Hi guys, I drive a 2010 Rubicon with a JKS 3.5 and 37’s. I just recently installed the lift myself and while driving it to the trails I noticed that when in 4th gear and making a slight right turn my traction control light would light up and it I would start to slide out a bit. It seemed as if something was locking up, and then when letting off the gas I was hearing a slight grinding noise. I have done an alignment since my install, and had wheeled it on the trails the night before. Any help on why my car would be locking up like that with the traction control flashing?

 

The symptoms point to the steering wheel not being quite centered or you've got a wheel speed sensor that is indicating a problem- whether it be the sensor or the front hub is another thing.

 

I did notice yesterday that randomly my steering wheel was off centered again, after I did my alignment about 2 weeks ago. So you feel that because of this, it’s throwing a code causing my car to lock and a slide out?

 

ABS, ESC, steering wheel comments aside, "slight grinding" noises are never great to hear. Maybe that is unrelated? When you were wheelin' were you in 4Hi? In 4Lo the ESC would have been off. I would also think that if your steering wheel was out of alignment enough, you would have been lighting that esc up well before getting on a trail. It's pretty touchy.

 

If the vehicle 'thinks' the wheel is turned when you're going straight, it will look at your speed and determine if you're a danger to yourself, at which point you may feel it pull at the brakes. I've had it at high and low speeds. It just looks at where the steering wheel is, what your speed is, and makes a decision. The code piece depends on the severity. If the steering wheel is just a little off then you'll get some flashing on your TC lights but it'll drive. If it's really far out then it almost won't go in a straight line. The brakes grabbing can be interpreted as a grind and pull/ slide maybe based on how much correction it's doing.

 

True, i didn't consider this right here.

 

Thanks so much, this makes total sense as when I first installed my lift my steering was way out of line and was having similar problems but to a way greater degree! Is there a reason my alignment would of shifted so soon after getting it done, almost two weeks ago?

 

Loose bolts or collision with an object to bump the alignment is all I can think of. I had a bad habit of tweaking my tie rod and that'd get the steering wheel off center. Not fun when you've got a 5 hour drive back home at 70mph. I went aluminum and bigger tires (with much better lines) and haven't had that issue again yet.

 

Side note on the grinding noise: With 37's especially, best to check the brake pads regularly, particularly the inboard pads that are harder to see. The noise may not have been from traction control braking, but it also might be the first sign of brake pads at their limit.

A buddy who is very meticulous about maintenance just had it happen on a trip while we were about 1000 miles from home, both rear inboard pads wore through and ruined the rotors. Outboard pads were still fine, as were the front pads. Strange -- don't know why the inboard rear pads had so much wear, perhaps the high speed pulsing of traction control is a factor.

 

This is really interesting! I will definitely check my pads out tonight, but do you think it could be the pads when I am only hearing the slight grinding while decelerating in gear? It seems to only happen when the car is naturally engine breaking itself and comes straight from under the shift hood.