I have an 08 jk-u X. At 80,000 miles my front springs were toast. Every little bump would bottom out the front end. My car ended up getting hit while it was parked and while it was getting repaired I installed a set of rubi take off springs and a 3 inch budget boost. When I picked up my jeep I noticed the steering felt looser which I figured was due to the lift. But the ride quality is absolute crap now. I'm still running stock shocks and I'm guessing changing them out will make a difference? I also get a lot of wobble from the front end now. I have only gotten the death wobbles 1 time but most of the time it shakes pretty good. I also am getting some rattling from the front end. I noticed when I climbed under it that the tie rod has some play in it where the left end threads into the rod itself. Is this normal?

 

Stuck right to the top of this Modified area is a good thread on general lift info.
Stuck right to the top of the Writeups area is a good thread on diagnosing shimmy/deathwobble.

Read them both.

What components came in the 3" BB?

Your steering issues are probably low caster. As the lift height increases, the axle tilts which raises the pinion. As the pinion raises, the caster decreases, causing flighty steering. You need to raise the caster.

The wobble is probably install error or worn components. Follow the steps in the dw diagnosis to find out what is loose or needs replaced.

Tie rod, see dw diagnosis.

With a 3" lift, you should really be considering extensions or longer shocks - but, fix the other stuff before throwing money at this.

During the install, did you loosen the ca's? Then tighten/torque on the ground with the full vehicle weight on them?

 

The bb is a procomp steel kit. The alignment shop that was fixing my bent rearend after the accident installed the kit. It came with metal spacers, Track bar bracket, Sway bar links, and shock extensions.

Also this afternoon I noticed it looks like my steering dampener is leaking oil.

Is there a way to adjust the caster with stock arms?

I went with this lift because in a year and half of ownership the most wheeling I have done was 3 miles down a dirt road. I couldn't see spending money I don't have on a badass lift I didn't think I needed.

 

My guess is worn components - think stock ball joints.

No way to adjust castor with stock control arms, as far as I know, but I haven't looked into that too much. On that note, I have a 3.5" lift and rode around on stock control arms for 2 weeks while I took off my teraflex control arms and waiting for my metalcloak arms...honestly it wasn't night and day on the highway even at 80mph. Granted mine only have like 25k on them. With that said, I wouldn't assume castor is your issue, although I personally would address that with new control arms.

I would look at stock joints - control arms, drag link, track bar, and ball joints, tire wear, weights, etc. 80k is getting up there for worn components.

 

You can correct castor with stock arms with either control arm drop brackets or cam bolts. I don't know how well the cam bolts hold up or how they go on but I have AEV drop brackets on mine and it corrected the flighty steering. With all your describing though it sounds like you have more issues than just your castor. Constant shaking and rattling in the front end sounds like worn or loose components. Read the death wobble stickie lots of good info for trouble shooting front end issues.

 

Many of the components are for 'onroad' handling, not offroad badassedness...

Low caster/flighty steering is caused by lift height. Cam bolts, control arm brackets, new fixed control arms or adjustable control arms are used to fix it. Research the pro's/con's of each, not just the prices.

Both axles will shift to one side with lift height. Trackbar brackets and/or adj trackbars re-center them left to right under the frame.

The roll center changes with lift height, this affects body roll while cornering. Raised trackbar brackets from the axle are generally the fix. Some mfg's will lower them from frame. More research.

If you get bumpsteer, look into steering correction. The cheap route is a front drop pitman/trackbar bracket combo. The more expensive, and generally more prefered method, is a draglink flip.

Again, onroad concerns. Not offroad bling...

 

My advise would be to remove the lift then do some research and come up with a budget that fits your needs and wants. PROPER SUSPENSION GEOMETRY IS MORE IMPORTANT ON ROAD THEN OFF. The need for a lift off road is a myth and many don't understand it is mainly for fitting bigger tires. Half ass messing with the height causes some pretty serious handling issues when traveling on the road at speed. Off road you typically are in lo gear and moving pretty slow which makes it a bit easier to overcome geometry issues.

If you want to make it more drivable on the road I would look into some front drop brackets or adjsutable control arms, raise the rear track bar mount 3", get a front adjustable track bar, rear adjustable control arms both upper and lowers to adjust the rear pinion angle. Keep it in the back of your mind that you might need to replace the driveshafts at some point and budget $300-$400 apiece for them.

 

Just an update, today I replaced my steering dampener. Blown doesn't begin to describe the one that was on there, replaced it with a bilstein and it's like a different jeep. I would say 90% of the problems are gone

 

Fixed? Or just masked by the super-duper stabilizer...

 

That's a good question. The plan is to basically start over, also I think the tires are f'ed. Not warn too bad but bad enough. At this point I just want it all new and done right