hjdca
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- Joined
- Oct 27, 2019
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- Southern California Mountains
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- Jeep Gladiator Rubicon manual Sting Gray
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Sounds like "Bump steer". Personally, I doubt it is the springs. Even if the springs bow, they do not cause driving issues, mostly just noise. Pinion angle and track bar misadjusted could be causing the bow. Also, the JT rubber spring isolators on the front end are notoriously soft. I pitched them when I did my install. I went directly to Rusty's JL/JT Bow Correction Lower Coil Spring Isolators, only $25 - and you will not have a spring bow problem unless your geometry is way off. Here is a link and pic.I am feeling front end instability when either of the front wheels hit a bump, pothole, dip etc. Happens at any speed, but especially noticeable when one wheel hits, not both like over railroad tracks. Not sure what pinion angles are, sorry. I do notice a significant bowing of the left front spring though and have told COR... shocks pistons are over 6 1/2 inches exposed in front (which COR has told me is approaching max). I have a diesel JTR and COR 2.5" Overland plus kit-- 3.5" springs in front/2.5" in rear and Fox shocks for a 2.5" lift. I've asked if this is a mismatch (front) and haven't really gotten a definitive answer. They have talked about sending out some Fox front shocks for a 3.5-4 inch lift to replace the 2-3" travel ones that are currently on...
https://www.rustysoffroad.com/rustys-jl-jt-bow-correction-lower-coil-spring-isolators.html
Here, you can see the difference:
For Bump steer, the thing to check is to make sure everything on the front end is torqued to spec. -- especially the track bar, drag link, tie rod. If any of those items are loose, they could cause bump steer. I would assume your control arms are all torqued to spec. since you just had the installation done.
The other thing to do is to put the truck on level ground and loosen all the control arms, then, re-torque them again to spec. Then, mark them with a paint pen, so, you know if they loosened at all later on.
If you can verify these two items above, then, you reduce a lot of variables in the equation.
PS. what is your caster at ? do you have upper adjustable control arms ? If it is 7 or higher, I would reduce it to between 5.7 to 6.2 or so. This will help make the geometry more parallel between your drag link and track bar - and may help reduce the bump steer.
PSS. Make sure that front track bar is tight and there is no play in the bushings. Play in the track bar will cause exactly the experience you described.
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