Need help with CJ-7 Tracking Problem.

I bought a '78 CJ-7 that was very clean but had a poorly installed lift kit and very tall shackles and drove very badly. We replaced the tall shackles with some standard length heavy duty greasable ones plus a modified pitman arm. It drives much much better but does not track straight when viewed from behind.

Spring perches are not bent and front and rear frame horns do not APPEAR to be bent or twisted. One of the reasons I bought this one was that it was not beat up on the underside at all. What should I look for and what can be adjusted to correct this?

Thanks, Kent

[upalittle]

It sounds like your rear axle has to be cocked at an angle for some reason. If the frame's straight it has to be something in your springs or spring hangers some way.

[lomodyj]

Check to make sure the centering pin on the springs is the same on both sides...unlikely but They could be off center to give more wheel base and one of the springs could be in backwards and be twisting your axle.

[Olin18]

Just throwing this out there, I don't mean to insult.
How are the wheel bearings, ball joints, steering links?
Does it have a track bar and a sway bar on the front.
when I got my CJ the PO had taken the front track bar off. If all the steering connections are tight take it in and see if the alignment is off. If you have done that much work around the front axle I would not be suprised if it is off a little bit.

I'm going to do some carefull measuring to try and find exactly where the problem is located. I suspect you and LOMODJY are correct in that something may not be quite right with the rear. As noted in my first post some of the things that have been done were poorly done. The more I look the more it the more it appears that the lift kit pieced together rather than a kit from a single manufacturer. For example the front Rancho shocks are the correct length but the rear shocks are much too short (they are at full extension with the Jeep just sitting there). The front and rear springs appear not to be well matched as it sits much higher in the back than the front. So, anything is possible.

Kent

Olin18: No offense taken, I'm certainly not the expert here which is why all the questions. All steering joints are tight. No track bar but I didn't think the CJ's came with one since the springs locate the axle laterally.

With all the spring trouble I am having I'm thinking about just tossing those and going with a brand new set of springs. I'm thinking about some of the Diamond Back easy ride springs, any opinions on those?

Later, Kent

A quick measurement to make is measure the distance on each side from wheel cent to wheel center. They should be the same. If not, find out who is off. You do this by measuring from the axle to a fixed point on the frame. Once again it should be the same.

However, based on what you noted, it most likely is the springs. If you think your going to swap them out, you might want to consider doing an SOA with stock wrangler springs. It will give you the most lift with the best ride for the least amount of money...but you will need to do a little welding (like shock mounts).

DDawg16: After I got home my son and I took our highly accurate Home Depot tape measure and did some measuring. Center to center on the axles based on our suspiciously accurate system appears to be in the ball park but we did find that the rear axle was shifted to the left by 1/4" and the front axle was shifted to the right by 1/2". Nothing appears bent but closer inspection is in order.

Any ideas on how to correct this? Also as I noted in my earlier post some of the things done to this jeep were poorly done and when we took off the super tall shackles we found another one. This thing has a 350 chevy with some sort of saddle mount arrangment that hangs well below the engine and now the pinion housing is smacking that saddle mount cross member as there is only about 1 1/2" clearance.

Anybody have any recommendations on motor mounts for a small block chevy in a CJ-7? Thanks

[Jim_Lou]

While you have your HD tape warmed up, measure from a central point at the front of the frame, like the body mount bolt under the grill, to right rear and to left rear. A difference means that the back axle isn't square with the frame, and that will make it crab down the road.

Do what Jim says....and if everything seems right...then it might just be time to ditch those springs.
First...the engine. Some of the SBC (Small Block Chevy) retrofits used that type of motor mount system. I'm in the process of doing an SBC conversion and I'm using mounts from Novak. The weld to the frame. In your case, the crossmember is most likely a bolt on setup. Based on what you have told us so far, it sounds like the PO was your typical backyard, bolton kind of guy....he is probably driving a big lifted Chevy now with "Chevy Rules" stickers bolted on it.

To do the motor mounts properly, you will have to jack up the engine, remove the crossmember and weld in the new motor mounts. Make sure you get your engine offset right...you need to be about 1 1/2" towards the drivers side.

As for suspension...bad rubber could cause your existing shackles to have enough lean as to cause the axle to be offset a little. Try measuring from the inside wheel to the spring pad. It should be the same on both side. It would not surprise me if the leaf spring pins are missing.

Regarding measurements....when it comes to frame and suspension alignment, 1/4" can be a big deal. Ball parks can be quite large. When you measure, try to measure to known hard points...such as the front and rear axle tubes.

Let us know what you find.....you don't by any chance have any pics of the rig before you made changes?