Ok, so here’s the update
Finally got everything installed and setup. Beautifully level, and seemingly ready to travel. Until we made our first turn. We executed a right hand turn and the Jeep front wheels decided to turn left. I was watching this happen from the road walking alongside to see that everything was operating properly. I was able to jump in the Jeep and straighten the wheels, but it happened at the next turn. I stopped at this point and unhitched the Jeep.
Possible elements causing issue: please weigh in.
1. Although I just had an alignment done, they did say it was not 100% aligned due to the 33” tires and 4.5” lift. It’s pretty well aligned when I drive hands free to test.
2. The steering is a little loose, but we were doing under 10 mph in a parking lot. I would think it should track nicely in that condition. The steering wheel does move around a bit while driving, but nothing compared to death wobble or bump steer.
3. The bars on my NSA RBE 2 are really tight. The arms move smoothly in and out, but pulling the bars apart is really tight when opening from stow position to tow position. I can’t imagine that this is a problem since they should not be moving once connected anyway.
4. The lift and tires are just too much for being flat towed.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I’m getting close to the end of my rope with this Jeep, and would love nothing more than to have this setup work out.

 

I'm betting the lift and bigger tires might be absorbing the intended path and just going where it wants to go until the point of no return.. Too bad some exaggerated castor is so hard to dial in...
Maybe a tow dolly would be a better option for the circumstances...Thinking about it, most moderately lifted/ modified vehicles with offroad gear are trailered not usually flat towed...

 

maybe this will shed some light?

 

Looking at the alignment report, it seems to me that the caster may
be the problem.
You are way out of spec on that.
I think caster has a lot to do with the "tracking"
ability of an axle.
Do you have adjustable control arms?

 

My thoughts as well. How the hell do you get negative caster without something being seriously bent/broken?

 

I do have adjustable control arms. Not sure what to do with them though
i too am concerned that the alignment shop may not have been a great one! Guess I better look for another one.

 

Ah, that might explain it, then. You need to shorten the upper control arms and lengthen the lowers. That'll rotate the whole axle assembly backwards and get your caster back where it should be. With negative caster like you have now, the upper ball joints are actually slightly forward of the lower ball joints. You want the opposite.

Like this:

 

Shouldn’t the alignment shop have known all of that?

 

Well, I feel your pain on "should the alignment shop know that"... The answer is NO...lol... Unless the shop is well versed on 4wd and lift kits all they'll do is try to dial in the FACTORY specs...I figured your alignment report would show this and figured you might have non adjustable arms in my original reply..If you've got adjustable control arms that makes the castor adjustment easier just remember it's a trade off between the castor and the front driveshaft angles for vibration ..

 

But seriously, as Corky mentioned above, most shops that are just doing basic alignments either don't know how to do much other than adjust the toe or just assume you want it to factory settings. Some places will work with you if you tell them what you need (don't just tell them, write it down and give it to them) and sometimes you need to do a little handholding. I've had places that let me help them in the shop, but that's rare. I deal with this all the time when setting up my track car to non-factory specs, so I feel your pain.

 

So what info should I be writing down for them? Is there a way to find out what the settings should be for a lifted Jeep? There is a shop here that specializes in lifts and 4x4 so I’ll be giving them a visit soon. I figure you’re right, I need to explain to them what result I want. I’m not interested in a rock crawling, articulating beast. Just a reliable dinghy!

 

According to that alignment sheet, the factory caster range is +5-9 degrees, so I'd probably tell the shop you'd like it around 5-6 degrees and they'll have to adjust the control arms to get it there. I suppose there is a chance they measured the caster wrong.

 

Found this. What do you think?

 

I've gotta admit I don't know much about specific alignment specs on jeeps, other than the concepts involved. It makes sense you'd lose caster as you lift the front suspension, and it makes sense that camber would be impacted as caster angle changes with the suspension design in question here. Beyond that, I'd be curious to hear from others who have done alignment work on lifted Cherokees.

 

Use the lowers to set the wheel base to stock. Use the uppers to set caster. Like Corky said, get as much caster as you can without producing a driveshaft vibration. Camber isn’t adjustable so it’s not affected. With single adjustable arms this can be a little tough. Way too much to expect for the price of an alignment. It would certainly drive better tho. Just my opinion but 33’s and 4.5” of lift should be on a trailer.