Gladiator walks when you hit bumps.

[Jeepin' John]

You won't believe how good your JT can ride / drive when:

1) you have a quality set of shocks and a quality steering stabilizer,

2) you have proper front axle caster, and

3) you have a properly adjusted steel steering box, tightened in some cases depending on amount of steering wheel dead spot - some are fine as-is, some are perfect with an 1/8 turn tighter

there are more factors, but the above 3 transformed my personal gladiator

Sponsored

 

[Jeeperjamie]

You won't believe how good your JT can ride / drive when:

1) you have a quality set of shocks and a quality steering stabilizer,

2) you have proper front axle caster, and

3) you have a properly adjusted steel steering box, tightened in some cases depending on amount of steering wheel dead spot - some are fine as-is, some are perfect with an 1/8 turn tighter

there are more factors, but the above 3 transformed my personal gladiator

I agree with everything but the steering stabilizer, unless your running larger tires , like over 37's then your stock stabilizer should be fine. I can ride without my Steering Stabilizer on mine and it will still drive great and I'm on 37's. Just saying.

 

[AL_Jeep_Dad_]

My JT sport Max tow did this bad when I first got the Jeep. Once I added a level kit, new Falcon shocks, bigger wheels and tires the problem of jumping and skipping at highway speeds went away. I really think the Falcon shocks helped the most. Made the truck feel planted to the road.

 

[Gvsukids]

I really think the Falcon shocks helped the most. Made the truck feel planted to the road.

Which ones? Do you have a winch?

 

[AL_Jeep_Dad_]

Running 295/70r17 RT tires, wheels are 17 x 8.5 inches with a -6mm offset. Teraflex leveling kit full 1.5” & Falcon SP2 shocks set on soft.

 

[AL_Jeep_Dad_]

Which ones? Do you have a winch?

I don’t have a winch, but the shocks I have are the Falcon SP2. Love them totally changed the way my JT handles and drives.

 

[AL_Jeep_Dad_]

 

[Gvsukids]

I don’t have a winch, but the shocks I have are the Falcon SP2. Love them totally changed the way my JT handles and drives.

What's different?

 

[Jeeperjamie]

The JT, handles so much better with the upgraded shocks. Soon as I pulled out the shop with the new shocks on I could tell immediately that the truck was going to be more fun to drive. It handles big bumps and potholes on the highway no problem! On my daily commute to work there is a huge bump in the middle lane of 1-65 that would send my truck into the other lane almost when I would drive over it with the factory shocks and tires & I would have to white knuckle it until the suspension settled. No more getting tossed side to side crossing railroad tracks. Way less body roll cornering with the Jeep. I’ve had the Falcons shocks on for about 12k miles. It’s an expensive upgrade to do when the truck is brand new, but definitely worth it! Jeep factory shocks on the base sport max tow package are garbage. The Falcon shocks made the Jeep feel safe traveling at highway speeds!

Honestly on my max tow, I never had a experience your describing even with the stock shocks. It was only stock for one day but I hit plenty of bumps in that day. The day after I bought it I had 35's installed and the day after that a 2.5" lift. Never changed the shocks for at least 5 more months but all I did was add Rubicon take off front springs and Rubicon take off shocks. Mine drives darn near perfect and it drove darn near perfect on the stock shocks. If your trucks getting thrown into the other lane when you hit a bump then you have more than a crappy shock issues. I guess whatever put your mind at ease though and for the record, I'm not knocking Falcon shocks because they are good shocks.

 

[AL_Jeep_Dad_]

Honestly on my max tow, I never had a experience your describing even with the stock shocks. It was only stock for one day but I hit plenty of bumps in that day. The day after I bought it I had 35's installed and the day after that a 2.5" lift. Never changed the shocks for at least 5 more months but all I did was add Rubicon take off front springs and Rubicon take off shocks. Mine drives darn near perfect and it drove darn near perfect on the stock shocks. If your trucks getting thrown into the other lane when you hit a bump then you have more than a crappy shock issues. I guess whatever put your mind at ease though and for the record, I'm not knocking Falcon shocks because they are good shocks.

Honestly on my max tow, I never had a experience your describing even with the stock shocks. It was only stock for one day but I hit plenty of bumps in that day. The day after I bought it I had 35's installed and the day after that a 2.5" lift. Never changed the shocks for at least 5 more months but all I did was add Rubicon take off front springs and Rubicon take off shocks. Mine drives darn near perfect and it drove darn near perfect on the stock shocks. If your trucks getting thrown into the other lane when you hit a bump then you have more than a crappy shock issues. I guess whatever put your mind at ease though and for the record, I'm not knocking Falcon shocks because they are good shocks.

I am probably being a little too dramatic about the Jeep jumping into another lane with the factory tires and shocks. That huge bump on the highway was sketchy and I would avoid it every day because it caused pretty bad bump steering. It’s a Jeep, and I had to learn and get use to the way it handles. Put about 12k miles on the truck with the factory set up. Then I put the wheels and tires on and ran it with the factory shocks for about 3k miles before I had the Falcon shocks installed and I enjoy the ride better now. I can travel over that big bump on 65 at 70 mpg now and no jumping or bump steer. Just saying you can improve the ride quality.

 

[DMZ33]

I had the the TSB done yesterday and the steering box is replaced with the steel version. Definitely a marked improvement. Less wonder and walking and just a better drive overall. Still will probably upgrade the shocks and stabilizer at some point but want to get a good feel for this setup before making that investment. Thanks all for the input and recommendations, no doubt invaluable!

 

[Dryfly24]

+1 to this. Every time I take mine to the dealership, they put the tires up to 40+ and it's like riding on hippity-hops.

I hate when they do that shit. I have mine purposely set at around 32 -33 psi after a chalk test. Every time I go in for whatever reason they tell me my tire pressure was low but they “fixed“ it.

I’d like to know who the genius is at the factory that came up with this forty pounds of pressure? How is that even remotely correct for this truck?

 

[Lunentucker]

I hate when they do that shit. I have mine purposely set at around 32 -33 psi after a chalk test. Every time I go in for whatever reason they tell me my tire pressure was low but they “fixed“ it.

I’d like to know who the genius is at the factory that came up with this forty pounds of pressure? How is that even remotely correct for this truck?

I think it likely ties into the tow rating and the MPG rating. Games with numbers.

Sponsored