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Steering Issues / not returning to center

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DREAMKRUSHER

CJ-8 Member
City
CORONA
State
CA
Ok experts, I have a 1982 Scrambler it has a 4 or 5 inch Rubicon Express lift and 33" BFG M/T's. I bought it like this and I am building it for my 17 year old son. At highway speeds it was lane drifting and steering slop was an understatement. It had memory steer ( move the steering wheel one inch to the left or right while driving down the street and it will continue to stay in that position). When you make a left or right from a stop, the steering wheel will return , but not all of the way and I would have to "shuffle steer" it back to center. What I have done to it since to solve the problem at the advice of local jeep shops and such. THE FOLLOWING LIST IS ALL NEW; (PSC steering box, heavy duty steering box mount, new PS hoses, steering shaft from firewall to steering box, heavy duty drag ling link and tie rod, steering stabilizer shock, pit man arm, Spicer ball joints {professionally installed}, new poly bushings for front anti-sway bar, professionally aligned by 4-Wheel parts after all was installed. the tire PSI is fine, there is no binding, verified by several places, castor angle has been adjusted with shims under springs and is sitting at 6 degrees. Even the guys at 4-wheel parts were admiring all of the upgrades on the front end and they knew what my issues were, they still couldn't fix it. I no longer have lane drifting or steering slop, but my steering still will not return to center on simple turns and I still have memory steering. It has not been in an accident and no cracks anywhere. Please do not reply with "I have the same issues and I have learned to live with it" that doesn't solve my issues.
Thank you for your time,
DREAMKRUSHER
 
you need more caster...the pinion needs to be lower to the ground. sometimes when people install a lift they put the castor wedges in backward...they need to be placed in a manner that lowers the pinion or creates negative caster. you say you placed 6 degree wedges i would recommend 8 to 12. I had mine custom made to 12 degrees..
 
Scott, that is a question I have wondered about, initially he placed 4 degree shims, then he swapped them out with 6 degree shims, still not satisfied i had 4 wheel parts check the castor angle and they actually showed the measurements on paper, they had it at 6.25 degrees. they even said they would recommend maybe even backing off, of course that doesn't go with your advice and it goes against most who have told me it should be in the 6 degree ballpark. it is sitting at Tri County Gear in Pomona Ca. since Friday. Just worried cause no one ( I have a list of shops) seems to know how to fix it. TCG says they can fix the problem, but right now, finding someone , shop after shop has been to avail. of course most shops will tell you to "bring it in", that is running thin along with my wallet
 
of course i am right..lol..honestly you need more...i run 42" tires with 12 deg on my dana 60..it will return to center fine...you really cant get too much..the only down side to more negative caster is tire wear...but i have 30k miles on my tires with no excessive wear..
 
Disconnect the steering stabilizer and see if your return to center improves. I had to add 4 degree shims to my RE lift on my red Scrambler to get the caster/return to center correct. Worth a shot on the steering stabilizer, it won't cost you anything to temporarily disconnect it.
 
just a thought...are your tires worn...it is possible that if your tires are really worn on the edges..it could keep the tires from returning to center..
 
wow, thanks to all for the possible solutions, my tires are wearing fine, no patterns what so ever, the guy at 4 wheel parts mentioned that a shackle reversal might help, but he could not guarantee it would fix the problem,, I mentioned his possible fix to another jeep shop and they said that would help with going over bumps but returning the steering wheel to center. So I get contradictions at every turn (no pun intended). I have not tried removing the steering stabilizer, it is currently at TCG and I am awaiting a phone call. I will call him and mention the stabilizer theory along with the reverse shackle theory. but like I said, all who have seen what i have done to the jeep so far has been great, but all are still scratching their heads. These are not back yard mechanics, these are shops that specialize in jeeps. keep the solutions coming, its for all to learn, if you are in my shoes
 
A shackle reversal will only aggravate caster issues. It's always possible that the ball joint preload is too tight too.

Sent from my SM-G920V
 
The installer of the ball joints said he did not over tighten them before i took it from his shop, he said he did it to specs. so yeah, kinda at a stand still.
 
DREAMKRUSHER said:
The installer of the ball joints said he did not over tighten them before i took it from his shop, he said he did it to specs. so yeah, kinda at a stand still.
Click to expand...

You can torque them to spec, but still not be correct. You have to check the rotational torque required to turn the knuckle with an inch pound beam wrench, while the tires/steering linkage is off. I have torqued them to spec, checked the rotational torque, and had to back off of the torque to get everything right :twocents:
 
Thanks spankrjs (afraid to know the meaning behind your name), lol, I will let the guy know to check that, he said he could fix it guaranteed, so I doubt my rookie advice will be taken seriously while he checks on "everything", but if he still can't cure my issues I will mention it to him. i really do appreciate all the advice. this Scrambler is for my 17 year old boy, so he is HUA when he is driving a normal operating car, because,,he is 17 years old, so the last thing he needs is to have to over compensate for the steering problems, along with a stick shift. I have to think safety first. I have another Scrambler, but that is another project for later for me personally which I will be back on this forum asking more questions for opinions. This problem will not go away.
 
Good advice above. Welcome back Scott to being active around here...
 
It's a good idea to check the ball joints. These days just because it's new doesn't mean the parts are correct or something isn't correct inside the part. Easy to rule out.
 
I don't want to invade your thread but I'm fighting the same issue. I thought I knew what my problem was until reading your thread. I have -4 degree caster and need +6 degree caster. It sounds like you've been down this road with no success, which makes me wonder if that adjustment will fix my issue. My correction isn't as simple though. I have a hi-steer set up and if I rotate the axle more than about 2 degrees my tie rod will be into my leaf springs. Any suggestions on this issue?
 
Jammer1, JohnN, Scott, Spankrjs, McCree, Thank you guys on your advice, I have yet to get a phone call of my jeep is fixed, or even the diagnosis. I will pass on all of possible solutions/causes to TCG if he can not figure what it is. I will also lat you guys know what it was if we do get it fixed. P.S how do I get out of the basic user status.
 
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