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After 2.5 inch, bump steer issues?

5K views 41 replies 13 participants last post by  sined240 
#1 ·
Hi all, I have posted before and not had luck. Ive have read so many threads I have lost count. I just cant seem to figure out my issue. I put a Metalcloak 2.5 dual rate Rocksport lift on my 13 jku and I have paid for 3X alignments and 2X wheel balances on top of the actual original job. Took her to a Jeep dealer as well who also could not figure it out.

From reading on here it sounds like bump steer. The steering wheel shakes from like 40 to 55. About an inch back and forth. The steering wheel is at times perfectly straight and at least 3 to 4 inches off center to either side when going straight. So its never the same. When driving through an "S" turn I cant tell where Im going the truck just delays in steering and chooses when to turn.

I need help from anyone with same past issues and what to check for. I have 3 friends that are all Honda techs and they just don't know what to check besides what you can see, ball joints, arm length, tightened, etc.

Thank you all so much for your time and input!!
 
#8 ·
How do adjust this without offset balljoints?
Or the camber? Sorry for my newb questions, these Honda techs are lost
 
#5 ·
Yea we did a road force, I forgot to mention that it doesn't always shake. The wondering and steering wheel off center is always but the shakes come and go. On my way home today it didn't do it once, way back from lunch it was whole way?! Super weird and very frustrating. Im not sure what else to check. The 2 bars line up which Ive read to check as well.
 
#10 ·
Out of balance wheels and those clips would cause speed sensitive vibration and are usually predictable. They shouldn't cause vague, random steering delays or unintended steering movement. I have not had this problem on my JK but in previous jeeps it was a loose track bar or steering box bolts.
 
#12 ·
Where can I get the grade 8 bolts? I checked the 2 company's I buy from Morris 4x4 and extreme terrain and didn't see anything?
 
#14 ·
Not sure, I didn't install it and the tech who did is on vacation. The metalcloak instructions don't say what torque they should be. But I've read 125 on the track bar and do it while on the ground right?
 
#16 ·
I tightened bolts to spec today and checked track bar for correct installation. Reinstalled dual stabilizer and still bumb steering. Shimmies. I'm running out of ideas. I'm gonna seek the help of a friend who has built 3 off-road samurai's. I'll keep in touch with any advancements. Also open to ideas. Thanks
 
#17 ·
Any pics of your rig? You might have gotten more lift than usual from your lift and maybe suffering from steering geometry that is not ideal. Depending on if you have a lot of lift or not, you might look into a drag link flip using a no drill Yeti from Steersmarts.

But make sure you need it, as you don't want to replace just to see, and these things can get expensive.

BTW, your kit shipping out tomorrow...
 
#18 ·
I have a one car garage and it's dark out in Florida, best I could do, ha. Long story on all the tire shine spray, my work messed up an oil change and detail had to clean it all up and used a lot of shine crap.

Oh and I don't know what I'm doing. I can only add one pic per reply??
 

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#24 ·
Thanks man. I'll post some better pics tomorrow. Yea who knows what's wrong at this point, just sux I don't have any local places or trustworthy places of knowledge. Even the jeep dealer was like..."not sure, maybe it's a cheap lift with Chinese materials"
 
#25 ·
Plus I'm not sure I'm explaining it well. A good example for any cold climate jeepers would be its like hitting a patch of black ice and then the tires grab and I move normal again. It's a daily chore navigating this thing to not hit other cars or curbs. 80 mph on highway feels good though?!
 
#27 ·
Find an alignment shop that can deal with your Jeep. Get it aligned, and post your alignment results here. My guess is that the caster is going to be too low, which would cause the "flighty" characteristics you are describing.

I went through the same problems when I put 35's on my 2014, after a 3" spring lift. The stock lower control arm (LCA) is not adjustable. As the Jeep gets lifted higher, the caster is reduced, which can cause a lot of problems. I put adjustable LCA's on, then tested and adjusted until the flighty business was cured. I still need to get an alignment, but my guess is I'm pretty close.

Very frustrating, but fixable. Your #1 priority at this point is to find a shop the is VERY knowledgeable in 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Good luck!
 
#28 ·
Are you sure it's not a problem with the the dual steering stabilizers. They're know to cause problems. Does you steering wheel go back to center after turning or does it want to keep the wheel turned.
I drove my buddies jeep with the dual stabilizers just earlier today and you had to have both your hand on the wheel at all times. If it was slightly turned it would not correct it self. Just stayed in that direction. Drove like crap.
 
#29 ·
Do you have the old tires & rims?

If so put them on to eliminate your new tires/rims as the cause of the problem (i.e. bad belt in the tire, etc).
 
#30 ·
Couple things I would do, take off the dual stabilizers, they tend to mask problems. Then check your tire psi (should be around 29-30 for those), as well as shorten your sway bar links up in the front (way too high of an angle, even if that is not the cause, it is not good during flex/droop situations)

Then, go to an alignment shop to check for proper numbers especially caster, because although you have the MC upper front adjustables, doesn't mean it is adjusted correctly. Since this one is the upper adjustables, it should be just shorter than a stock arm. MC should have some baseline numbers you need to adjust it at.
Note: most prefer lower front arms to be adjustables

Go from there, also since you will be getting grade 8 hardware, check torque values on those as you replace them with the Jeep on the ground...
 
#31 ·
Thanks guys, I have an alignment sheet I'll post later. My caster numbers are good now, was 1.8 but 4.6 now. Also all 4 tires are 29 lbs. I'll take the stabilizer off today
 
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