Jeep Troubles JL
- Thread starter jezreelb
- Start date
duktrx
Active Member
Have you tried airing down your tires yet?
If not, here is my experience from yesterday.
I finally got my Jeep back on the road; I picked it up after installing new gears and a locker. They were kind enough to air me up to 40psi; the city has the main street torn up for infrastructure work, and every bump in the road had me jumping around. I dropped it down to 27psi, and all is back to normal.
If not, here is my experience from yesterday.
I finally got my Jeep back on the road; I picked it up after installing new gears and a locker. They were kind enough to air me up to 40psi; the city has the main street torn up for infrastructure work, and every bump in the road had me jumping around. I dropped it down to 27psi, and all is back to normal.
CalSgt
Hooked
When you're running 4" or more of lift is where the advantage goes to the relocation, the purpose is to set the track bar closer to level with the ground which results in less horizontal movement when the suspension cycles vertically also less stress on the components themselves. Most people already have an adjustable track bar or buy one when doing the relocation.
This is a suspension geometry change which could improve handling however it will not correct a "bumpy" ride as you call it.
Centering the axles under the body also will not fix a "Bumpy" ride.
I assume you are dealing with a harsh ride when you say bumpy, harsh = every bump, crack, or obstacle in the road feels jarring inside the jeep. Is this what you are dealing with?
When you hit a bump in the road does the jeep bounce for a moment afterwards?
When you hit a bump on the highway does the jeep move or shift laterally on the road?
When you hit a bump does the steering wheel feel like it wants to turn?
Does the steering wheel shake or shimmy while driving?
Things that contribute to harshness:
Tire air pressure
Tire load rating
Tire sidewall profile - 35" tire on 17" wheel will absorb more impact than 35" tire on a 24" wheel.
Stiff spring rates
Improperly valved shocks - If your springs are terribly stiff no shocks will change that, blown shocks will allow the vehicle to "Bounce" or continue to move after the suspension has cycled.
Suspension component bushings
1) Factory bonded rubber bushings (track bar and control arm) are engineered to absorb ride harshness/vibration at the cost of less articulation
2) Poly bushings are a tough affordable replacement for many bushing types but have little "give" and transfer energy into the vehicle
3) Improperly torqued bushings - If a vehicle with bonded bushings is lifted the control arm bushings should be tightened with the weight of the jeep on the suspension. If not the bushings will be under constant tension (preloaded) and may react unfavorably while driving.
I have their tire carrier and their Delta brakes. Both are great, even better than great. But some of their stuff is not what I'd buy.
jpkjeep
Caught the Bug
A rubicon with 37s and a 2.5" lift can do 99% of the trails in Moab for example.
What do you need ground clearence for? You said you don't wheel, right?
jpkjeep
Caught the Bug
After much thought, this is what you need.
1. Angry bird grill
2. 8" lift on short arms
3. 24" chrome wheels with 35" tires
4. A collection of ducks to litter with
5. A pack of Bud Light
6. A spare tire cover with something cute on it
7. Chinese lights literally everywhere
8. Subscribe to the Litebrite YouTube channel
Yes to all of this!
When you hit a bump in the road does the jeep bounce for a moment afterwards?
When you hit a bump on the highway does the jeep move or shift laterally on the road?
When you hit a bump does the steering wheel feel like it wants to turn?
Does the steering wheel shake or shimmy while driving?
I’ll try dropping them below 30!
So basically front and rear track bar relocation+adjustable is a good way to go?
CalSgt
Hooked
You complain about body roll:
Something I don't think has been brought up is the sway bars, did the sway bar end links get upgraded (or extended) with the lift? The ends of the sway bars should be as close to parallel with the ground as possible.
Does the steering wheel shake or shimmy while driving?
Free stuff -
1) Check the toe in, and pay close attention to tire wear. Excessive toe in will wear the outside edges of the tires and toe out will scuff the inside edges. It should be set toed in at about 1/16" to 1/8" max.
2) Inspect steering components. Have someone tug back and forth on the steering wheel while you inspect the steering components, you're looking for any amount of loss in motion (free play/wiggle) at the every tie rod and drag link end, the track bar ends where they mount, where the steering gearbox mounts to the frame, and where the track bar mount is welded to the frame.
3) Inspect ball joints
4) Put the stock stabilizer back on and take it for a test drive
5) Check the caster - Not enough caster will cause the wheels to want to shake, with correct caster the jeep should want to track fairly straight down the road and the steering wheel should have a natural return to center after a turn.
Costs some -
1) Replace any worn parts identified above
2) Have an alignment done, if you aren't able to do it yourself
3) Control arm geometry correction brackets or adjustable control arms to get the caster back in spec
When you hit a bump does the steering wheel feel like it wants to turn?
When you hit a bump on the highway does the jeep move or shift laterally on the road?
At 4.5" of lift you probably have poor geometry in a few places.
1) Make sure all of the steering components and track bar are tight (see above)
2) Make sure the toe and Caster are in spec
3) Make sure the ball joints are good
4) After 1,2 & 3 are good, If the jeep is still shifting/veering to one side when you hit a bump, THEN drag link flip and an appropriate track bar relocation should help.
When you hit a bump in the road does the jeep bounce for a moment afterwards?
This one concerns me...
What shocks came with your lift?
When you installed the lift did you tighten the control arms before letting it down?
1) With the Jeep on the ground loosen the control arm nuts but you don't need to remove them completely. Bounce the jeep a bit and let it settle to a natural ride height. Go back and re-torque all the control arms. This will ensure there isn't a bunch of stored energy in the bonded bushings.
2) Stand on the bumper and use your weight to get the suspension bouncing, when you stop forcing the bounce or jump off the bumper the jeep should stop within the first rebound bounce. If it continues to move (bounce), you may have blown out shocks.
And I'm out of ideas...
Thank you for your response, very informative!
The sway bar end links are stock.
The shocks that came with the lift are the Fox 2.0. Apparently that had no damper? So I switched over to the Falcon 3.3’s piggy back. It helped a bit!
The control arms were tightened!
So my next route would just be to fix suspension geometry.
4.5" of lift is a LOT of lift. Is it safe to assume you'll be installing long arms as well? If not, I would not recommend springs this tall.
jeeeep
Hooked
according to your OP you're already having issues with too much lift, what are you trying to accomplish?
I love the ground clearance.
Just a daily driver tbh. What would be vital steps to fix suspension geometry?
Adjustable control arms will only allow you to set the position of your axle, caster up front and pinion angle in the rear. It will NOT correct your suspension geometry and at 4.5" of lift, your control arms will be sitting in a very steep angle. That WILL contribute to a sucky ride on pavement.
At that height, you really want to cut your factory control arm mounts off the frame and have new ones installed further toward the center of your Jeep so that you can run long arms. That will flatten out the geometry of them and help restore a factory like ride.
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