Improving Ride Quality

[Mad Jasper]

I am having to make more frequent trips home to visit my elderly dad of late. Two to three times a year I'll pick him up and bring him to our house for a few days and that means 8+ hours in the Jeep. The last time that I made that trip it almost killed me (thanks to spinal injuries from auto racing, skydiving, and a bad auto accident four years ago. It was bad enough that I picked up a used Model 3 travel and most of my daily driving.

I am running Nitto Recon Grapplers (295/70/17) on 17x8 Icon Rebound Pros with a -6 offset. I don't think that I ever made the trip with the OEM wheels and BFG 285/70/17s.

If I were to revert back to OEMs with 285/70/17s, would the ride quality improve?

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[imallcrawl]

Is your JT lifted, have you done anything to the suspension? Because unless the Nitto Recon Grapplers are unbalanced I don't think you will feel a difference in switching back to the OEMs. How has the quality of the ride change since changing to the Nittos?

 

[Mad Jasper]

Is your JT lifted, have you done anything to the suspension? Because unless the Nitto Recon Grapplers are unbalanced I don't think you will feel a difference in switching back to the OEMs. How has the quality of the ride change since changing to the Nittos?

I installed a Tera Flex 1.5 inch leveling kit with extended Mopar LCAs. I didn't notice a difference before/after, but at the time I hadn't taken a road trip with it.

 

[imallcrawl]

I installed a Tera Flex 1.5 inch leveling kit with extended Mopar LCAs. I didn't notice a difference before/after, but at the time I hadn't taken a road trip with it.

I honestly think you should be fine with the Nittos. If you are not experiencing shimmy, wandering, bump steer, wobble, etc. then you're good Just for peace of mind, I would just re-torque everything before your road trip.

 

[Mad Jasper]

I honestly think you should be fine with the Nittos. If you are not experiencing shimmy, wandering, bump steer, wobble, etc. then you're good Just for peace of mind, I would just re-torque everything before your road trip.

There is a bit of wandering and that's really the biggest issue. It's not terrible, but interstate travel on the coast can be an effort. I've retorqued and had a suspension shop verify that I didn't overlook anything. It's not terrible, but it is more noticeable than my previous 4WD trucks.

What about the offset? Going from 44 to -6 is almost 2 inches. Could that negatively affect handling?

It may just be a Jeep thing.

 

[imallcrawl]

There is a bit of wandering and that's really the biggest issue. It's not terrible, but interstate travel on the coast can be an effort. I've retorqued and had a suspension shop verify that I didn't overlook anything. It's not terrible, but it is more noticeable than my previous 4WD trucks.

What about the offset? Going from 44 to -6 is almost 2 inches. Could that negatively affect handling?

It may just be a Jeep thing.

I personally never experienced neg offset changing ride quality or handling. The wander could be due to your adjustable LCAs, but I will let the professionals here chime in about that. If you have the time, I would put the OEM rims and tires back on and see if anything in the ride quality and handling changes. If so, then the new tire/rim setup is the culprit. If the wander is still there with the OEM rims/tires then I would think your LCAs are the issue. The measurements may be wrong, one side could be shorter causing your axle to be slightly faced in one direction rather than straight ahead, this definitely would cause wander/pulling.

 

[Mad Jasper]

I personally never experienced neg offset changing ride quality or handling. The wander could be due to your adjustable LCAs, but I will let the professionals here chime in about that. If you have the time, I would put the OEM rims and tires back on and see if anything in the ride quality and handling changes. If so, then the new tire/rim setup is the culprit. If the wander is still there with the OEM rims/tires then I would think your LCAs are the issue. The measurements may be wrong, one side could be shorter causing your axle to be slightly faced in one direction rather than straight ahead, this definitely would cause wander/pulling.

Unfortunately, I sold the OEM wheels/tires. There are Marketplace options, but I would like some insight before dropping a few hundred bucks on something that may not make a difference.

 

[imallcrawl]

Unfortunately, I sold the OEM wheels/tires. There are Marketplace options, but I would like some insight before dropping a few hundred bucks on something that may not make a difference.

True. In this case, if the wandering isn't as bad then you should be fine. Every Jeep I owned had some type of weirdness in the handling so it could ultimately just be a "Jeep Thing."

 

[JTGuy]

Into has a stiff sidewall. Great for off road. Take the PSI down to 30.

 

[imallcrawl]

Nitto has a stiff sidewall. Great for off road. Take the PSI down to 30.

@Mad Jasper yes, you could try this

 

[Bear Hunter]

The load rating makes a lot of difference. I went from E rated 285-70-17 to SL rated and the difference was very noticeable. Much smoother and civilized.

 

[willys 41]

I am having to make more frequent trips home to visit my elderly dad of late. Two to three times a year I'll pick him up and bring him to our house for a few days and that means 8+ hours in the Jeep. The last time that I made that trip it almost killed me (thanks to spinal injuries from auto racing, skydiving, and a bad auto accident four years ago. It was bad enough that I picked up a used Model 3 travel and most of my daily driving.

I am running Nitto Recon Grapplers (295/70/17) on 17x8 Icon Rebound Pros with a -6 offset. I don't think that I ever made the trip with the OEM wheels and BFG 285/70/17s.

If I were to revert back to OEMs with 285/70/17s, would the ride quality improve?

After trying 4 different springs sets on my Willys I found EVO PLUSH RIDE SPRINGS.
Big difference in ride quality. It rides better than my wife's stock Rubicon.
Off road is much better also.
Also lower your tire pressure to 25/26psi cold.

 

[Sandman 4x4]

If anything the wander could be caused by the extended offset. That places the centerline of the wheel further out from the spindle pivot, that could lead to the wheel being pulled back from any outside force, that’s been repositioned to have more sensitivity to be moved easier. I suggest replacing the original wheels back on. Then see.

 

[SaiintNick]

That 295 is definitely an E load tire.

I am having to make more frequent trips home to visit my elderly dad of late. Two to three times a year I'll pick him up and bring him to our house for a few days and that means 8+ hours in the Jeep. The last time that I made that trip it almost killed me (thanks to spinal injuries from auto racing, skydiving, and a bad auto accident four years ago. It was bad enough that I picked up a used Model 3 travel and most of my daily driving.

I am running Nitto Recon Grapplers (295/70/17) on 17x8 Icon Rebound Pros with a -6 offset. I don't think that I ever made the trip with the OEM wheels and BFG 285/70/17s.

If I were to revert back to OEMs with 285/70/17s, would the ride quality improve?

That 295 is definitely an E load tire. What tire pressure are you running? 30psi would be max with that tire. I would even try 28psi. I run 32 on my C load KO2's and thats about max for that tire IMO.

 

[Old Dogger]

The load rating makes a lot of difference. I went from E rated 285-70-17 to SL rated and the difference was very noticeable. Much smoother and civilized.

This for the ride quality. As for the road handling, have your caster set at 6°, with adjustable lower control arms. Also, shocks will contribute to ride quality.

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