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CAMBER questions,,,,

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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 12:20 PM
  #1  
96XJ2Door's Avatar
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From: Deep in the woods in SouthCentral Pennsylvania
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5
Default CAMBER questions,,,,

OK,,, I lifted my XJ this weekend and went outside today to have a look at the front end as someone said that my tires (at the top) are pointing out. This is POSITIVE CAMBER? Correct? And this is a non-adjustable thing? Correct?

This vehicle was never in any wrecks and was not abused as the PO was OCDabout maintenance and whatnot. So I do NOT think anything is bent.

The tops of the tires DO APPEAR to be farther apart at the top than at the bottom. I will measure when I get home.

BUT,,, if there is a difference,,, how do I "fix" this issue?

The castor is good as well as the toe.
Attached Thumbnails CAMBER questions,,,,-hampden-20121023-00315.jpg   CAMBER questions,,,,-hampden-20121023-00316.jpg  
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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 05:23 PM
  #2  
KotaKid287's Avatar
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From: Onancock, VA
Year: 1990
Model: Wagoneer
Engine: 4.0
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If it is toe'd in enough it can put enough pressure on the tires to make it look like the camber is off just like that. If the camber is actually off that far, that way, I'd have to put money on the axle being bent.
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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 07:26 PM
  #3  
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L I6
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If you haven't had it aligned yet take it in and they should be able to tell you exactly what is off. Just look for a shop that has experience with lifted trucks.
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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 07:28 PM
  #4  
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From: Ontario, Canada
Year: 1989 Laredo
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 L 6 Renix
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Does it steer and ride well? Any wobble? How much toe in (I'd run 0 - 1/8" toe in lookin at your setup) Your track bar looks good and is parrallel with your drag link so seems AOk.
Any concerns with tire wear or patterns?
If it is steering and riding well without wobble then I say run it! Once you modify anything the tell is in the performance, setting standards become guidelines and not requirements.
you have to find the sweet zone for your combination of parts.
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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 07:43 PM
  #5  
93XJLI's Avatar
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From: LI, NY
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0, bolt ons for days...
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that **** looks bent dude.
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Old Oct 23, 2012 | 11:37 PM
  #6  
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From: Barney Georgia
Year: 1991
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L HO
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Dude, if your axle was bent enough for it to affect camber, you would know it. There is no camber adjustment on solid axles, not factory anyways. Now, if the pinion angle is way off, it will look like you have a camber problem but that will be a very noticeable driveability and steering problem. Resetting the pinion angle will fix that. You need to take it to an alignment shop and have them look at it. If you do have a camber isue, you will be replacing ball joints or resetting pinion angle.
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Old Oct 24, 2012 | 07:12 AM
  #7  
96XJ2Door's Avatar
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From: Deep in the woods in SouthCentral Pennsylvania
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5
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Originally Posted by 93XJLI
that **** looks bent dude.
================================================== ===
Nope ,,, not bent ,,, I had a straight-edge on it. Its fine.

================================================== ========
================================================== ========
Originally Posted by peep
Does it steer and ride well? Any wobble? How much toe in (I'd run 0 - 1/8" toe in lookin at your setup) Your track bar looks good and is parrallel with your drag link so seems AOk.
Any concerns with tire wear or patterns?
If it is steering and riding well without wobble then I say run it! Once you modify anything the tell is in the performance, setting standards become guidelines and not requirements.
you have to find the sweet zone for your combination of parts.
================================================== =====
I ran into other things to mess with yesterday evening so I did not get a chance to mess with it. There is NO death wobble,, NO bumpsteer (and I tried to make it happen) and NO driveline vibrations up to 65 mph. It just feels,,,, well like ,,,it needs aligned. But visually it looks a LOT worse than it actually is.

I will look here for a good "recipe" to do a home alignment and see what happens. If anyone here has a real good procedure to do this and is reading this,, please chime in. I am ALWAYS open to new ideas
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Old Oct 24, 2012 | 07:19 AM
  #8  
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From: Deep in the woods in SouthCentral Pennsylvania
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5
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Originally Posted by lookin2wheel
Dude, if your axle was bent enough for it to affect camber, you would know it. There is no camber adjustment on solid axles, not factory anyways. Now, if the pinion angle is way off, it will look like you have a camber problem but that will be a very noticeable driveability and steering problem. Resetting the pinion angle will fix that. You need to take it to an alignment shop and have them look at it. If you do have a camber isue, you will be replacing ball joints or resetting pinion angle.
================================================== ===
MY thoughts exactly. It drove just fine before I lifted it. So I am guess-timating that I will redo the pinion and toe when I get home today. and order the beefier tie rod with new ends for a Grand. I might even just hit the JY and get the entire steering setup for the V8 Grand and drop it in this weekend. It is a direct swap and is much better. And also I willjust get new-better ball joints as well. As we all know it is hard to sometimes make used parts perform like new.

But keep the ideas coming,,, this fires up my thinking and leads me to new things.
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Old Oct 25, 2012 | 08:38 PM
  #9  
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From: Ontario, Canada
Year: 1989 Laredo
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 L 6 Renix
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I'd check the toe and if you have an angle finder you could take a #degrees off face of the dif cover bolt heads as a value for caster reference. If it's drivin right and you can't even induce DWobble then run her like you own her. For some caster and setup guide lines google Gojeep.com, an excellent XJ build and guideline site from Aussi, can be tough to get a link these days as some fight aobut domain name, but find the site and bookmark for references and good build ideas.
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Old Oct 25, 2012 | 09:17 PM
  #10  
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Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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Adjustable balljoints would work. But shimming the hubs is cheaper
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Old Oct 25, 2012 | 09:44 PM
  #11  
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Year: 1999
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Engine: 4.0L I6
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The pictures you posted make everything look way too slanted and crooked. I photoshopped the first one to get a better perspective.

Name:  6F8A444A-AF54-4204-9F20-61998A431F5F-17115-0000154E001C3F67.jpg
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Size:  112.7 KB

You definitely need to take that to a shop to get it aligned. With my chop it doesn't seem as bad as the original picture but still needs to be looked at.
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Old Oct 26, 2012 | 09:52 AM
  #12  
96XJ2Door's Avatar
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From: Deep in the woods in SouthCentral Pennsylvania
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5
Default

Originally Posted by peep
I'd check the toe and if you have an angle finder you could take a #degrees off face of the dif cover bolt heads as a value for caster reference. If it's drivin right and you can't even induce DWobble then run her like you own her. For some caster and setup guide lines google Gojeep.com, an excellent XJ build and guideline site from Aussi, can be tough to get a link these days as some fight aobut domain name, but find the site and bookmark for references and good build ideas.
================================================== =====
Well I found time to adjust the TOE last evening. Between the front of the tire (57.75") center of tire. And the rear (59.250"). This is measuring from the exact center of the tires. So there was a HUGE difference. I brought it to within spec that I found here and WOW !,,,what a huge difference.

This evening I plan to do the caster. I will post up the results as I find out. But the "illusion" of off camber was just that,,,when the toe was set within spec the illusion was gone.

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