by dealer cuz it was leaking grease , rear drive shaft seems fine no wobble . I can see something on my visor bounce in rythem with the feel I get so I know something is off more of a bounce maybe yet very slight so you cant put your finger on it . techs . haven't located it either but they did feel something as we drove . I have the grad 8 bolts now . Im not over concerned cuz its minor yet id like it if it wasn't there . just wondering about this alignment they did cuz it seemed better towed out the way it came from factory . before those clowns said it was wrong from factory . also worth noting axle is straight equal distant on both sides with tape measure to frame to outside tire tread (dead nuts ) front and rear . these tires were balanced through dtd and shipped all 5 . and the rebalanced but not road force balance . but again stock wheels and tires I felt it too so ~

jrod250 Jul 2, 2014 03:33 AM

Sounds to me like you own a jeep :)

jeepmojo Jul 2, 2014 04:38 AM

yeh i guess lol
 

Originally Posted by jrod250 (Post 3941424)
Sounds to me like you own a jeep :)

only thing that bugs me is it didn't feel that way first year of driving it I can deal with it . might try a fox ats for drift feeling
if nothing else . ( I think we all would like it to optimize the comfort level or they wouldn't make all these aftermarket products that claim to help )

Black2013JK Jul 2, 2014 06:41 AM

I'm not a tech but I'm looking at it from a common sense standpoint. First, look at the numbers that changed.

Left Front Toe: .08* => .10*
Total Toe: .18* => .21*
Right Toe: .08* => .10*

None of those changed much at all. If you look at that paper there is a zone for what is considered "in spec" which is bigger than the amount of adjustment made. After I put on my lift my numbers were all in the red when my buddy did the alignment. If you are hunting an issue I'd say the alignment isn't the cause.

Now, if they did shoddy work and didn't tighten bolts down to spec or did something else while they were under there that could be the issue, I just don't think that with the numbers shown that would cause any issues for you.

jeepmojo Jul 2, 2014 01:33 PM


Originally Posted by Black2013JK (Post 3941520)
I'm not a tech but I'm looking at it from a common sense standpoint. First, look at the numbers that changed.

Left Front Toe: .08* => .10*
Total Toe: .18* => .21*
Right Toe: .08* => .10*

None of those changed much at all. If you look at that paper there is a zone for what is considered "in spec" which is bigger than the amount of adjustment made. After I put on my lift my numbers were all in the red when my buddy did the alignment. If you are hunting an issue I'd say the alignment isn't the cause.

Now, if they did shoddy work and didn't tighten bolts down to spec or did something else while they were under there that could be the issue, I just don't think that with the numbers shown that would cause any issues for you.

Ok thanks . After install of the rs 9000xls shocks its pretty faint and I can deal with this its not like it was before I the track bar was changed out . That was def. the culprit that caused dw I think . It was flexing and bolts were tight but hole was sort of wallowed out a tad . I didn't have a washer welded on but got the 9/16 bolt kit
in on most of the parts , except rear control arms . The rear front arm bolts have to be done too but I doubt those are bad to be honest .

Maertz Jul 2, 2014 01:37 PM

hard to read on my phone, but it looks like your caster is way off? caster should be around 4.2-4.6 ish i believe..


edit: nvm looked at it on my computer. If its stock you cant change caster and also camber doesnt change unless you bend an axle/housing. I personally run 1/8 toe out, but they way they have it is a little over 1/8 toe in wich is pretty common from what ive seen. Stock set up rear alignments dont mean much either.

jeepmojo Jul 2, 2014 02:08 PM

im stock
 
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Originally Posted by Maertz (Post 3941754)
hard to read on my phone, but it looks like your caster is way off? caster should be around 4.2-4.6 ish i believe..


edit: nvm looked at it on my computer. If its stock you cant change caster and also camber doesnt change unless you bend an axle/housing. I personally run 1/8 toe out, but they way they have it is a little over 1/8 toe in wich is pretty common from what ive seen. Stock set up rear alignments dont mean much either.

I added a new hd teraflex track bar but its all stock im on trail grappler 33s
yeh I heard you cant adjust caster on them whatever that is realy im not so sure when they did alignment it had stock bfg tires on rubicon . I put my 33s on it helped it a tad I think . Maybe the weight of tire. but im ok with it but theres a tiny bit of tremor and I just cant nail it down its like a tire balance out ever so slight or a bounce . With new shocks its improved even more . Tires are wearing perfect but its only been 5000 miles since they said they aligned it . I checked axle its perfectly straight out side tread to frame both sides are exact . hard to check toe alone I cant get tape measure on other tire tread it falls off lol . Id prefer it to be like it used to be and like you said yours was a tad bit out . but they said that was bad . yet it drove perfect . they did alignment in like 15 min so I doubt they took any accurate testing . they swore the track bar was not causing any wobble but when I got the new one in the dw stopped . They said it wasn't wallowed out too . but the 9/16 bolt went right in with room too not a tight fitted hole so , id say it was wallowed its torqed to 125 130lbs though with new bolts also added a strength plate bracket to beef up the axle end not the upper like this type >

I might try the fox 2.0 ats stabilizer shock over the next few months $ is tight I don't trust the stabilizer shock they replaced the first one was trashed and who knows if they put a crappy one in they only had one left it looked new but . could be damaged like the first one .


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