Steering wander

[ga82832]

I bought an angle finder to see what my caster is running, because I just replaced my gear box and steering shaft with little results. The needle shows 11 degrees toward the front of the jeep. I heard its suppose to be 4 degrees positive for a cj. With the needle going toward the front of the jeep im guessing that this is a positive angle ? Is this angle to much or is this ok. There are no shims under the leaf springs and I have a spring over axle lift. Here are some photo's.

 

[ga82832]

Just so everyone understands my problem. When I'm driving down the road my jeep wanders right and left. I have to correct it all the time and it feels
loose. I replaced the gear box and steering shaft, the ball joints are tight and the tie rods are tight. One guy suggested my caster could be off. He said anytime you add a lift you change the geometry of the front end and the caster will need to be corrected. I did some research and found the caster on a cj should be 4 degrees positive. They said you can check your caster with a angle finder by setting it on the upper ball joint nut and reading the angle. So i did that and mine shows 11 degrees with the needle pointing toward the front of the jeep. I'm guessing that is a positive angle and not negative. So my big question is, is 11 degrees bad and can that cause it to wander on the road ?

 

[Old Dog]

That sounds like alot.
Your pic's are not working.

 

[ga82832]

 

[Old Dog]

That's some scary pitman arm you've got there. I would start by fixing that.

 

[gert]

OMG X2 on the pitman arm that is the last place in the world I would want a spacer

 

[Cheepjeep85]

yeah i see a high steer setup in your future, which just might solve your problem. also check that bell joint (don't know the proper name) that connects your steering column to the steering box that is a good possibility

 

[Old Dog]

Is your tie-rod end welded to the rod?
What kind of rear end is that, a Dana 44 ? What's it out of?
I can't tell from the pic. is it a shackel reversal?
About the 11* caster it sounds like a lot, but you need more than stock if you have bigger than stock tires. What size tires are you running?
Sorry for the 101 questions but it all matters.

 

[ga82832]

This jeep was already setup like this when I bought it, so I'll try and answer your questions the best that I can. The tires are 35x12.5x15.
The front axle is suppose to be a Dana 44 and the rear is a Ford 8.8.
I've replaced the steering gear box and the steering shaft. The caster is 11* positive on the drivers side. Tonight I'm checking the passenger side caster degree and taking apart the tie rods so I can check to make sure the ball joints are not sticking or bad. I heard I can check the toe-in and toe-out fairly easy as well, so I copied the procedures for check that as well. I can for sure tell you this, it wanders and the steering will not return to center on its own. I'm working hard to solve this problem on my own because I can't afford to pay a garage to fix it these days. My wife is putting some pressure on me to get it done now as well, because she is to scared to drive it with the steering the way that it is. Sorry for such a long message, just trying to relieve some stress. Thanks guys for helping me, I really appreciate it.

 

[ga82832]

I will also check the tie rod ends to see if there welded tonight and let you know. Oh, one guy told me to install the Ram system. To much cash for me, wow $900. Not sure how to tell if its a shackle reversal ?

 

[Old Dog]

Well as for the caster I would start closer to 6 with the 35's. The caster is the biggest thing as far as the steering wanting to center it self.
Toe in should be between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. If the toe in is out, it will want to wander.

IMO you should get the wife or a buddy to turn the steering wheel back and forth while you look at EVERYTHING from the shaft to the tie rod ends and everything in between to see what the problem is.
I would really look at how the pitman arm is hooked up. Thats going to kill someone.

 

[ga82832]

I took apart the tie rods last night and check the ball joints. They seem to be smooth and no play. Checked the caster on passenger side and it is running 10* compared to the driver side at 11*. I never did like the looks of the pitman connection . I would love to change the pitman arm but I'm not sure what to buy because the tie rod that connects to it and the spindle looks larger to me than a stock part, so I'm not sure what or where to buy something that would fit. The guy I bought it from said it's a Dana 44 front axle, but I'm not sure if he is telling me the truth or not and I have no idea how to tell. There isn't any tags on the diff, but there are a few numbers stamped into the housing that I could try an look up. It looks to me like a pitman arm that was striaght without a drop would line right up with the tie rod. Beleive it or not it seems to work pretty well, but it sure looks scary to me and I'm not a mech at all. Your were right about the tie rod that connects both wheels together. At both ends where the threads are someone put a spot of weld there. Why in the world would they have done something like that I have no idea. Needless to say my front end needs alot of attention. There is an alignment shop down the road, I thought about asking him for an estimate to fix this thing, but not sure if he can fix something like this or not and I'm sure he would want alot of $$$. This is the first time I've ever worked on a front end and it's a little scary knowing if I mess up it could cause me to crash.

 

[ga82832]

Gents, just wanted to pass along my CJ7 ( the green machine) is now up for sale. Don't have the funds to finish the steering and tie rods. Here are a few pic's and i will list it in the classifieds.

 

[Old Dog]

Nice look'n cj.
What part of In. you from?

 

[ga82832]

I live between Indianapolis and Bloomington.

 

[CJKrawler]

by what you have in your sig, i would say a Dana 44 isn't out of the question, and it might be as expensive as you think. sweet looking CJ

 

[CJKrawler]

by what you have in your sig, i would say a Dana 44 isn't out of the question, and it might not be as expensive as you think. sweet looking CJ

 

[firewoodman64]

Nice Ride