Any opinion on whether changing to Tera Flex swing arms will help by reducing any looseness in suspension.
It is a puzzlement.
Any opinion on whether changing to Tera Flex swing arms will help by reducing any looseness in suspension.
It is a puzzlement.
Did the alignment dude give you a printout? What is your total caster? If you are near zero, or below zero, that is a problem. Otherwise, a steering stabilizer could be in your future.
Juice
Caster angle shouldn't even be below 5.5 degrees, let alone zero. For a 2" lift, Caster should actually be between 6 and 7 degrees of Caster angle. Are you thinking toe-in?
Jerry
I had a front end wobble that was bad enough I stopped to make sure a wheel wasn't about to fall off.
Drove me nuts changing parts trying to nail it.
Turned out the clutch on the rad fan had gone bad. It was an amazing shake.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT'sTrust5280 wrote:
Jerry
Tommy, Caster angle isn't super critical but 2.5 degrees is clearly way under what it needs. I would try four turns of your control arms (lengthening the lower arms) and see how it feels. Just do the same number of turns on each arm and it'll work fine. :)
Jerry
Tommy, of course you caught this but instead of lengthening your non-existent adjustable lower arms, shorten your upper arms by the same number of turns. I was at about 3.5 degrees before and 3 turns brought my caster up to where I needed it.
And the tech was correct that the driveshaft has priority but he was clueless on limiting the Caster angle to only 2.5 degrees since the Caster can usually be increased well beyond that, to around 5.5 to 6 degrees, before the pinion angle becomes excessive for a 4 or 4.5" lift.
Jerry
problems/vibrations
Point taken. I guess I wasn't very explanatory. My point was to keep the caster on the plus side of zero, anything that you do to reduce positive caster works against good driveability. Thanks for keepin me on my toes.
Jerry
Since someone is keeping you on your toes, your use of the words "plus" and "positive" contradict themselves. "keep the caster on the plus side of zero, anything that you do to reduce positive caster.."
Does positive caster rake the sp> Point taken. I guess I wasn't very explanatory. My point was to keep the
Just wanted to say you all saved me a bit on this thread. My TJ was having some DW issues. I had it toed out to compensate. I took it to the front end shop and they did an alignment. There was still DW. After reading the print out from their machine and reading this thread, I noticed the castor was set at 3.5. Yesterday I went out and gave the bottom two control arms 2.5 turns out. I drove it all day yesterday with no DW issues. A big thanks.... The new owner of the TJ is flying in from Las Vegas tomorrow and I was having a cow, trying to figure out how to explain the DW to him. Now he can have a nice drive back. For some reason I didn't think there was a link between castor and the dreaded DW.
Have a great day.
--James
Insufficient Caster (not castor, which is like Castor Oil) angle can contribute to death wobble and other problems like twitchy steering and poor steering wheel return-to-center.. But do check two other things too because they can trigger death wobble while insufficient Caster angle usually only lets it fully develop. Carefully check the passenger-side trackbar mounting bolt for tightness, it should be at 74 ft-lbs, and double-check the front tire balance. Both of those are also major contributors to death wobble, especially a loose trackbar.
Jerry
The guy that did my alignment checked the trac bar, doesn't mean I shouldn't double check it. The tires probably need ballanced, they always do. Tires usually spin around on steel rims, chunks of rubber usually fall off while off roading and weights usually come up missing.
--James
This is all interesting. After my lift I noticed, very subtle, a slight steering pull one way and then the other. Not death wobble at all but a little disconcerting. I chalked it up to 4.5" of lift (plus 1" body lift). But now I think I will check all the things mentioned here. Thanks Jerry.
Andy
2001 TJ
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