Mataiw

Hello all,I've been trying to solve a problem with my 2015 JKU for quite some time now - After some admittedly rough mudding, I noticed that my Jeep was consistently veering to the right, and veering hard. I immediately thought that it would be my alignment, so took it into the dealership to get it realigned. The problem lessened, however, it was still prevalent. Not long after I decided to take it to an independent repair shop (Just Brakes) to which they realigned my Jeep once more - noting that the front, right toe on my jeep had been set inward (probably by the dealership to keep the vehicle from veering so hard to the right - a temporary "fix" to my issue that would sacrifie tire life - typical dealership workmanship). After having my tires realigned by just breaks the veering was once again strong to the right (leaving the steering to itself the Jeep will easily take an exit ramp on its own accord). I am thinking I may try getting it aligned one more time, but I fear there may be a more serious issue - I just don't know what it would be. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Jahamm88

I'm sure if you provide a bit more info on your vehicle we could maybe help.

Anything aftermarket on it?

From my understanding sometimes steering stabilizers can cause a pull to one side

Mataiw

2015 JKU Sahara. Everything Stock. ~20k miles

What other info might you be looking for? I'd be happy to provide any details, thanks!

Jahamm88

just had a thought, is it possible that when you were out last your caliper slide pins got contaminated with mud and your right side caliper is sticking?
Pull the wheel, pull brake caliper off and check for a sticky caliper.

check your drag link, its possible that one of the ends got damaged and your shop thats doing the alignment isnt catching it. Go underneath, and give er a good shake. have someone sit in the driver seat and move the wheel side to side and for that matter check all of your links for movement. they all should be relatively tight....

also, check your ball joints for play.

are there any noises that are out of the ordinary? like a small person hiding underneath while your driving hitting the frame with a small ball pein hammer?

strat_53711

On a stock jeep there are only two things to adjust in the steering system.

1. Tie Rod width by turning the Tie Rod Link. This one adjustment sets the toe in of both front tires. Typical value for OEM wheel/tire is 1/16" to 1/8" (measured by at center rear of the tire minus center front of the tire).

2. Drag Link width by turning Adjustment Tube. This one centers the steering wheel with the front tires (level steering wheel, drives straight).

Do not pay big bucks for a fancy alignment job because toe measurement/changes take about 5 minutes and drag link adjustment slightly longer (due to trial and error adjustment corrections to get it perfect).

Assuming that there is no binding in the wheel rotation and the steering stabilizer is stock. Other things to try:

1. Rotate rear tires to front, see if it is a tire diameter/wear issue.
2. Remove the steering damper and drive around slowly to see if it is still pulling right.
3. Measure control arms length, rear center wheel to front center wheel on both driver and passenger side.
4. Disable ABS and test drive with it Off. Maybe some wierd sensor is malfunctioning due to off road mud.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

Mataiw

I was moving during this past weekend and haven't gotten the chance to get under my Jeep, but I did a quick visual inspection of the wheels and tires while pumping gas and did notice that there are fewer balancing weights on my back right wheel than my other four wheels (three on + rear mounted spare).

While I haven't noticed any vibration while driving - which is usually the indicator for an unbalanced wheel - is it possible that this is the cause of my Jeep pulling to the right?

I'll try to get underneath everything and check it out this week, but unpacking is proving to be quite the endeavor.

Thanks!

Mataiw

[QUOTE=Mataiw

I'll try to get underneath everything and check it out this week, but unpacking is proving to be quite the endeavor.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

So it's been a while since I was in the country to check on this issue, but I finally got to it this week...

When I got underneath everything the first thing I noticed was that the tie rod was incredibly loose - worried about the suspension and not knowing much beyond basic mechanics, I took it to my local 4x4 shop to have them take a look. They immediately noticed the same thing, then started spewing off potentially having to replace parts all the way up to the steering stabilizer. They're doing a full inspection of it right now.

I was hoping this could be a problem I could fix on my own doing, but maybe not? Thoughts?

Thanks guys.

Mataiw

So the mechanic took a look and inspected everything, turns out there's "nothing wrong." All the ball joints, suspension, steering stabilizer, tie rods, etc, look good. He said it was possible that one of the connections from the axle to the ball joint got bent 1 degree when mudding and that there are two ways that may fix the jeep steering to the right:

1) Replace a perfectly good steering stabilizer with a new one from Bilstein that "pulls to the left," so maybe it will compensate for the pull to the right that I already have.

2) Replace a perfectly good upper ball joint with an 1 degree offset ball joint and hope that fixes the "non-issue" as well.

Both of these options seem like bandaids to the issue rather than actual fixes, but maybe that's just me. Additionally, it's difficult for me to understand how everything could be "fine" yet my problem of my jeep steering itself to the right persists.

Thoughts anyone? I'm at a loss on what to do here...

themoneyshot

Depending on how rough you were off-road you may have bent the front axle. Let's hope not.

Tactical_Geek

I had a '98 Dodge Ram that did this. Ended up being the tires. They were worn down unevenly and were causing it to pull to one side.