Hey all,
I'm pretty new here, I bought my 2001 Jeep Cherokee sport only a few months ago, and its been a little more than I bargained for. I've been fighting with steering wobble for awhile now and im just finally starting to narrow it down. The Jeep has a RC 3" lift in it with RC lower control arms as well as Rugged Ridge ORV steering. Mostly everything else is stock. Last week someone gave me a tip that the front drive shaft might be a possible cause, and after a bit of research I decided to remove it. and it definitely helped a lot, but it didn't totally eliminate the issue. right now I'm waiting on a bunch of parts, firstly is some new adjustable upper control arms from Cavfab, as well as new larger tires and wheels. I really would like to get this wobble sorted out by winter and I'm running out of time. Im assuming the heavy positive caster angle may have something to do with the steering wobble, can anyone confirm that or give some insight into their experiences with a lot of positive caster? the other variable is that right now I have 1.5" wheel spacers on the front and from only, they were a quick fix to prevent my wheels from rubbing on the new steering components. I'm assuming the mismatched wheelbase isn't great for stability at highway speeds. (I know its a cheap fix, I'm 19 and I gotta save for college somehow!) if anyone has any insight into my situation or noticed something I've missed that I should go back and look at please let me know!
Thanks.

 

Too much caster can be as bad as too little in some vehicles. Seems like a good range for the XJ's is 5-7 degrees positive. That is where I would start and see what the results are.

 

Hey there.

I had my jeep front end set up and aligned by a jeep specialty mechanics shop. The castor angle was very negative and basically aligned perpendicular with the driveshaft. Before adjusting there was no wobble and now I have just a little. Will be installing a steering stabilizer.

However, there are lots of other issues you could have. How are your ball joints, front wheel bearings tie rod ends, and other linkages like control arm bushings? Guaranteed your steering box is worn too.

last, the wheel spacers can’t be helping. Also, the bigger the tire the worse it will be.

There are lots of resources on how to check all this stuff but some of it is pretty subtle. A little bit of movement from a loose connection point equals a lots of movement down the line.

 

So What exactly makes up your lift? (Coils/coil spacers, track bar, leaf springs/add a leaf/lift block/shackls) What RC lower arms do you have?(fixed, adjustable) Im not directly familiar with the RR ORV steering kit, Is it over the knuckle or under the knuckle steering? 1-ton tie rod ends?

Your castor angle should be as stated - right around 7*. Think about this like a bicycle or motorcycles front fork. They are Always angled back from vertical, this is what helps to naturally keep the wheels straight. Typically when it comes to lifted jeeps you get caught up in somewhat of a fight with 2 critical things - castor angle and pinion angle. Castor angle is important for drivability/steering and pinion angle is important for driveshaft longevity. When it comes to making these 2 things happy as you lift the jeep 1 eventually suffers and especially soo the higher you go with lift. In your case you should favor the castor angle vs driveshaft angle. I say this because for your size lift i wouldn't be soo much worried about driveshaft angle as its not going to be an issue so long as your castor is spot on.

Soo long as your front end is aligned propper i don't think those front spacers are that big a deal.

Tight and aligned components are the key. Worn out, sloppy and lose parts are the enemy! When it comes to a wobbly front end i typically check the track bar joints, bolts and mounting points. Making sure the frame isn't cracked around or under the track bar mount on the frame. Also making sure the bolt at the axle isn't loose - if the bolt has been lose and your front end has been wobbly then your mounting hole is likely stretched out. At that point i dont care how tight you make that bolt - it aint staying in place with a worn out mounting hole. When removing the bolt from the axle end, try not to rely on the threads when removing it. I've seen it happen a number of time when removing the bolt and the suspension shifts jamming the bolt to one side. Most just thread the bolt out of the bracket but that more often than not starts the stretched hole process by digging into the mount.

Long winded - my apologies. Front end shakes and wobbles never seem to be settled quickly or explained simply