I bought my 2000 Cherokee a couple weeks ago with a 2" lift consisting of spacers and shackles. It has had a slight pull to the right since I picked it up. I had it aligned the other day and the mechanic said he set the toe and maxed out the caster adjustment on the lower control arms.

The problem is it still pulls to the right, a little less than before but still pulls right. He suggested picking up some adjustable lower control arms if the problem bothered me otherwise I could leave it. He wasn't pressuring me at all into buying anything, even suggested checking the internet for them so I don't think he was trying to scam me.

I have already rotated the tires and checked the pressure before the alignment. That didn't help obviously so I went ahead with the alignment.

Does this sound right with only 2 inches of lift? Did the mechanic mess up or know what he was doing? Should I buy some adjustable lower control arms or just leave it?

 

what kind of tires are you running?

 

did you realign the track bar? wait that would make it pull to the drivers side I think

but Caster would not really make the jeep pull...

try these... do them in this order

http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoTrackbar.htm

http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAlignment.htm

 

Here is the thing with a solid axle. There is little to no adjustment besides setting toe with the tie rod, and straighting the steering wheel with the drag link.

There is a little bit of adjustment on XJs with the shims but its pretty minimal. With adjustable CAs you can futher adjust the axle cause it allows you to adjust caster.

Caster is how mechanics get a vehicle to drive straight without wearing out the tires. A solid axle will always want to try and follow the curve or crown of the road.

 

30x9.5x15 BFG All Terrians

Nice write ups, I might try the shim and see if that helps.

Thanks for the advice. I was just surprised that the mechanic couldn't get it to drive straight with only a 2" lift.

 

What did the mechanic set the toe at? At 2" if the Mechanic maxed the control arm shoe out, he went way too far, should need a max of an 1/8" shim, ussually NO caster adj is required. Are your brakes dragging? Are you tires inflated evenly and to the correct pressure. If the road in your area are steeply crowned the Jeep will tend to drift right. Check the LCA shoe setting the Mechanic set to, are both side set the same? They should be. If they adjusted the track to be equal left to right, it will cause a pull to the right.

 

MOST mechanics Can Not and will Not set the alignment correctly on any lifted/lowers vehicle. See they are required to set to original factory specs, leagal and liability issues. Factory specs will not work after a lift or lowering. Do your own alignment, if you can read a tapemeasure you can do it.

 

yeah, like said above it could be a sticky brake ie a calliper or something.

 

If your alignment is on, it could be a radial tire pull. I've seen it many times but mostly cheaper tires not bigger brands like bfg, but it's possible.

 

I'm just going to throw this out there, since it happened to me and I suppose it could be a possibility for you as well.

I took my Jeep to get it aligned after I lifted it and I only found out some time later that they hadn't actually done anything other than align my steering wheel for $55. It didn't really pull to begin with, so I really had no way of knowing. I figured it out after going too long without rotating my tires. When I did rotate them, it pulled so bad that it was nearly undrivable. After getting it aligned again (this time by a friend who is a mechanic) it drives better and I picked up 1 mpg.

Again, not saying this is your problem, just that it's possible.

 

Thank you all for the comments so far.

I have already rotated the tires and checked tire pressure the previous weekend. I rotated the back tires straight ahead and crossed the fronts out to the back.


Now that you mention that when I put new pads on the front I did notice the right wheel was a little difficult to spin like a locking hub was engaged. (I don't recall spinning the left one though. ) I thought that was "normal" since there are no locking hubs. Aren't the wheels always turning the front axle causing drag? Should they spin freely easily as in a few turns when spun by hand? Please excuse my "newbie" Cherokee questions, I'm used to 4x4's having locking hubs like my Cj.

I'll try raising the front end and spinning both wheels this time and compare them sometime soon, weather and work permitting.

Again thanks for the help.

 

its completly dependant on the shop policies. there is no law stating about where to set alignment specs. mechanics who are not familiar with how a lifted/lowered vehicle should handle will often use factory specs as a guideline when aligning.

ANY offroad shop should be able to handle a solid axle alignment without an issue.

 

Ok, I did some more investigating on the Cherokee today.

The mechanic put 1/8" shims on the passenger side lower control arm. The left side has no shims.

Rechecked tire pressure, all tires were at 32 psi, rotated the front side to side. Still no change. I added about 6 pounds of air to the passenger side tire (38 psi) and took it for a drive. Drives almost straight now. Should I leave the one tire inflated a little more than the others or look into adjustable control arms, relocating the drag link or is there something else?

I also jacked up the front end and spun both wheels....same drag on both as the whole axle shaft and driveshaft spun with each wheel. Pads are new on the front also.

 

Good call on getting the shims put in for the caster adjustment. People say you can't adjust the alingment for a pull with the caster because it's a solid axle. That's not 100% true. I had the same exact issue you have. I had a pull to the left. No shims on either side. I shimmed the drivers side shim only and got rid of the pull all together. It actually tweeked the front. If you notice too, adding caster actually raises the jeep slightly on that side when doing that. Only about 1/4 inch or so but it does. The problem you are having is, your tire pressure is too high and you're rolling/drifting on the center part of the tire. That is too high of a pressure. The Jeep is too light for that pressure. I ran 30's when I 1st started too and did the same thing. Pumped them up like the manufacturer stated on the door panel sticker but that is for the stock size tire. Lower then to about 28 lbs on road and you'll eliminate it. You'll also notice that your Jeep rides ALOT softer on road as well. Don't be scared to run lower pressure than the sticker says. I just got 32's and I have to run them at 25lbs in order to drive correctly. Goodluck!

 

I'll try lowering the tire pressure tomorrow to 28 psi and see what that does. I'm just a little scared about mpg after checking my first tank of gas and getting 12 mpg......but I did warm up the Jeep quite a few mornings. Gotta love that aftermarket remote start on cold mornings.