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Front axle off center?

28K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  Pqj_wrangler 
#1 ·
It seems my front axle is about 3/4 inch to the left. Drives fine.. pro comp 2.5inch lift. Pro comp doesn't measure so it's really 3 inches.. bilstein 5100's all around. RC quick dis on front.. aligned. Grappler 35 mt.
 
#4 ·
Installed a rubicon exspress 2.5 kit on mine springs shocks etc. my front was 1" to the left and my rear was 1"off also, put adj track bar on both front and rear.
 
#5 ·
I'm not denying the fact your axles are off set after lifting. At 2.5" there's no way the axles will shift 3/4-1".

My First gen RK coils lifted the front end over 4".
The axle was off maybe 1/2", corrected with either a track bar or relocation bracket.

I often hear about guys measuring from the flare to the outside of the tire using a straight edge. I found this way to be very inaccurate. Try grabbing the tape on the upper coil perch (circle) and measure to a common point on each tire ie mold line, tread groove.
I bet you'll find the axle not as offset as you thought.
 
#6 ·
I agree that it's not likely off that much. Either way, an adjustable front track bar is the answer. Don't do a bracket unless you are at 4" of lift or more and also do a drag link flip or drop pitman arm at the same time.
 
#10 ·
my front axle was way off with about 3 inches of lift using the stock track bar. at ride height i could see it as the jks discos were leaning to the side, at full droop the driver side was almost contacting the coil, the pass side had a bunch of room.. jks adjustable bar fixed that up nicely.. i dunno how guys run 3 inches of lift with no correction and think things are right?!
 
#11 ·
They can't. The simple act of raising the rig via pucks or springs pulls the front axle to driver and the rear axle to passenger. There's no way to dial in the alignment with the axles askew like that. There's a small amount of side to side tolerance baked into the stock design, naturally, but not when the misalignment is measured in inches. The roll center has to be re-established by raising the track bar mount, and the axle centering has to be dealt with, either with an adjustable track bar, or compensation in the track bar mount. Good quality lift kits address these requirements, POS el cheapo lift kits will leave them out and tell you they're not needed.

Going a bit further, the stock front track bar is light and weak. It can barely handle the weight of the stock tires. Throw on heavier wheels & tires with more offset and you're in the death wobble zone. You can see the things bend when you move the wheel side to side. You can use the stock rear bar provided the axle is centered by the kit mfr's raised track bar bracket. However, the issue can be a bit complex if the axle is centered using a particular hole on the bracket, but that mounting hole doesn't correctly set the roll center.

Back to the track bar adjustability issue. Last year one of our club members bought a really sweet '14 JKUR, probably stickered in the mid $40k's. Since they have a nicely built '82 Scrambler they weren't going to build the JK at all. Guy called me a while back and wanted to get my thoughts on some cheap Rough Country 2" spring lift he was looking at. Wanted to fit 33"+ tires. I waved him off and suggested some better alternatives. (I see no sense in buying an expensive Jeep, then ruining it with a POS suspension...but....) He bought it anyway, direct from RC, who told him he didn't need adjustable track bars, longer links, etc. He's in the process of learning the hard and expensive way. To get it to track properly he discovered he had to get adjustable bars. During a run on Elephant Hill during EJS the front links kicked back, bound and jammed the steering. You pays your money and you makes your choice. Had he bought a quality, fully spec'd lift he'd be happy, right now he's not.
 
#12 ·
I can attest to this, the jeep I bought did not have a complete lift, 4" lift. If I had known more about steering geometry and lift kits, I likely wouldn't have bought it. However, I am learning A LOT and because of this forum and YouTube, I've been able to do most of the work myself. I had the suspension so out of whack that the sway bar was against the frame, I was getting death wobbles at 40km/hr (not sure what that is in miles, 25/30 maybe)... Put the adjustable track bar on, changed all my shock bushings, got a new stabilizer.... That will not fit bc it hits the TB. Now I have to drop the TB which is going to put the drag link and the bar out of whack... It seems if you don put a proper lift in it you'll be eventually putting all those things on it you didn't want to in the beg... And screwing your jeep up in the process....
 
#15 ·
I got a 10A 2door Rubicon, fitted Old Man Emu 4" lift with all the correct relocating brackets and adjustable trackbar. got MT 17" rims and Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 315/70R17 tires. Had all aligned en drives perfectly on good roads. But as soon as I hit a bad patch, like a pothole, specifically on one of the front tires then the whole jeep starts to wobble real bad. I have to slow down to a stop to get rid of this wobble, It is worse on front wheels but I think the back also wobbles. This could happen at low speed [20mph] or higher speeds. Jeep was bought brand new but the lift was installed last October. Up to then I had 33" tires with 2.5" lift and no real issues with wobbles. I have tried everything from installing adjustable upper and lower control arms and various caster angle degrees with alignment and balancing. Also ran the tires from as low as 24PSI to 40PSI but still wobbles when I hit a bump. What I did notice is that the Front axle is about 1" out towards the driver side and the back maybe 1/2 " out. It has definitely not been adjusted by the installer I used. I am going to have them adjusted, my question is can this be the cause of my wobble ?
 
#17 ·
Thanks Kjeeper10, I had a look on the website explaining all about bump steer problems and one thing I read and checked was that the track bar and the drag link must be as parallel as possible - and mine looks good
I am from South Africa and we have right hand drive jeeps, so if I get a explanation and pics on the web I must mirror them to try and compare to mine
Before I put the 4" lift on, but already had the 35" tires on, I never got any wobble or steer bump issues
So I am convinced the 4" lift kit is the issue. Although as I said the 4" kit is a Old Man Emu complete kit and everything needed was installed
I know the font axle center is a must, I was hoping that someone would say that is definitely my problem
But I will do that and then check back again.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Kjeeper10, I had a look on the website explaining all about bump steer problems and one thing I read and checked was that the track bar and the drag link must be as parallel as possible - and mine looks good I am from South Africa and we have right hand drive jeeps, so if I get a explanation and pics on the web I must mirror them to try and compare to mine Before I put the 4" lift on, but already had the 35" tires on, I never got any wobble or steer bump issues So I am convinced the 4" lift kit is the issue. Although as I said the 4" kit is a Old Man Emu complete kit and everything needed was installed I know the font axle center is a must, I was hoping that someone would say that is definitely my problem But I will do that and then check back again.
Well they will always be parallel looking at them by eye. Since the drag link and track bar are not the same lengths, the angles differ the higher you lift.
Any lift over 3" will benefit with steering correction.
 
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