I have a 2008 JKU Sahara, has 4" superlift coils, adjustable track bar, rear track bar bracket and bilstein 5100 shocks.

I was having a small bit of wobble when I was using a front track bar bracket with a drop pitman arm and decided to go to my stock pitman arm with an adjustable track bar. Got a front end alignment and the wobble is gone but I have this weird steering issue.

When going into a turn there is no problem but at between 5-10 mph, coming out of a turn, I can feel a slight tug or shake in the wheel. It's almost like it doesn't want to come out of the turn, it does but in steps.

My caster is 3.0 on the drivers side and 3.4 on the passenger side and it seems to be worse after a right turn. I can feel it no matter where I turn but it is more noticeable after a right turn.

Any ideas would be great because I haven't been able to find anyone to tell me what's wrong and I even had the dealer mechanic drive it and he thinks it because my alightment show my toe out an inch and that may have worn my tires a bit.

I've never felt this issue before and it just started after putting the stock pitman arm and adjustable track bar on. I think my track bar might need a bit more adjusting toward the drivers side because it looks off by about a half inch, would that cause it?

Thanks for anyone who can provide some help on this.

 

4" lift, caster is at 3 & 3.4, and an inch of outward toe?

And these are the 'after' specs, not the before specs? As in, you paid someone for an alignment, and this is what they did for you?

Up in the writeups area, you will see an index at the top. Find the Basic DIY Alignment writeup and read through it. You might also open the faq's at the top of this modified area and read the bit on Caster in the suspension/steering section.

Your low caster will contribute to flighty steering. Too much toe will contribute to the steering not returning to center. An offset axle (1/2", you say?) shouldn't affect it much if any, but it is an easy fix with that adj trackbar.

 

The 1" toe was found during the alignment and was fixed.

Steering at speeds is perfect and true, no shimmy, no wobble. The only issue is coming out of a turn at slow speed.

 

Hmm, do you have the new Toe number? If that is the only thing that changed...

 

I was told it's back within 1/8".

 

The drop pitman arm had nothing to do with a non adjustable track bar. Getting an adjustable track bar is GREAT. highly recommended. The weird steering is probably due to NOT having the dropped pitman arm. When you went back to stock on the pitman arm, the geometry between the drag link and new adjustable track bar was lost. You now need to get a drag link flip kit to re align the drag link and track bar. They must be parallel to each other. Or bump steer and "weird steering" is the result. I'd suggest getting either just the taper seat kit from Synergy and re drill the knuckle for the drag link to mount from above instead of below on the knuckle or getting a new drag link all together. That was what I did. The Synergy Suspension drag link kits are VERY WELL MADE. extremely nice and completely adjustable on the vehicle.

Sent from the fast lane while driving one handed.

 

I read it as he removed both the drop pitman and the trackbar bracket and then added the adj trackbar. This would keep the trackbar and drag link parallel, just at a steeper angle. If the bracket is still there, the geometry would now be off which would cause bumpsteer. But he says it drives fine except for the return to center.

If the toe is now correct, maybe the worn tires are contributing like the tech said? Try rotating and see if it helps. Bad stabilizer? Steering box going out? Bad ball joint? Bad ujoint? Any noises that you can associate with the steering problem?

 

Here's a pic of my steering geometry, does look like the track bar is lower than the drag-link.

I did adjust the track bar to correct the 1/2" and recentered the steering wheel. (I did remove the track bar bracket and drop pitman arm and replaced them with the adjustable track bar).

After the alignment, I had the tires rotated but no change.

I created a video to show how the steering wheel returns to center but in steps (if that makes sense) but I don't think the site will let me put up a 50mb video.

Collyn, you saying that I should put back the drop pitman arm? It seems as though it would align everything right because a flip kit looks like it would raise the drag link too high on the passenger side.

 

With bent bars, it is hard to tell from that angle. You might try a frontal shot that shows all 4 mounting holes. And then just draw straight lines to connect the holes. Since you removed both the bracket and the drop pitman, they should be roughly parallel and not contributing to the steering issue.

Get a helper to turn the steering wheel back and forth while you are underneath looking and listening. You might even disconnect the stabs while diagnosing.

 

Tried the helper thing and did find the track bar a little loose, fixed.

It's hard to get a front shot without having to take off the front splash guard and its a pain.

The track bar (axle side) appears 1-2" lower than the track bar.