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Sensitive steering

7K views 27 replies 8 participants last post by  vooduchikn 
#1 ·
I have 2000 wrangler sport since I put a 4 inch lift the steering is super sensitive what is the cure?
 
#4 ·
Did you set the toe in and caster after lifting?
Both will be affected.

Hopefully you didn't install a dropped pitman arm
.
If you did, remove it an put the stock pitman arm back on.


It is likely caster and toe-in but without seeing a picture of your steering geometry, its hard to diagnose.

Some kits out there do some strange things with track bar angles via a relocation bracket for absolutely no reason that I can rationalize.

Did your kit have track bar relocation brackets?
 
#3 ·
Agree with Shark,
I added a 3/4 inch spring spacer just to the rear springs to compensate for a heavy rear bumber with tire carrier,
It made my steering quite scary until i had the sreering alignment done.
 
#9 ·
Ditch the pitman arm ASAP. That's a huge culprit.
Transfer case drop will get you back a touch of caster angle that you lost. Caster angle helps with tracking and return-to-center.
Your sway bar should be 15° above horizontal (sides going "uphill" from front to rear.

Do you have a rear sway bar? If so, adjust it back down by getting longer links. If not, add one.

What a lot of people don't say, is that lifts can give you a shittier ride on road if they're not dialed in with the correct parts.
 
#11 · (Edited)
X2 on removing the dropped Pitman arm, Skyjacker should know better by now than to include one with a Wrangler TJ. Which is one reason why I have no respect for Skyjacker as a company. Wrangler YJs and CJs needed dropped Pitman arms when suspension lifts were installed, Wranglers haven't since 1997 when the steering geometry was improved.

Also, my bet is your caster angle is too low which would is usually the root cause of twitchy steering. Dropped Pitman arms introduce bump steer, a different issue. Suspension lifts naturally reduce the amount of caster angle unless front control arm length is made longer to restore it. I'd have the caster angle checked, it should be no less than 5.5 with 6 degrees being optimal.
 
#13 ·
Scratch my tcase drop recommendation. Got issues mixed up.

Like Jerry said, get a caster angle measurement then get it to within specs. Outside of adjustable front uppers, I don't know what you could really do besides live with it
 
#15 ·
I've been following this thread as I have a similar issue. Installed 3.25" RC lift (incl springs and shocks) with new adjustable track bar and steering stabilizer. Drives good but steering is very sensitive. Had alignment to fix toe. Right now caster 5 degrees on right and 4.3 on left. Is that the cause and how should I fix? Shop recommended adjustable ball joints but don't see many threads on those??
 
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