Alignment Issues

[guitarshredder7]

Hey guys. Finished up my steering and suspension setup (minus better shocks and some reid racing knuckles later down the line) and got my alignment. Issues are as follows: constant creep to the left. Its not bad, but enough to be slightly annoying and drive me crazy. Also, no shops within 200 miles of me are willing to check my axle centering.... I don't know what it is about Florida but it seems everyone here is dumbfounded by the new JL/JT platform. It's pretty frustrating. I will post a picture of the before and after of my alignment. It was the only shop that would even touch my Jeep. Anyone know any good ways to check for axle centering? Anyone else experiencing this pull?

Mods:

3.5 in clayton coils front and rear
Bilstein shocks
Rusty's Control arms all the way around except for the RK 4-link rear
Synergy mfg high steer drag link
Synergy mfg trackbar and trackbar bracket
Synergy mfg tierod
Metalcloak control arm drop brackets

Thanks,
Noah

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[j.o.y.ride]

Why not just measure from the frame with a tape?

 

[Radio Guy]

If I understand things right you had a lot more toe in before the alignment, .8deg total before and .21 after. Even though excessive, before probably tracked straighter and had a better tendency to center the steering wheel after a turn, etc.

 

[Renegade]

Are you using an aftermarket steering stabilizer? If so, which one, and is it in the stock position? The standard Fox stabilizer is reported to push the tie rod, and depending if you relocated it, could cause a push left.

 

[guitarshredder7]

Why not just measure from the frame with a tape?

Thats what I had done previously and had chalked up my left pull in the steering to be my own doing. That is why I took it to a shop.

 

[guitarshredder7]

If I understand things right you had a lot more toe in before the alignment, .8deg total before and .21 after. Even though excessive, before probably tracked straighter and had a better tendency to center the steering wheel after a turn, etc.

This is true. It still had a left pull beforehand though.

 

[guitarshredder7]

Are you using an aftermarket steering stabilizer? If so, which one, and is it in the stock position? The standard Fox stabilizer is reported to push the tie rod, and depending if you relocated it, could cause a push left.

OEM, not a charged stabilizer (learned that the hard way, lol). It is relocated with the synergy kit

 

[bleda2002]

I chased a pull for awhile after i installed my lift and it ended up being .75 cross caster. I had to drop and re-measure my lower arms as one was one turn farther than the other (1/8 of an inch) and was causing that side to be more squirelly and bump steer more.

For the axle just measure with a tape measure yourself. You'll easily get within 1/8 of an inch or better.

After that, it could be as simple as the steering wheel not being centered the same way as before. I had to adjust my steering wheel literally a dozen times to get it to feel "straight" even though i was adjusting maybe 1 or 2 degrees.

As for shops, if you get desperate and are willing to drive Tampa has some that will work with the arms and bars to align them. I know Suncoast Speed and Offroad does a lot of lifts and alignments and will actually adjust the bars/arms for it.

 

[XraytecH]

When you installed the control arms, did you torque the bolts with the suspension in the air or on the ground?

 

[Renegade]

Have you rotated your tires right to left, to see if it might be a “radial pull? I had some Trail Grapplers that did that once.

 

[guitarshredder7]

I chased a pull for awhile after i installed my lift and it ended up being .75 cross caster. I had to drop and re-measure my lower arms as one was one turn farther than the other (1/8 of an inch) and was causing that side to be more squirelly and bump steer more.

For the axle just measure with a tape measure it yourself with a tape measure. You'll easily get within 1/8 of an inch or better.

After that, it could be as simple as the steering wheel not being centered the same way as before. I had to adjust my steering wheel literally a dozen times to get it to feel "straight" even though i was adjusting maybe 1 or 2 degrees.

As for shops, if you get desperate and are willing to drive Tampa has some that will work with the arms and bars to align them. I know Suncoast Speed and Offroad does a lot of lifts and alignments and will actually adjust the bars/arms for it.

Thank you so much for the insight!

 

[guitarshredder7]

When you installed the control arms, did you torque the bolts with the suspension in the air or on the ground?

On the ground

 

[guitarshredder7]

Have you rotated your tires right to left, to see if it might be a “radial pull? I had some Trail Grapplers that did that once.

Yeah. I work part time at discount tire to fill my off days from aviation. We tried that. Tires seem great.

 

[Wet Willys]

Yeah, correcting that cross-caster will likely get it tracking straight, it will always drift to the side with the least caster, so it makes sense that it's drifting slightly to the left. I would try to match the left side to the right, more caster helps. Some like to keep the caster split with a little less caster on the left to account for crowned roads, but I don't.

I like how the tech went in and changed the camber spec in the computer on the after measurements to turn in green lol....

 

[guitarshredder7]

Yeah, correcting that cross-caster will likely get it tracking straight, it will always drift to the side with the least caster, so it makes sense that it's drifting slightly to the left. I would try to match the left side to the right, more caster helps. Some like to keep the caster split with a little less caster on the left to account for crowned roads, but I don't.

I like how the tech went in and changed the camber spec in the computer on the after measurements to turn in green lol....

Yeah. When I noticed that I kinda laughed lol. Also, isn’t the axle manufactured with a slight bit of cross caster? Built into the housing I mean.

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