XJEEP01

Hello all,

I recently installed 2 inches of lift to the front end of my 01 cherokee. The rear was done about a year ago. I took it today to get it aligned and have a problem. In order to travel straight down the road, the steering wheel must be turned about 15 degrees off center to the left. When the steering wheel is straight, the car turns to the right. Is this a problem with the alignment? (i.e. should I take it back and have them fix something they did incorrectly?). Or is this an inevitable consequence of what I have done to the car? Can a 2 inch lift cause steering offset like this?

Thanks for any input

Gee oh Dee

Are you familiar with the steering box and pitman arm?

Connected to the pitman arm is a tie rod end. Connected to that is an adjuster sleeve.

You can center the steering wheel by loosening the seeve and backing out or taking in that tie rod, then locking the sleeve back in place.

Gee oh Dee

Here are a couple pics for reference.

The box and pitman arm are on the right, in the first pic, the adjuster sleeve on the left/middle.

The second pic is just from a bit further away.

This is of my wife's TJ Wrangler, my XJ isnt home right now. But they are virtually identical.

CheapCherokee

yeah, take that thing back to the alignment shop and tell them to fix it. that is part of an alignment. your toe and caster may be set correctly, but they are supposed to put the wheel at true center too.

megatronxj

That's what I would do.... That's part of an alignment... Take that sucker back and have them fix it

RenegadeT

that part be called the draglink...its not adjusted properly, commonly overlooked when brought in for alignment. Its especially annoying when you end up driving with blinkers on because the self cancelling feature is still waiting for the steering wheel to return to center, but you're already going straight.

Gee oh Dee

Good call. I always get dyslexic there. :/