tires problem
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 142
Likes: 0
From: normal illinois
tires problem
ok i have a 4in skyjacker lift and just put new Rims and 33inX10.5X16R on My jk when i go around a corner i think my abs breake kick on and off and feel like im going to go off the Road! Can anyone pls help me??
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 622
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, MI
Not enough caster.
It doesn't seem like caster should affect ESP but it does. But when I put my teraflex 3" lift on with full flex arms I played around with it and here is what I found.
It looks like it only takes about 5 degrees difference between steering angle and vehicle direction for ESP to kick in. It kicks in much quicker when it detects oversteer than when it detects understeer. So if your steering wheel is off even 5 degrees to the left you'll get it kicking in in right handed turns. If your steering wheels is off to the right you'll get it kicking in during left handed turns.
Even when you get your steering wheel completely centered your ESP will still fire if you don't have enough caster. I verified this by getting my steering wheel dead-nuts on but only having 1 degree of caster. My ESP fired a lot in both left and right handed turns. I then dialed in 6 degrees of caster and now my ESP works just like when I was stock.
It took me a while to understand why caster would affect ESP but here is the reasoning. There is always some slop in your steering linkages. That slop is probably close to if not more than 5 degrees. You can see this by rocking your steering wheel back and forth while it is centered and you can see small movements don't move the tires. When you have adequate caster and you are in a turn the wheels are being forced back towards the center of the vehicle by the caster. That takes up the slop out of the steering. But when you don't have enough caster nothing is forcing the wheels back towards the center of the vehicle. This allows the wheels (and the steering wheel) to flop around in that 5+ degrees of slop. That's enough of a difference to get the ESP to fire.
With 4 inches of lift, if you don't have adjustable lower control arms you probably have 0 - 1 degree of caster. That's your problem. If you have adjustable lowers just dial in 6 - 7 degree of caster. If you don't have adjustable lowers consider investing in some.
It doesn't seem like caster should affect ESP but it does. But when I put my teraflex 3" lift on with full flex arms I played around with it and here is what I found.
It looks like it only takes about 5 degrees difference between steering angle and vehicle direction for ESP to kick in. It kicks in much quicker when it detects oversteer than when it detects understeer. So if your steering wheel is off even 5 degrees to the left you'll get it kicking in in right handed turns. If your steering wheels is off to the right you'll get it kicking in during left handed turns.
Even when you get your steering wheel completely centered your ESP will still fire if you don't have enough caster. I verified this by getting my steering wheel dead-nuts on but only having 1 degree of caster. My ESP fired a lot in both left and right handed turns. I then dialed in 6 degrees of caster and now my ESP works just like when I was stock.
It took me a while to understand why caster would affect ESP but here is the reasoning. There is always some slop in your steering linkages. That slop is probably close to if not more than 5 degrees. You can see this by rocking your steering wheel back and forth while it is centered and you can see small movements don't move the tires. When you have adequate caster and you are in a turn the wheels are being forced back towards the center of the vehicle by the caster. That takes up the slop out of the steering. But when you don't have enough caster nothing is forcing the wheels back towards the center of the vehicle. This allows the wheels (and the steering wheel) to flop around in that 5+ degrees of slop. That's enough of a difference to get the ESP to fire.
With 4 inches of lift, if you don't have adjustable lower control arms you probably have 0 - 1 degree of caster. That's your problem. If you have adjustable lowers just dial in 6 - 7 degree of caster. If you don't have adjustable lowers consider investing in some.
JK Jedi Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 15,665
Likes: 4
From: Hammond Louisiana
Doc D explained it best, I just thought that wheel centering could be your first thing to check. I had a problem with clover leaf off- ramps before I got adj frt lowers. The more you dial in your suspension, the more your problems go away. Unfortunately, you can get a 4in lift rather cheap, but getting a 4in lift that addresses all the probs associated with lifting a jk that much will cost you. Adj frt lowers will definately help you though.
