Suspension Q's

[eurobob]

Last year, I threw in a Currie 9" into my TJ and went to the Currie triangelated suspension. I also did the Ford shock tower mod and put in a 4:1 kit into my tcase. The road manners changed dramatically. I always attributed it to the detroit in the axle, but this weekend, someone mentioned that he thought my suspension was sloppy.

The symptom that prompted the comment was the TJ's desire to wander particularly under acceleration/deceleration. Swaybar has no effect, but tire pressure does.

Any clues as to what I might look for?

(BTW, I hosed my rear shocks this weekend and it didn't effect the "symptom" at all. Gotta redo the shock mount before I put new ones on. )

[Jerry Bransford]

What is your front axle's Caster angle? If it's too low, like much under around 5.5 degrees, you'll get severe wander and unstable steering.

[eurobob]

I'll dig out the numbers from the alignment. Don't know if it's typical, but at constant speed, there's no wandering. I do have lots of body roll and that seems to be an effect at times.

[JEEP_TJ_FREAK]

I wouldn't think mixing stock length and Curries mid length control arms to be a great combo. I haven't ever thought about it but if you force the front end to lift under acceleration you will loose caster. This could be your issue but it might also be solved with a simple alignment.

[Robert J. Yates]

Originally posted by eurobob
The symptom that prompted the comment was the TJ's desire to wander particularly under acceleration/deceleration. Swaybar has no effect, but tire pressure does.

Check your steering box for 2 things - loose bolts at the frame mount and leaking at the sector shaft seal. At one point, I had a similar problem and upon checking the steering box, I found it was quite loose at the mount. I pulled the bolts, added loctite and torqued them to spec and the problem went away. A box wiht a trashed seal means the sector shaft is shot which will also cause a wandering sensation.

Check the toe setting on your fornt tires - a zero toe will also cause wandering. Its better at 1/8th inch.

Check your front trackbar. It should be tight at the frame mount and whatever joint you are using (heim, cartridge,ball) should be in good working order.

[Stu Olson]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates

Check the toe setting on your fornt tires - a zero toe will also cause wandering. Its better at 1/8th inch.

Check your front trackbar. It should be tight at the frame mount and whatever joint you are using (heim, cartridge,ball) should be in good working order.

Experienced problems with both of the above issues in the past and they certainly do affect handling on the highway. (and the 1/8" value is toe-in, not toe-out).