Question about 3.5 rough country suspension lift

[Hoover104]

Hey everyone, I’m new here and relatively new to owning a gladiator. Just installed a 3.5 inch rough country lift ( both shocks and springs) and had a question regarding my alignment. I was told by a friend that I should give it a few hundred miles before getting alignment to let the springs settle in. I just put new a/t tires on a few thousand miles ago so I’m paranoid about wearing my rubber unevenly due to driving it too much while out of alignment. Any input would be appreciated especially those with past experience with this. Thanks!!

Sponsored

 

[cuellar13]

I personally have always went straight to the alignment shop after installing any lift kit, and it has always worked for me. I've never heard to wait a few hundred miles- if that were the case, I'd expect a lot of new vehicles to be out of alignment after a few hundred miles, right off the showroom floor.

 

[Hoover104]

I personally have always went straight to the alignment shop after installing any lift kit, and it has always worked for me. I've never heard to wait a few hundred miles- if that were the case, I'd expect a lot of new vehicles to be out of alignment after a few hundred miles, right off the showroom floor.

right on, that’s a good point. Thanks for the help

 

[Abnmarine]

No need for a alignment if you only installed the springs and shocks. An alignment can only adjust tow and center the steering wheel. You can easily correct the steering wheel yourself.

Now if your Jeep pulls to one side, the alignment was already off prior to the lift.

 

[Smess]

No need for a alignment if you only installed the springs and shocks. An alignment can only adjust tow and center the steering wheel. You can easily correct the steering wheel yourself.

Now if your Jeep pulls to one side, the alignment was already off prior to the lift.

dont pay attention to this comment, guy has no clue what he is talking about.

Yes get it aligned right away and most important reason is that if you went up 3.5 then your diff went to the drivers side and also rolled towards the back of the Jeep which will effect caster and that is a very important part of the alignment.

JKs would death wobble if they had too much caster (which is what happens when you lift), JT's have not been as picky to where they want their caster to be, I am sure its due to the longer wheel base.

Like the guy above, if anyone tells you that you can only set toe because its a solid axle, ignore them and find someone that knows what they are talking about.

I am guessing that you tightened down all the hardware after the Jeep was dropped to the ground and not while it was in the air? that could effect your ride but maybe not tire wear.

 

[MercMan54]

dont pay attention to this comment, guy has no clue what he is talking about.

Yes get it aligned right away and most important reason is that if you went up 3.5 then your diff went to the drivers side and also rolled towards the back of the Jeep which will effect caster and that is a very important part of the alignment.

JKs would death wobble if they had too much caster (which is what happens when you lift), JT's have not been as picky to where they want their caster to be, I am sure its due to the longer wheel base.

Like the guy above, if anyone tells you that you can only set toe because its a solid axle, ignore them and find someone that knows what they are talking about.

I am guessing that you tightened down all the hardware after the Jeep was dropped to the ground and not while it was in the air? that could effect your ride but maybe not tire wear.

Just began doing my research on this myself - newbie here. Am I correct that in order to adjust caster you need adjustable lower control arms? From what I've read, the adjustable geo brackets can improve the castor (align closer to factory) but cannot exactly be dialed in like adjustable LCA can?

 

[MercMan54]

@Hoover104

This is off topic but was wondering how you like the lift? I'm looking at the same one - any particular reason to go with the springs over the spacers (and utilize the stock springs)? Thank you

 

[Abnmarine]

dont pay attention to this comment, guy has no clue what he is talking about.

Yes get it aligned right away and most important reason is that if you went up 3.5 then your diff went to the drivers side and also rolled towards the back of the Jeep which will effect caster and that is a very important part of the alignment.

JKs would death wobble if they had too much caster (which is what happens when you lift), JT's have not been as picky to where they want their caster to be, I am sure its due to the longer wheel base.

Like the guy above, if anyone tells you that you can only set toe because its a solid axle, ignore them and find someone that knows what they are talking about.

I am guessing that you tightened down all the hardware after the Jeep was dropped to the ground and not while it was in the air? that could effect your ride but maybe not tire wear.

You tell me how is he going to have his axles centered and caster adjusted with the stock control arms and track bars?

I agree that caster will be reduced and the axles off center. None of his effects tow but hey, spend your money on an alignment before correcting the issues.
To the OP, I’d recommend adjustable front and rear trackbar to get both axles centered along with either adjustable front lower control arms or geo brackets to get your caster back within spec.

 

[Mac]

There is nothing they can adjust besides toe in and based on what the OP installed that would not have changed. Don’t waste your money on an alignment.

 

[Hoover104]

dont pay attention to this comment, guy has no clue what he is talking about.

Yes get it aligned right away and most important reason is that if you went up 3.5 then your diff went to the drivers side and also rolled towards the back of the Jeep which will effect caster and that is a very important part of the alignment.

JKs would death wobble if they had too much caster (which is what happens when you lift), JT's have not been as picky to where they want their caster to be, I am sure its due to the longer wheel base.

Like the guy above, if anyone tells you that you can only set toe because its a solid axle, ignore them and find someone that knows what they are talking about.

I am guessing that you tightened down all the hardware after the Jeep was dropped to the ground and not while it was in the air? that could effect your ride but maybe not tire wear.

Thank you for the info, I went ahead and got the alignment done first thing this morning. I did torque everything while the truck was in the air, but went back around after it was on the ground and made sure everything was tight. Despite the lifts directions I was able to put the springs in without having to loosen the control arms. Think me tightening the track bar/ shocks and sway bar links in the air will make a difference or need to be loosened and retorqued? Thanks again for the info and for looking out!

 

[kaeo_15]

As others have said, you didn’t really need an alignment as you do not have the adjustable components that are needed to dial you in. Either way, the track bar needs to be torqued with the vehicles weight on the ground. Also, you need to loosen and re-torque all the control arm bolts with the vehicle on the ground (Bounce the car up and down with the bolts loosened first). In some cases this will affect your total lift, but the key is to release the tension/bind in the bushings. They are in constant bind if you changed the ride height and didn’t loosen and re-tighten at the final ride height.

 

[Hoover104]

@Hoover104

This is off topic but was wondering how you like the lift? I'm looking at the same one - any particular reason to go with the springs over the spacers (and utilize the stock springs)? Thank you

Im loving the lift so far, it jacked the truck up much higher than I had pictured in my head prior to installing it. As far as the spring vs spacer thing goes I’m totally not the guy to ask lol I’m sure one of the veteran guys in here would be happy to educate us both on that. But I can say definitely that the new springs in that rc lift kit are significantly bigger and more heavy duty than stock, and for whatever odd reason in my mind that seems beneficial to me lol. Good luck picking your lift!!

 

[Hoover104]

As others have said, you didn’t really need an alignment as you do not have the adjustable components that are needed to dial you in. Either way, the track bar needs to be torqued with the vehicles weight on the ground. Also, you need to loosen and re-torque all the control arm bolts with the vehicle on the ground (Bounce the car up and down with the bolts loosened first). In some cases this will affect your total lift, but the key is to release the tension/bind in the bushings. They are in constant bind if you changed the ride height and didn’t loosen and re-tighten at the final ride height.

my kit did come with an adjustable track bar and I set that a little longer than stock to help compensate for the lift. I forget what the actual numbers were from my alignment today but it seemed at worst my toe was out of whack a couple degrees maybe? For whatever that is worth lol. That makes sense about the new stance causing the bushings to bind, I’ll be sure to go back and loosen and retorque everything.Thank you!!

 

[Mac]

What were the caster numbers from the alignment? Looked up that lift and it looks like it doesn’t have anything to restore the caster from the lift. How does it handle on the highway?

 

[Hoover104]

What were the caster numbers from the alignment? Looked up that lift and it looks like it doesn’t have anything to restore the caster from the lift. How does it handle on the highway?

not sure what the numbers were, I already threw away the sheet unfortunately. Everything was within specthough. I haven’t had it on highway yet but on back roads around 55 mph give or take it drove completely normal

Sponsored