Where might I find "Degree Wedges" for my axle.

I know our NAPA store has them, so it might be worth checking the auto stores you have in your town.

Chris

Jeez. I just called our local NAPA guy. He wanted to know the application. I explained the YJ had a shackle lift from the previous owner and I needed to correct the caster on the front axle of our jeep. He went into vapor lock..., then finally said it sounded like the old style wedges and now he's telling me about shims and camber correction. Cripes! I'M NOT INTERESTED IN CAMBER! Castor wedges, this ain't rocket science, what a doofus.

Maybe I'm going about this all wrong. Any thoughts?

Don't worry, understood. ;^)

I was directed to this wedge thing a while back when we first got my wife's Jeep. I told the group it was steering kinda twitchily, touchy. I was told that the shackle lift changed the castor. This I don't debate, but I got to thinking that the longer front shackle would actually increase the castor, which I thought was not a too bad a thing. But is it? I just don't know. So, the wedge would go in from the rear (thick end in the rear)?

Gotcha. That little YJ already rides the tire tracks on the road, up and down. :^)

I don't think the lift is exteme enough, like on my CJ. It's just shackles on the YJ. I was thinking the the tires may also be the culprit.

I'll post a pic of her YJ over in alt.binaries.pictures.autos.4x4

Actually a longer front shackle will decrease the caster because it will rotate the pinion up, which will bring the ball joints closer to vertical. To correct this you would put the thick part of the shim toward the shackle.

Chris

How tall are the shackles?

They can drop the front of the axle low enough for bump steer easily. The shims will help bring the axle back flat which will raise the tie rods back up. This 'could' maybe be enough to get rid of the bump steer, so I would try the shims first.

Oh the shims in the front go in from the front, the shims on the rear go in from the rear.

The longer shackle in front lowers or turns the front of the front axle down, you want to raise it back up.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Jeepers wrote:

alt.binaries.pictures.autos.4x4

I thought caster was how far behind the vertical the center of the wheel was. But I can see how bringing the ball joints closer to vertical would be a problem.

Caster is the angle of an imaginary line drawn between the upper and lower ball joints. The upper should be farther back than the lower. By installing longer shackles, the whole housing is rotated, moving the pinion up, which is at the same time decreasing this angle.

Chris

Don't see it there yet...

My server seems to be having brain farts....

Mike

Jeepers wrote:

I can't even get the damn newsgroup on my server. :-(

Chris

Same here... got alt.binaries.pictures.autos but no 4x4

-- JimG

80' CJ-7, 258 CID 35" BFG MT's on 15x10 Centerlines 4.56 D30-D44 SOA D300 w/4:1 & Currie twin sticks Warn 8000i w/dual batteries LockRight F&R

Well that's what I get for taking it literally like the caster of a shopping cart wheel. But it makes sense, what you showed. It would fix the problem. I'll call napa and get ol' Slo Mo on it with the part numbers. Thanks!

Let me jump in here. Get the Jeep up on an alignment rack and have the specs printed out. It should have 6-7 degrees of caster in front, and it's probably more like 3.5 - 5 depending upon the length of the shackles. For God's sake don;'t put aluminum shims up front. Steel shims can be sourced through Foothill Offroad or Poison Spyder Customs (check web sites).

FWIW, I have an RE 4.5' kit on my 94 YJ, it needed 2 degree shims which brought it to 6.5 degrees. I got them from Poison Spyder. Simple, simple installation and it completely transform the handling.

The advantage is all in the manufacturing. Most of the aluminum shims and blocks are cast, so there is no, or very little machining involved. If they are machined, as in some billet blocks, then the aluminum is much cheaper to machine and wears out much less tooling per 1000 pieces. There is no benefit for the end user, just the manufacturer.

Chris

Right, Chris. On the front axle they're far more liable to break and spit out the side. Having this happen in the rear is one thing, in the front something else again.

Funny, I tried to get shims at the local NAPA and got blank stares, then they scratched their heads. Next I went to an alignment shop & they gave me a blank look. I finally called Avalanche who put me on to Poison Spyder.