So i took the xj in to get the front end aligned after installing my 3" lift. When i went to pick it up my mechanic gave me the run down on the condition but im not too savvy on all this so help me out. First he said my front right camber was border line at -.08*. What is camber again? lol. Then he told me my caster was way off but they adjusted it as much as they could. The left is at 4.9* and the right is at 4.7*. Is this something to worry about? What are the normal measurements for these? He told me it would probably pull right, which it does, and if it got too bad i could get get an offset ball joint. Im just trying to understand all this a little better to see where im at.

Thanks,
Zeep

 

There is no standard all vehicles will be diffrent the idea is to get as close as possible to track correctly. A good shop will get it close where did you take it? I have never heard of an offset balljoint I think he was bs'n

 

I took it to a good friend of mine but i dont think he knows much about jeeps lol

 

I have owned many vehicles with altered suspensions, had been in wrecks and such. A good align. at 50 or 60 mph should not pull you out of your lane right or left for at least 10 second any more than that it needs to be redone. Bad bushing can make it difficult to get a good reading on the rack. Even if it looked good on the rack driving it a little could move the bushings and cause it to come out of align.

 

What bushings should i be checking? The pull is pretty bad

 

The D30 is a POS with tires greater than 33x10.5 The outer C's will bend...

He's right about adjustable ball joints helping, but they cost almost twice as much or more than regular ball joints...

Rotate the tires often or the front passenger one will wear unevenly..

 

how do ball joints adjust?

 

Google works wonders, Never knew of such a thing. I think it would a little extreme for this situation. I think you should check the bushings at the control arms and have it align. again it doesn't sound like the align. job is that far off. Also check all the steering linkage ball joints and make sure they are solid.

 

Found this.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Specialty-Prod...55170/10002/-1

 

yeah, no bs, i work at a alg shop. They do make offset bj for jeeps. Caster is fine, only affects how quick the vehicl turns. Camber isn't that bad either, most sports cars call for 7-12 degrees caster and 1-2 degrees negative camber, I wouldn't worry bout camber much inless it goes positive, thats a sign of bent parts, negative could be a sign of Worn upper ball joints

 

My understanding is that the only adjustment normally available on an XJ is toe-in. Caster and camber are built into the control arm system. I did not think a 3" lift was radical enough to upset the stock caster and camber.

Hopefully, someone will correct me if I'm wrong as I just tonight finished installing a the 2" lift on my '94.

 

u can adj caster with control arms on most xjs. Just look at lower control arms and see if there is a funny shaped washer on the front of them. If there is then they are factctory adj.

 

I just got done getting my jeep aligned after i have been driving around on a 3" lift. I first took it sears. Big mistake. they tried to give me this line of bull that my jeep needed this factory only special order shim to push the lower control arms forward 1.5". I was like what?? $69 for the alignment + 50 dollars for these shims. I told them to dont touch my jeep. I then took it to les schwab and they told me that at 3" all you need to do is worry about the toe. they checked all of it and like they said, the toe was out. Adjusted it and now it drives perfect down the road. It only cost me $59.00. I guess you live and learn where to take your cars to. Not sears

 

you can do your own allignment at home! since you can really only adjust toe in/out with our cherokee unless like stated above you have adjustable ball joint's or control arms.

Once a year it is good to bring it to a shop to have them check all 3 allignment aspects but other than that a good tape measure, a friend and a nail to use a scribe and you can do it at home =]

 

Would upgrading my stock control arms help my caster issue?