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Need lift advice!! Dealer screwed up my jeep.

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Old May 9, 2016 | 03:15 PM
  #1  
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From: Fayetteville, AR
Default Need lift advice!! Dealer screwed up my jeep.

I'm new to being a member, but have often searched these forums for the wonderful advice they possess. Also, let me thank you in advance for all of the help.
Now to my issue:
We purchased our jeep in May of 2015 from a large local dealer that has a ton of custom jeeps made every year. It can with a lift, steps/ bumpers, lift, and rims and tires. This is the one that my wife had to have (much to my dismay due to wanting to meticulously select each item.) this is my wife's daily driver, so she picked what she wanted. Now we have put 15k miles on it, and it's terrifying to drive. I've taken back to the dealer on multiple occasions and even made them replace the shocks, but that's the most that I could get out of them (and only after I made the general manager drive it and forced him to go 55 on a two lane road. He can't even tell me what lift is on it to tell you what a joke it is. I think it's only a 2.5" budget lift, but truly no idea.
Problems:
•Its loose
•Has a large amount of slack in steering
•Very top heavy feeling
•Dives hard on braking/ corners
•Sags hard on take off
Good news:
•No death wobble
Im at a complete loss for what to do. I'm seriously considering purchasing an entire lift kit and starting from scratch, but I don't even know what is stock and what's not anymore. Thanks again guys. I'm very mechanically inclined, but have no knowledge of what I'm looking for/ at.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 03:40 PM
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You either have too much psi in the tires, not enough caster or both.
Look into geo brackets aka drop brackets for caster ($100)
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Old May 9, 2016 | 03:46 PM
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Dealers often do a lift that makes it look cool as cheaply as possible. Steering issues might be solved with a high steer kit if not already installed. Your invoice from the dealer should show all the mods they did to it.

The top heavy feeling and brake dive/acceleration squat are due to the lift they have done. Without knowing specifically what you have on your vehicle it will be hard to advice what you should do. There are people on this forum that might be able to tell you if you post up pictures of the shocks, springs, suspension bars (esp front passenger side - where high steering kit would be seen).
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:17 PM
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You can start by posting up some photos of the coils, shocks, front steering links and the rear track bar and we can try and help you from there. Lately I have seen a lot of pro comp coming out of dealerships. Do you happen to have a 4wd parts near by? Thats where our local dealer takes theirs.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by kjeeper10
You either have too much psi in the tires, not enough caster or both.
Look into geo brackets aka drop brackets for caster ($100)
Running 38- 40psi (depending on outside temp) on 35x12.50r17 BFG KM2. Is there a particular brand of drop bracket that you recommend? Wife just got home and I went out to verify tire pressure as well as the sidewall recommendation is up 50 psi. Thank you so much for the advice.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:41 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by spicoli
Dealers often do a lift that makes it look cool as cheaply as possible. Steering issues might be solved with a high steer kit if not already installed. Your invoice from the dealer should show all the mods they did to it.

The top heavy feeling and brake dive/acceleration squat are due to the lift they have done. Without knowing specifically what you have on your vehicle it will be hard to advice what you should do. There are people on this forum that might be able to tell you if you post up pictures of the shocks, springs, suspension bars (esp front passenger side - where high steering kit would be seen).
I'll get pics tomorrow. It's already too dark here to take any tonight. I've tried hard to get the build sheet, and they don't have one. I've got every piece of paperwork they provided, but it's as simple as the window sticker and a bulk addendum sticker that lists it more as a package instead of individual items.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Limitless1
Running 38- 40psi (depending on outside temp) on 35x12.50r17 BFG KM2.
I thought most people ran 25-28 psi in 35s. I only have stock Rubicon 32s and run ~28psi. I think the 50 on the sidewalk is the max pressure. You could try airing down to 25-30 psi and see if that makes a difference.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:54 PM
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Originally Posted by TheDirtman
You can start by posting up some photos of the coils, shocks, front steering links and the rear track bar and we can try and help you from there. Lately I have seen a lot of pro comp coming out of dealerships. Do you happen to have a 4wd parts near by? Thats where our local dealer takes theirs.
Unfortunately, the closest 4wd parts to me is about 150 miles away. I've got a friend that has a full machine/ fab shop that I have at my disposal, and I can easily install/ fix anything, but unfortunately they just don't specialize in this field. I've worked on a ton of trucks over the years being a poor kid working through school etc, but it's a lot easier to identify that a starter or water pump is out (and work under the hood of a '73 Chevy). Basically, tell me what to look for and I'm on it. thank you guys again for the help.
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Old May 9, 2016 | 06:58 PM
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Originally Posted by evancise
I thought most people ran 25-28 psi in 35s. I only have stock Rubicon 32s and run ~28psi. I think the 50 on the sidewalk is the max pressure. You could try airing down to 25-30 psi and see if that makes a difference.
x2 way too much air in the tires..... Do the chalk test as well
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Old May 9, 2016 | 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by evancise
I thought most people ran 25-28 psi in 35s. I only have stock Rubicon 32s and run ~28psi. I think the 50 on the sidewalk is the max pressure. You could try airing down to 25-30 psi and see if that makes a difference.
I've thought about doing that, but on such a large sidewall, I'm afraid that will only amplify my issues that I have right now even more. When I had the dealership install new shocks, it made the problem all but disappear for about 2 months and then it quickly came back. My thought right now is that I THINK that I need a far better set of springs and shocks as well as all of the relocation brackets. The down side is that at that point I might as well bite the bullet and just purchase a whole new kit. What do you guys think?
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