Lots of things potentially wrong that I see. But lets start simple, what air pressure are you running in the tires?

 

Great question - I have not needed to put air in so I honestly don't know. They don't seem to be low though

I am curious if a 33 or 35 tire on the same wheel would solve the problem.

 

In general tires of this size run around 28 psi. Patagonia tires an exception but you don't have those.

 

They are all at 35 psi

 

If you have an alignment sheet post it up. In the very possible that your caster is to low.

 

I do not have that. Do I request that from the shop?

 

Typical of RC lifts I promise you most people wouldn't be surprised. I'm going to assume the shop who set you up with stock steering parts already corrected the toe at least, i see stock lower arms. If you take a picture with the front control arms uppers and lowers we can see better and let you know fore sure/ Also take another picture where you see that pitman arm connecting the draglink. I think RC uses a dropped pitman arm so there is a lot of issues that normally come from that setup and mated with low caster conditions as a result of not rotating your axel after lift it's no wonder "it drives like chit" can be a understatement.. stock arms doesn't have anywear near the lenght you'll need to put the caster where it should with 4" lift so you caster goes down and she's wanders all the over the road.
If you're offroading get rid of those wheels as well. and you only need ONE steering stabilizer. We need to bring more awareness to the offroad community, too many shops doing this mall crawler setups to Jeeps without owners been advised the dangers they can find offorading with such setups

This happend this past sunday, the wheels i believed where KMC 20" wheel with 37x13.5x20 non brand MT tires
2023-10-01_07-21-38 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2023-10-01_07-21-23 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2023-10-01_07-21-18 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

2023-10-01_07-21-49 by RAM RSM, on Flickr

384280414_6816305235081815_8309792279623595458_n by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

Here you go:

 

Welcome to the Forum!

 

Replace it with a stock pitman arm. They are almost flat.

2007-2018 Jeep Pitman Arm 52060056AC | My Mopar Parts

2007-2018 Jeep part # 52060056AC - Pitman Arm

www.mymoparparts.com

If you go with an after market, be careful, try to get one that looks as much like the stock one as you can.

With the dropped center arm one thing you would notice is that the steering wheel does not tend to self center.

You also need to drop the tire pressure a good bit. TerryC6 recommends 28 and I would go with that. I run 33s (285/70R17) on mine and run at 30 PSI. Check the door placard for the recommended TP. You will find the TPMS will alert about 3 PSI below that. On my 2015 I could run 31 on stock tires without issue, but on the 2017 if I went below 33 it would squawk at me. I had to reset it with an OBDII adapter and the Jscan app on my phone (total for the 2 about $60).

 

Replace it with a stock pitman arm. They are almost flat.

2007-2018 Jeep Pitman Arm 52060056AC | My Mopar Parts

2007-2018 Jeep part # 52060056AC - Pitman Arm

www.mymoparparts.com

Thank you!

 

Sorry for your loss, OP. Everyone has suggested what you need to do to get it to drive better, and honestly it won't be too much work - you can probably knock it all out in a weekend. If you are getting new tires, stick with load range C or, at most, D, as the stiffer sidewall of load range E tires ruins ride quality and adds a lot of unnecessary weight in your case. You should also find out what gear ratio you have - there are videos on Youtube that show you how to approximate it by jacking up the rear axle and counting how many turns the driveshaft makes per wheel revolution.

 

Get stock pitman arm and adjustable front lower control arms. Looks like you have all stock control arms, With a 4 inch lift this is a big big no no. Rough country is absolutely one of the worst aftermarket parts companies. They are called Rough country for a reason!

 

Start with the simple things.

1.) Set your PSI to 28lbs in all 4 tires
2.) Check your toe in on the front tires. Pick a spot on the tread on the backs of the front tires and measure with a tape measure from tire to tire tread. Then do the same thing at the same spot on the front of the tires and the distance on the front of the tires should be about 1/8" inward.
3.) Is the steering wheel straight?
4.) If you drive down a flat road with no crown does the jeep pull to the left or the right or does it track straight?

 

Not a good idea to check the alignment with the tire tread... Use the wheels

 

IMO you are all confusing the issue here. While a drop pitman arm is not the ideal solution it is not causing his issue provided the geometry is correct. And while the lift is sub-optimal he has not even stated what his use is going to be let alone if he will be keeping it. Lets start simple and move from there. Until we have more information on intended use and an alignment sheet we are just asking him to spend money.

 

I would like it to drive like a somewhat normal and safe vehicle so that my family can still enjoy it at the beach or camping or when it snows. Nothing crazy and not trying to dump too much more money into it.

It sounds like I need to do away with the wheels and tires. So my thought is to find some 17” 35s and see if it drives any better. Then pitman arms and such will follow if that doesn’t fix it. I have no clue of the gear ratio so a downsize should help from what I am hearing.

I have dropped the psi for now

 

Ah got it Terry.... This evening a 4" lift doesn't need anything just a change in tire pressures and a check in toe. This evening the dropped pitarm that everybody hates because it causes bumpsteer is all good provided the geometry is good ? what geometry are we tlking about today ? Sorry just trying to keep up with the forum mood swings....

 

Is he complaining about bump steer? What is the geometry between his drag link and his track bar? And a drop pitman arm does not cause bump steer, it is a poor solution to correct bump steer because it puts excess stress on the sector shaft.

Until we have additional data, aka an alignment sheet at a minimum we don't know what the issue's are or what the best way to address them.

 

Everything in front as per your photo looks proper for what it is. It does have a drop pitman arm (not a fan of those) but also seems to have the raised trackbar bracket, so draglink and trackbar look parallel to each other as they should be.
Reducing tire pressure will help and a set of Rancho Geometry correction brackets to get some caster back.
Any lift over 3.5” without addressing the Geometry and caster is gonna drive like crap.

 

First order of business is to find a shop who's employees are Jeep experienced since the one you have chosen doesn't appear to be that way. Either that or get educated and handle things yourself. Next, most of the advice given here to this point is just so much BS. Since you have stock control arms and no correction brackets that I can see, caster is likely very low which is why you were ask to post alignment specs in the beginning. Ideal caster needs to be around 5 give or take and can only be properly adjusted with adjustable arms and/or correction brackets. Yes too much air pressure can cause wandering but nothing like too low caster. 20" wheels are mall crawler and not off-road wheels but you're not talking about off-roading. Once your caster is confirmed as correct you can look into other things but until then anything you spend will just be a waste of money and time. But mostly money.

 

I agree with everything everyone is saying. I noticed something very concerning and I would not drive it until it's fixed. The front passenger side knuckle at the tie rod end appears to be cracked in this picture.

Randy

 

That doesn't look like a crack in the knuckle but surface rust that is chiping away from the knucle. the OP can quickly verify it just in case.

 

The issue with power is that year and 37s you need 5.13 gears. Could use more but that is all the d30 will support unless you can source 5.38s that i think they stopped making since the pinion at that point is like a peanut.

as well that year the d30 uses a smaller U joint in the axle a 1310. For 37s it could fail if this ever got into a moderate trail. May not be an issue for you.

Drop pit is very hard on the steering boxes, sector shaft has to much lateral Force on it. It does have a raised front Trackbar on the axle. But that moves the track bar UP 3" and will need 3" bumps stops to not hit the frame at stuff. IF that drop pit is a 3" drop then it should be be ok. But these kits low end always had a drop bracket at the frame side bolt on that tends to add to much leverage to the factory one and the weld can fail on it or the cheep china bolts.

The raised track bar at the axle is for a Flipped tie rod and a stock pit. If you remove the drop pit now you MUST get the flipped tie rod or go back to stock axle mount. Now you have to replace that new tie rod as well. that you payed a lot for.

4" you need at least lower front drop brackets(not as good off road they loose 3" of ground clearance) or control arms that adjust(better off road but expensive if made in the USA. If china they cost less. But tend to be like the lower issue below.

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To the other that had that wheel fracture. That is why i do not run alloy wheels( good ones that are not thine light weight ToFoo China are expensive). I have seen this before on the trail where they split apart like that or the rim cracks off. steel might bend but it wont crack like that. I never seen how they did it though always after the fact, trail repair. Did you hit the wheel at speed?
__

37s with stock fenders you need at least 4" bumps for 37s. I do not see any bump stops? if this even went to stuff it will take the fenders off.<<seen that happen on 35s stock fenders not set up right on the trails.

My jeep has 37s 4.25 front lift, Flip kit. Curry lowers and synergy upper. street i run no more then 22 psi for my type tires. those will need about 28spi i would guess. My tires are flotation 37s bias ply that and are E's but a soft E. that only has a MAx psi of 40 psi. Most Es will be like 65-80 Psi for Max load.

37s can run well on the street. but they have to be set up well. mine tracks very good for bias ply. But its not a street jeep. Tires are way to expensive to wear out on street those m8090s were 700 each semi stickies. very soft compound.

 

The issue with power is that year and 37s you need 5.13 gears. Could use more but that is all the d30 will support unless you can source 5.38s that i think they stopped making since the pinion at that point is like a peanut.

as well that year the d30 uses a smaller U joint in the axle a 1310. For 37s it could fail if this ever got into a moderate trail. May not be an issue for you.

Drop pit is very hard on the steering boxes, sector shaft has to much lateral Force on it. It does have a raised front Trackbar on the axle. But that moves the track bar UP 3" and will need 3" bumps stops to not hit the frame at stuff. IF that drop pit is a 3" drop then it should be be ok. But these kits low end always had a drop bracket at the frame side bolt on that tends to add to much leverage to the factory one and the weld can fail on it or the cheep china bolts.

The raised track bar at the axle is for a Flipped tie rod and a stock pit. If you remove the drop pit now you MUST get the flipped tie rod or go back to stock axle mount. Now you have to replace that new tie rod as well. that you payed a lot for.

4" you need at least lower front drop brackets(not as good off road they loose 3" of ground clearance) or control arms that adjust(better off road but expensive if made in the USA. If china they cost less. But tend to be like the lower issue below.

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To the other that had that wheel fracture. That is why i do not run alloy wheels( good ones that are not thine light weight ToFoo China are expensive). I have seen this before on the trail where they split apart like that or the rim cracks off. steel might bend but it wont crack like that. I never seen how they did it though always after the fact, trail repair. Did you hit the wheel at speed?
__

37s with stock fenders you need at least 4" bumps for 37s. I do not see any bump stops? if this even went to stuff it will take the fenders off.<<seen that happen on 35s stock fenders not set up right on the trails.

My jeep has 37s 4.25 front lift, Flip kit. Curry lowers and synergy upper. street i run no more then 22 psi for my type tires. those will need about 28spi i would guess. My tires are flotation 37s bias ply that and are E's but a soft E. that only has a MAx psi of 40 psi. Most Es will be like 65-80 Psi for Max load.

37s can run well on the street. but they have to be set up well. mine tracks very good for bias ply. But its not a street jeep. Tires are way to expensive to wear out on street those m8090s were 700 each semi stickies. very soft compound.

Do you think dropping down to 17" wheels and 35s would solve most of the issues? (steering, gears, etc) without rebuilding the front end.. again..

 

Speaking from my limited personal experience, I would highly suggest you go and get an alignment before doing anything else. Post the results here. As stated several times prior, your caster may be too low given the current set up. Correcting the caster may very well solve your "chasing it all over the road" issue. That can be corrected relatively inexpensively via geometry correction brackets or adjustable lower control arms. It doesn't sound like off-roading is a high priority for you at the moment so save yourself some time and money and get the alignment done. You might find it drives well enough (after correcting caster assuming if is in fact low) that you can keep things like they are for the time being. If you decide down the road you want to do some exploring, then you may want/need to consider making some other changes as mentioned.

Just my $.02 anyway for what it's worth, which may only be $.01.

 

My 2010 with a 3" lift drove TERRIBLE, (sound familiar?) then I installed longer control arms to bring the caster to +5. Now she drives like a dream. Your dad would be happy. Don`t get lazy on this one.(sound familiar}

 

Got a 2011 and love it to death. Old Syko mentioned drop down brackets to correct the Caster and I 100% agree. Just put Ranchos on mine bought off Amazon for $170 (easy DIY job) and the ride is night and day. Read the reviews online, hardly a negative out there. Also cheaper than buying adjustable control arms.
Whatever you do don't sell that jeep. Your dad is proud of you✌.

 

Mat be best to turn it back to all original

 

Hello all, First time here and my first ever jeep. A little back story; My father passed away and left me his 2009 Wrangler Sahara Unlimited that he loved. The drive home was about 4 hours and was a death trap. I was literally chasing it down the road; it doesn't drive straight, constant correcting and over correcting. White knuckle, two hand driving only here.. max speed 55 I took it to the shop and they replaced the front end because majority was rusted (Lived at the beach) and some steering components were missing. Just got it back and I am STILL chasing it down the road. The guys at the shop tell me that the wheels and tires are incorrect and that is what is causing it to drive the way it does, but when I look at other jeeps.. the wheels and tires seem the same width.. Am I crazy? Here at the specs: 4" rough country lift, 20" wheels and 37" tires. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I would love to keep this in the family! Let me know if I left out any important information. Thank you all in advance View attachment 4594199 View attachment 4594200 View attachment 4594201 View attachment 4594202

Hello all, First time here and my first ever jeep. A little back story; My father passed away and left me his 2009 Wrangler Sahara Unlimited that he loved. The drive home was about 4 hours and was a death trap. I was literally chasing it down the road; it doesn't drive straight, constant correcting and over correcting. White knuckle, two hand driving only here.. max speed 55 I took it to the shop and they replaced the front end because majority was rusted (Lived at the beach) and some steering components were missing. Just got it back and I am STILL chasing it down the road. The guys at the shop tell me that the wheels and tires are incorrect and that is what is causing it to drive the way it does, but when I look at other jeeps.. the wheels and tires seem the same width.. Am I crazy? Here at the specs: 4" rough country lift, 20" wheels and 37" tires. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I would love to keep this in the family! Let me know if I left out any important information. Thank you all in advance View attachment 4594199 View attachment 4594200 View attachment 4594201 View attachment 4594202

I haven't read every comment but along with this fine advice, you may not know that Wranglers in general wander all over the road. My 2020 is probably much improved from 2009 yet my wife still shrieks a lot when I start heading to the next lane. You may have bigger problems but you certainly have this.

 

Don't listen to that. My 2011(150k) is one smooth steering machine and has been since I bought it 12 years ago. Bought the wife a Camry 25 years ago and ever since have made sure my jeeps steering was equally as tight. As soon as there is the slightest amount of play I get after it.
I guess when your vehicle is paid for, throwing new parts to replace the worn isn't a big deal.
Beats a $500-600+/month car payment.
On a separate note, with a 4" lift consider an upgraded front driveshaft(if not replaced already) the stock rezeppa will fail eventually. Swapped one out on a buddies(street driver only) last year, real mess but got lucky.✌

 

I haven't read every comment but along with this fine advice, you may not know that Wranglers in general wander all over the road. My 2020 is probably much improved from 2009 yet my wife still shrieks a lot when I start heading to the next lane. You may have bigger problems but you certainly have this.

Welcome to the Forum!

 

I’m also gonna throw out that the geometry brackets for the control arms make a huge difference. I’m running a 4” lift as well. Before I did the brackets to lower the arms, it wandered BADLY. Additionally, the bumps in the road were horrendous (since your frame is essentially taking all the impact and not your suspension). I’ve been running the corrected setup for about 3 years now and haven’t looked back. Worth the investment!

 

I bought my 2011 70th Anniversary (based on the Sahara body) Wrangler used. It had a 2.5 Teraflex lift with 18 inch chrome wheels with 312 road tires. Nothing but white knuckle driving. Damn thing wondered all over the road and was actually dangerous over 55mph. I went to set up an appointment for an alignment and the owner said he doubted it needed one. He said the 18" wheels and wide tires were 90% of my problem. So I sold them and went to Discount Tire and bought 17" Fuels on 285 Duratracs. HUGE DIFFERENCE. I drove away from the tire shop using my pinky and the set up looks much better than before.

 

The tendency to "hunt" is more pronounced, the more aggressive the tire and the wider the tire (simply from having a larger contact patch). Our roads have an impact as well, since contrary to popular belief, they are not level. They all have some tilt or crown so the water will drain off the pavement. The alignment settings will take car of much of this, but not all.

Several decades ago I had a Ram 2500 that had a definite right hand pull. If I tool my hand of the steering wheel, it would definitely drift to the right. I had the alignment checked and checked. When I went back again and the shop manager drove it, he told me to put increase the TP 1 PSI over the other tires. I did and it tracked straight until the next time I had the tires rotated and the the tech saw 85 max psi on the tires and that's what he put in all four tires. It was all over the place because it was riding on only the center ridge of the tires. I reset the TP to what had been, including the extra 1 PSI in the right front and all was good again.

My '17 Chief with the BFG KO2's tracks much better than it did with the factory BFG KMs on it. The suspension is still the factory settings and components. It drifts a bit more than my '15 Sahara did with the Bridgestone All Season tires.

Another think to keep in mind that the Jeep Wrangler has always had more aggressive steering than the average car, with it moving faster of the track with small incremental movements, and 2 Door is worse than the 4 Door because of the short wheelbase. On most two lane roads, if I pull onto the shoulder, I can generally make a U turn with ease with a bit for than 90 degrees of steering wheel movement. The 4 Door on the other hand would be on the opposite shoulder and the car nose down in the ditch.

If you lift the Jeep, you need to get the angles back where they were. Cheap lifts don't include all those parts that the expensive lifts do. As a result the Jeep doesn't handle straight a left nearly as well.