99 XJ, 4WD, 4.0L
Mild 2" lift, on 235s

I've had the front alignment done after the install of all the tierod ends a while back....aprox 2 yrs.
It has a redhead steering gearbox in it.
Issue... I seem to have to slightly keep pressure on the steering wheel to keep it from tracking of the road to the right. Even on roads that do not appear to have much if any crown builtin.
It just recently developed a small seeping leak from the high pressure side line fitting at the gearbox. (pwr steering pump seems to be just fine no signs of wear, was replaced a couple years ago too)
I never hit anything in the road... I'm a pretty careful driver most of the time...especially on my 21 year old girl...
When I noticed the leak, when investigating, I also noticed that the tierod end that is AT the pitman arm had actually split the boot. I have no idea what could have caused that to happen.

I have the leak and tie rod end fixed at this time...but with still noticing the slight pull, am I putting a bit of undue strain on the pwr steering system? and the slight extra pressure over time caused the damage?
Not sure what to look at next as a culprit. Any thoughts or experience with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

seriously... no one has heard/seen this? No ideas?
I find this a little surprising on here... everyone has an opinion LOL..... help a brother out here please

 

Why not do a quick alignment check yourself? I set mine at 1/16" toe in. Took it to my friend's frontend shop who set it at zero tow in.

 

If it's drifting right and wasn't after the work was initially done then either something slipped adjustment, which hardly seems possible, or one of the components is failing prematurely. Can you feel any play at either of the front wheels or see any of the joints working (truck jacked)? If not, then an alignment to confirm tracking is needed. How does the tread look on the right front tire? It would be worn more on the inside if out of alignment. While the front end is up spin both wheels. Maybe you have a brake or bearing on the right side inhibiting rotation. It might even be a brake or bearing on the right rear causing the pull to the right.

 

Well... I did have the front end up..and did test for play... didn't have any at the time I checked which was maybe a week ago at this point. I can do another "old school" check on the alignment soon an see if the right side is sitting toed out noticeably.
I don't think that's my issue, but I'm certainly willing to rule it in/out again to confirm.

 

..oh... and tread looks fine... Dont think I have a brake dragging or anything...but will check that too. I don't assume anything because I know what ***/u/me spells...

 

One other thing you can check is the torque angle. That's the alignment of the rear axle in the body. This is usually only off if you have a spring center bolt broken that allows the axle to move on the spring. On ZJs and WJs it can be caused by bad lower control arm bushings or a bent control arm, but normally doesn't effect XJs.

I had a major problem with death wobble in my WJ after replacing every suspension part in the front end. Turned out to be a worn out spline on the pitman arm! Who would have thought?

 

yeah I've got to get to the bottom of this.... no death wobble... fixed that a few years ago with all new suspension bits...
The box doesn't leak and it's a RedHead...so don't think that's the root cause, also because it doesn't wander all over the road back and forth... just that slight drift to the right that I constantly have to keep corrected... even on roads that don't visually appear to have much or any of a crown to them.
With new tie rod ends, track bar, steering box... all with less than 8k on them... any other thoughts?
To my knowledge and when I put the new tie rod end on that is at the pitman arm..I did have the front end off the ground and tested for play at each wheel and didn't detect any at that time that would indicate that being the root cause.

 

oh... and will double check...but don't think I've got anything broken on the rear. Just about year and a half ago put on new hd leaves and longer shocks for the mild 2" lift. And all was in good nic then. My XJ is pretty clean underneath for its age.

 

Had a super similar problem with mine last week (also redhead box and 2" lift and all new front suspension!). Ended up being that my RF tire had a leak and was lower PSI than the LF, causing it to pull. Check your tire PSI!

 

Opposite side brake caliper might be bad. Check with an IR thermometer to see if there is a significant temp difference in the calipers.

And ditto on the air pressure problem. Mine has been pulling right, but I had my fill size spare with a Wrangler wheel, so I thought it was the different offset. Then I got the right wheels/tires on, swapped sides, and my right pull was worse. I only had 24 lbs air in the right, 33 in left. Got everything back to 33 and now has a slight right pull. Brakes are running same temp.

Checking more tomorrow.

 

Yeah.. that was the first thing I checked. No slow leaks in the tires... I wish I had gotten off that easy...lol.

 

thanks.... I don't have an IR thermometer on hand...but did rotate with the front end off the ground a little bit, didn't "feel/hear" any noticeable dragging.
Unless I've got components failing on me... which would really tick me off considering I replaced all tie-rod ends about 3 years ago and have only put about 7500 miles on her since then.
Had her offroad a few times, but nothing major...a few trails that didn't even require engaging the front axle to get through.

 

It still sounds like something is going on with that side's tire/caliper/wheel bearing, you could try rotating the tires and seeing if it goes away

 

Mine went away this morning when I bought a pair of used tires, Firestone Winterforce P225-75R15, and everything is back to tracking straight. Doesn't even drift right when brakes applied.

Downside, I just discovered, they are a directional tire. So shouldn't swap side to side, iirc.

Anyway, uneven wear on your front tires can make a pronounced pull to one side. And mine still did it when I swapped the old tires around.