Basic Do-it-Yourself Jeep JK Wrangler
Front End Alignment

46 Comments

1. I have a 3in Blk Diamond lift. Just got Rock Krawler front upper and lower control arms. I see that with 35 – 37 in tires that caster should be around 6-8 degrees. But I have trxus 33s right now. What would be your suggestion on caster angle. The tires are patterned and now measure 32.25 inches.

2. Toe in… I went to adjust mine after adding 35″ tires… expecting it to currently be something less that 1/8″, at least based on how I’m reading the the write-up. I was surprised to find it’s currently set to between 3/8″ and 1/2″. I’m going to set it to 1/8″, but is it reasonable for it to have been set so high stock, or am I measuring it wrong? Thanks… Ralph

3. hey Bungee, sounds like you might have bent something – maybe your tie-rod. the factory tie-rod is weak and can bend just from the forces of wheelin.

   popo343, optimaly, +6° would be nice to have but this can give you drive line vibes if you have an aftermarket shaft. +4° is bare minimum as it is what comes from the factory.

   rcibera, more than likely, you have a bent tie-rod. a slight bend can cause your toe-in to increase by quite a bit.

4. Thanks for the reply Eddie. Is it safe for now to just adjust toe-in to 1/8″ (seems to drive well after the adjustment) or do I need to worry about checking out the bent tie-rod?

5. naw, i would just make the adjustment, make final corrections with your draglink and call it a day.

6. installed 2 ome lift on 08 x jks ajustible track bars and now it feels like tires or axels wobble back and forth when hitting bump on highway

7. couple of things. first, check to make sure that your track bar mounting bolts are tightend to 125-130 ft. lbs. of torque. also, if you don’t already have adjustable upper or lower control arms installed, you might want to get a set so that you can add a little more caster. that should help out.

8. Wondering what clunking is…2008 wrangler X 8,000 miles. Over dirt/stone road I feel like a tick or play in the steering box. When parked with engine running while twisting the wheel back and forth you can feel it clunk?????? Any ideas? Dealer says it’s “common” only it was NOT “common” during the last 8,000 miles. Thanks for anyone who can help. John

9. I just found that the sway bar link that I have on the passenger side, front was bent and broke off. The tab where the sway bar connects to the front axle is bent about 45 degrees towards the center of the jeep. I will have to cut the bolt off to get it out, but worried about the tab. How can I go about straightening it without hurting it or the axle?

10. you can probably just take a pry bar to the mount and bend it back.

11. I just installed Rancho’s 4″ Sport Lift. Included is a relocation bracket for the front track bar, as well as the back. I don’t have an adjustable track bar though…So, do I still need to recenter the front axle with the relocation bracket?

12. is it recommended to set the caster for a 09 jeep wrangler with a 2″ spacer lift to correct death wobble on it?

13. Etidie, no, the relocation brackets will recenter your axle.

    dan, no, it is not necessary for just 2″ of lift.

14. Is the cam bolt fix really that ineffective? I realize i will have the same immediate results but in the long run will i really have that much of a problem with the bolts moving out of place? Adjustable control arms are alot more expensive than the simple cam bolt fix, is it worth holding out and saving up the money for the new control arms or will the cam bolts work ok and il just need to keep an eye on them to make sure they dont shift? I would love to do the adjustable control arms since it seems to be the best option but its just a big cost difference. Thanks for any advice you can offer. (2.5 inch teraflex lift with shocks and 35 inch mickey thompson mtz)

15. never said they were “ineffective”, just that if you wheel your jeep, the stresses that are placed on them WILL cause them to loosen up and move around. once that happens, your alignment will be off. now, if you just plan on driving your jeep on the street, they are very effective and will do the job just fine.

16. I have a TF 2.5″ coil lift on my Unlimited with adjustable front/rear trackbars and 35″ tires (4.5″ BS). The Jeep slightly drifts to the left and the the steering is a bit flighty (not terrible). I’m going to install TF FLCA’s. What caster should I shoot for? I’ve heard that 6-7 deg caster is too much and can cause problems with the drive shaft. I’m setting about 2.5 deg right now. Does this number change if I have an alignment shop set the angle using an alignment machine? It also sounds like I should adjust the toe in to 1/8″ as well. Do you agree?

17. i don’t know who you’ve been talking to but, if you’re still running a factory drive shaft, +6° of caster WILL NOT be a problem. factory is +4.2°.

18. hi i’ve put a 4″ lift in my 07 jk. sence then i havn’t been enjoying it as much as i thought cause i’m replacing parts like crazy. i went to my dealer an said i had a bad shake at 75km to 80km they looked and said it may be my control arm bushings? before i go ahead an buy these. could this be the problem? they cost 200 an they say it take 4.6 hours this is just nuts. thanks

19. an im running 33’s km2

20. hi richard, it sounds to me like your dealer doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. is the shaking continuous at that speed or, does it come and is so bad that the only way you can stop it is to come to a complete stop? if it is continuous, speed related shakes or shimmys are almost always a tire balancing problem and i would start there – NOT buy something you don’t need.

21. Hello Everyone,
    I have an 08 Jeep JK 4 door unlimited with a 2.5″ skyjacker lift and 33″ Mickey Thompsons. The ride is really rough. I don’t do much offroading. It’s mostly on city streets. Does anyone know who I can get a smoother ride and better handling?
    Thanks
    james

22. how much air are you running in your tires. for 33’s, you really shouldn’t have more than 30 psi. if you are running that or less, most likely the spring rate of your new coils and/or old school hydro shocks are giving you a harsh ride.

23. Hello,

    My ’07 JKU is bone stock, except for 33″Cepek Crushers on Cragar Soft 8s. I have developed a rattle and flighty steering. Steering stabilizer is toast and there’s significant play in my tie rod. Are my TREs causing this? I’m still (barely) under warranty at 34.5 K. Should I expect any trouble from the dealership in getting new TREs? (I’ll be upgrading to a beefier aftermarket SS, since the stocker seems to be a weak point anyway
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks.
    Mike

24. if nothing else was added or changed before your jeep started to get flighty, i might check your ball joints. more than likely they have gone out as it’s a common problem. as far as your tie-rod goes, what would you consider significant play? so long as the movement it rotation and not up and down or forward to back, it should be fine.

25. what steps do i need to do with a general tire alignment,not caused by a putting on a new lift or tires?

26. if you have not installed lift, you shouldn’t need an alignment unless you did damage to your suspension/steering.

27. i have rc 2.5 coil lift and tires put on about a year ago and i had a alignment done when i got my tires…its just pullin a little to the left

28. Eddy, my question, would a track bar relocation bracket in the front do a good job centering the axle? why most kit sold with the rear bracket only?

29. you cannot install a front track bar relocation bracket unless you install a dropped pitman arm or drag link flip kit at the same time. if you do not, your track bar and drag link will no longer be parallel to each other and this will create handling issues. the rear end of your jeep does not have anything like steering components to deal with so nothing more is needed other than a relocation bracket.

30. Hi Eddy,

    First, thanks for all you do with this cite, it provides us newbies with hope we can actually work on our Jeeps without the tires falling off in the process. My question concerns whether to purchase upper/lower or both control arms. I recently installed a 2.5 BB and 35’s, and have experienced the steering shimmy and flightiness discussed here and elsewhere. I’ve read that adjusting caster is not (likely) necessary with just 2.5 in of lift, but at 3-4 inches, it seems that caster adjustments are necessary. Given that I just added 3in larger tires and 2.5in of lift, am I crazy to think that I’ve, in effect, created approx 4in of lift? And the need to adjust the caster angle? Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this?

31. with a 2.5″ BB, you should not need additional caster but, adding more may help your handling. all you need are adjustable uppers or lowers to do this. uppers are cheaper by a bit but lowers are much easier to install.

32. Thanks Eddie. Since I’ll be doing the work myself, I’ll be going with the lower control arms for simplicity sake. One more question. Do I need to install the LCA’s in both front and back to adjust the caster angle? Or are FLCA’s sufficient? Thanks again.

33. you just need the fronts.

34. Eddie, I have a 2dr Jk and I have some angle issues. I have this weird flightiness to the right ONLY when acceleration (2800-3000+) in the steering wheel. But when I release the gas, it retracts to it’s original position or the vehicle jerks to the position that the wheel is held at. The best example I can think of is, a torque steer on a fwd car and floor it. Now, the 3.8 doesn’t have enough power to lift the front wheels off the ground so I figure it’s a caster issue. I started my caster at factory spec 4*or then worked my way up to 7*-8*. Still have the issue and it really mostly to the right. I checked the track bar it seems tight (doesn’t really say much). I also noticed my bump stops are rubbing the coils (the right on is toward the back of the coil, and the left is toward the front of the coil).. I’m about ready to bring it to the professional and make up a story that some idiot put the lift in… please help.

    MIke

35. do you have c gussets installed and if not, have you checked to see if you have any camber on your wheels? also, depending on what kind of tires you have, a pull to the right is kind of common. a lot of people refer to it as radial pull.

36. ya I don’t have any gussets installed… actually I’m kind of waiting for the axles to break so I actually have a reason to buy the dana 60’s. I have 315/75r16 Destination M/T’s on it…and I have heard of radial pull but never really experienced it… I’ll bring the jeep down to my alignment guy and put it up on the rack… it could be the C starting bend… If you have any other suggestions let me know … thanks

37. I have been contimplating installing 1.5″ hub spacers (by sidertrax)to the stock hubs to allow for clearance of 33 x 12.50x 18 tires without adding a lift. 2 questionns…. Will these add undue stresses on the lugs and 2. Will it throw off the factory alignment

38. no and no 🙂

39. Hi there thanks for this! I have one question though. Do you have a round about measurement the toe in should be factory? Like when you measure the “backside” of the tires inside to inside what should that measurement be with 35/12.50/17 tires? any idea. I hope you understand what i mean.

40. your toe should still be about 1/16″-1/8″ of an inch in.

41. I just installed a 3″ BDS Suspension lift on my 2011 JK 4-door Rubicon. It rides like a dream and steers as straight as an arrow. However, The front axle is off center an inch on the drivers side over the passenger side. Do I need to get a adjustable track bar to realign? The back alignment is fine as the kit came with a track bar relocation bracket.

    Thanks

    Erich

42. yes, you will need an adjustable track bar to correct this

43. Okay cool. Appreciate the Info. One last question. I know I’ll need to to realign the steering wheel after the adjustable front track bar is installed, but will I need to get a wheel alignment?

    Again, thanks!

    Erich

44. I have a question, just installed a 4 inch teraflex lift using the write up on here. I set my castor to 6 and it drove horrible. I contacted teraflex and Joe said it should be in the 3.2 to 3.5 range and that 6 was way too much. I did this and it drove a lot better. Overall no real dartiness or flightiness and only a slight vibration above 75mph (which I’m chaulking up to it being my driveshafts which are aftermarket). My question is using the length on the write up for the control arms it puts the castor at 3.2 so should I push it back out to 6 or leave it. The two seem to contradict one another and I just want to be sure that I have of set to where it should be. Thanks in advance for your reply.

45. Eddie,

    Would my toe-in be set to 1/8in with 37s? I had 35s with 1/8in toe-in and have gone to 37s. Since I haven’t made any toe-in adjustment for the 37s wouldn’t I now have too much toe-in, since the diff from front/back would not be > 1/8in?

    Thanks,
    Chip80

46. Meant to say diff front/back would NOW be > 1/8in?