Mojave LCA Question

[Florida Mojave]

35 psi hot seems to be my sweet spot. Stock tires/suspension.
FWIW - With a 23 you should have the proper steering box, it should be black in color or steel - not the silver color or Aluminum box....easy to check. We've all seen stranger things happen.

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[willys 41]

Steersmart or synergy sector shaft brace makes a big big difference in the play in the steering
The steering box moves back and forth on the frame
I have the steersmart on both my jeeps

 

[Toro34]

Steersmart or synergy sector shaft brace makes a big big difference in the play in the steering
The steering box moves back and forth on the frame
I have the steersmart on both my jeeps

AFAIK these dont bolt straight up on a Mojave without some modification. There is some extra metal on a Mojave that requires notching the bracket to fit around the shock tower

 

[willys 41]

YETI XD™ JL/JT Sector Shaft Brace With Frame Side Track Bar Reinforcement Bracket
https://steersmarts.com/products/yeti-xd-jl-jt-sector-shaft-brace

 

[Grump Fish]

Mojave seems to be caster handicapped from the factory.
The arms should help with that. I'd recommend any new Mojave owner who plans to stay otherwise stock go ahead and swap in the longer Mopar arms. It's a cheap and effective way to gain a little bit of caster angle.
If you're adding a lift, geometry correction brackets are worth their weight in gold, well... maybe copper.


Check the bolts holding the steering gearbox to the frame.
Check the Pitman arm nut for proper torque as well.
Check the ball joints for proper torque.
Check swaybar end links for proper torque, because one of my rear ones fell the hell out somewhere.

Check and set torque on the control arms with the vehicle on the ground at ride stance.

Consider upgrading the steering stabilizer to a quality pass-thru design with adjustable settings.
Consider adding the Metalcloak Sector Shaft Brace to further stabilize and protect the sector shaft on the lower end.

A slight toe OUT may also help.

All torque specs can be found here.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/?-2020-2023-jt-gladiator-torque-values-all-of-them-in-one-place.67915/

Yes, you can adjust the free play in the steering gearbox. Carefully, gradually, and you need to heat it up pretty good to break the red loctite loose.
The proper allen key size is 4mm.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...ng-wander-fix-cost-me-0-updated-1-7-23.57677/

Lots of great info here. I appreciate your input! I was looking around for torque specs last night and am glad to see they’ve already been aggregated on the forum.

 

[Grump Fish]

I'm doing the same with my Rubicon. It was squirrelly/wandering at 42psi, acceptable at 38psi, better yet at 34psi, but still seems a little twitchy like it needs more caster. I have a set of LCAs on order. If ordering from a Mopar site, don't put in your VIN or your order might get canceled for not being the correct parts for your vehicle. In their minds, the arms don't fit any VIN because they are not the OEM parts for the VIN. On my first try, they emailed for my VIN and I gave it then they canceled my order. On my second try I replied with "these are the parts I want". I hope I get them this time.

I don't know what the correct tire pressure will end up being in the end.

Twitchy is a good description.
I just drove from Alexandria La to New Iberia and its a rough road in places. At times, it was like herding cats. I know its a Jeep and they arent supposed to drive like a car, but if I can improve it to be like my wife’s Sport, it would definitely be a more pleasant drive when I come down here.

 

[Grump Fish]

35 psi hot seems to be my sweet spot. Stock tires/suspension.
FWIW - With a 23 you should have the proper steering box, it should be black in color or steel - not the silver color or Aluminum box....easy to check. We've all seen stranger things happen.

I will check on the steering box. Thanks.

 

[Grump Fish]

Steersmart or synergy sector shaft brace makes a big big difference in the play in the steering
The steering box moves back and forth on the frame
I have the steersmart on both my jeeps

Very interesting. I haven’t seen this before, but its been a few years since Ive owned and fooled around with Jeeps. I lifted a couple of TJs that would have benefitted from something like this if I had known about it.

 

[Grump Fish]

Update on this.... While I was doing the tire swapping I discussed in another thread, I dropped the tire pressure on my Mojave from 37 to 33 and reset the TPMS with JSCAN. After driving for a couple of days, it is noticeably less "twitchy". Not sure this is the ultimate solution, but it is certainly a data point. I did get the Mopar LCAs but haven't installed them yet.
Has anyone ran the Falken 285 70 17s at 33 psi long term and have any insight on wear patern?

 

[ecidiego]

I'd tell the dealer to go over it first. Something could be out of spec brand new.

I've driven my Mojave on the factory A/Ts for 11k at 37 psi cold and road manners are always perfect.

 

[Lunentucker]

Update on this.... While I was doing the tire swapping I discussed in another thread, I dropped the tire pressure on my Mojave from 37 to 33 and reset the TPMS with JSCAN. After driving for a couple of days, it is noticeably less "twitchy". Not sure this is the ultimate solution, but it is certainly a data point. I did get the Mopar LCAs but haven't installed them yet.
Has anyone ran the Falken 285 70 17s at 33 psi long term and have any insight on wear patern?

Mine was really loose on the road with 2" lift and the Falkens at 37.
Dropping them to 33 helped a lot, but the Rancho brackets, Falcon Nexus Stabilizer, Metalcloak sector shaft brace, and making sure everything was properly torqued have it driving like an Accord.

 

[Grump Fish]

I'd tell the dealer to go over it first. Something could be out of spec brand new.

I've driven my Mojave on the factory A/Ts for 11k at 37 psi cold and road manners are always perfect.

Thanks for this perspective. I think if it weren't for driving my wife's Sport, I wouldn't think my Mojave was Off at all. I actually had my friend drive it back from Shreveport the other day and he said I was crazy! LOL

 

[ecidiego]

Thanks for this perspective. I think if it weren't for driving my wife's Sport, I wouldn't think my Mojave was Off at all. I actually had my friend drive it back from Shreveport the other day and he said I was crazy! LOL

Our other car is an Acura MDX. Obviously it has far superior road suspension, but other than the expected "truck" handling of the Jeep and the obvious "solid front axle isn't an IFS" - no complaints.

 

[Grump Fish]

Mine was really loose on the road with 2" lift and the Falkens at 37.
Dropping them to 33 helped a lot, but the Rancho brackets, Falcon Nexus Stabilizer, Metalcloak sector shaft brace, and making sure everything was properly torqued have it driving like an Accord.

Thanks! I saved all of the torque info and am planning to spend a bit checking everything this next weekend.

 

[GladLad]

Grump Fish comes and asks a simple question, and you're all giving him an expensive shopping list? For shame.

I'm going to have to test drive some of yours against mine before I add them to my shopping list. No, for real, I need an excuse.

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