Went and got an alignment done in my 2000 sport tonight and they said the thrust angle is out. The print out shows 0.51*. Is this anything to worry about and/or what do I do to fix it?



Here's the printout they gave me. The front is all good. They just said it'll dog track. I just don't know how bad it will be.

 

Since you have a 3" lift you may need to get an adjustable track bar or relocate the mounting hole for the track bar to bring the axles back in line with each other.

 

To my knowledge, there is only a track bar in the front right? The rear only has a sway bar.

 

True, but a stock track bar up front will pull the front axle off-center to the driver side. Comparatively, the rear axle will be "to the right" even though it's centered by the leaf springs.

That COULD be the problem. I'm not terribly familiar with alignment machines

 

There is only a track bar in the front, but the thrust angle would be relative to the front axle. If the axles are not centered, the effective thrust angle at the rear could be off.

Alternatives to this issue could be damaged/bent control arms or worn out control arm bushings.

 

So an adjustable track bat in the front would "realign" the front axle to where the rear is and bring the thrust angle closer to 0*? And how would I know when they are aligned or would whoever is doing the alignment be able to center them?

 

Correct. I trimmed the fenders on my XJ, so I was able to measure from the cut fender to the outside of my 33s. I adjusted my Iron Rock Offroad double shear track bar (highly recommended) until the tire stuck out the same amount on each side

 

This might help you visualize.

 

Sweet. My passenger side tires a little farther inward than the drivers I've noticed after getting the alignment.

I read on here that an adjustable track bar really isn't needed until you get to 4". Some say use a relocation bracket or still the bracket. I'm definitely not gonna drill it and I'm not sure how sturdy a bracket would be. So I'll probably end up going with an adjustable track bar to do it right.

 

There are a lot of people who say it isn't needed at 3", but you can see that isn't the case. Even if you didn't NEED a new track bar, your stock steering/suspension are worn out. The XJ setup wasn't designed to last 15 years without maintenance.

A new track bar will help your alignment, your stability, and your steering.

 

Yeah, they're fairly inexpensive anyways. Looks like that's the next thing on the list of projects