New member first time post.
Just had a Rc lift installed and I noticed it swerves really bad on the highway in ruts or groves in the highway. On a smoother surface there's no problems. So I started reading about it and found out my front Axel is off center. 3/4" towards the driver side. What's the best way to fix this. Is an adjustable track bar the best way? And will it help my swerving in groves on the road? Should the alignment shop have centered the Axel?
Thanks
2012 Wrangler Unlimited

 

An adj trackbar will center the axle under the frame. Probably not the issue, though. Have you had it aligned? If so, what are the specs? Your caster is probably low, which is known to cause handling issues. If you added wider tires, people have reported that to cause tracking issues in ruts/grooves. Could be that you need to adjust the toe-in/out. Might even be a little over-inflation in the tires, so what size tire and psi are you running?

 

Not sure on the specs. I'm running nitto trail grapplers 35/12.50/18 at 36 psi. I've read on some other threads that an uncentered Axel can cause the swerve too in addition to the bigger tires.

 

And I did have it aligned at the local body shop.

 

An adjustable track bar will only centre the body it doesn't affect how it drives/handles. I highly recommend getting the aev geometry correction brackets. It made an amazing difference in how my jeep handles.

 

The thing with JK alignments is, there isn't much they will actually do unless you add more components. The caster went down with the lift, which causes flightier steering. (could be what you are feeling, in addition to the tire change?) Your alignment shop did nothing for this. Both axles are pushed offcenter. The kit came with a rear trackbar bracket to center that axle, but as you noted, the shop can't center the front. The camber is not adjustable, it is fixed by the angle of the C's and the straightness of the axle tube. The shop did nothing for this either.

So, what did your alignment do? They might have re-centered the steering wheel, if the shop did not straighten it after the lift. And they are able to adjust the toe, though it did not change with the lift. If the toe was ok before the alignment, they didn't touch it.

Which brings us back to what your caster is set at? Do 'you' think the steering is flighty? If so, is it bad enough to want to add some form of correction? At 2.5", many people will not mess with it, other will.

The tires. You may hear that your psi is too high. Do a google search for 'chalk test' and see what you come up with. For 35x12.50's, it may put you in the 28-30 psi range, and should improve the ride a bit. And it could just be the extra width that is grabbing the road imperfections. Or maybe even the different tread pattern?

 

Do you have the print out from the alignment shop? If your kit did not come with adjustable control arms or a way to adjust caster, you could have a low angle and that would also cause undesirable handling characteristics. If your caster is in the high two's or low three's you may want to look into control arms.

 

I didn't get a print out. I'll ask them for one. Another thing is I am running 18x10 inch rims. Will this make a difference?

 

This is good advice, I added these instead of the AEV brackets but it's the same part. Makes a world of difference in handling, takes the "flightiness" out of your steering and corrects the caster for a proper alignment. Just make sure you torque as specified

Rancho RS6250B Control Arm correction brackets

 

Sounds like that's the best way to go. I think I'll center the axle with the adjustable track bar first, the do the correction brackets next. I'll let you all know how it works out, might be a week or two
Thanks