I don't trust any shops, but if it's free then let them look at it and then post what they found and get another opinion. A couple of things to check; are the tires balenced, is the tire pressure correct, is your steering gear box tight, is the U-joint at the top of your steering shaft tight. Check everything from the steering wheel to the tires to see if anything is loose, a 1/4" of play is alot when driving down the road.

 

I'll tell you right now what the problem is...

The lift shackles...
you removed the positive camber(wheels wanting to return to center) and now they just point whatever way the road dictates instead of returning to center strongly...you took out most, if not all of the 6* of factory caster...take off those shackes, put shorty stock ones on and see if your problem goes away....if not, ITS A CJ....its SUPPOSED to wander.....

-remy

 

I am wondering why its wandering...

 

You could get a telescoping track bar and that will help a lot.
My scrambler needed one. I have : flaming river steering column, and shaft, agr steering box and pump, new box brace, new chrome moly rods and tie ends, new chevy brake components,4" spring,1-1/2 shackle, 1" body lifts- 36"swampers, 15x14.5 rims... i still wander.
the guy i use really recommended a track bar. i took his advise and it it worked for me..

 

can you explain what a track bar is and what it does. I am not familiar with them.

Also, if my shackles are causing my camber(or is it caster) to be off, can this be adjusted or is the only way to get it back to correct to get rid of the shackles.

Tony

Thanks for the reply

 

Yes is it caster, not camber. You can either replace the shackles or figure out how much the longer shackles rotated the axle and rotate it back with some STEEL adjusting shims.

 

cool thanks.

How can I figure that out, with out reinstalling the old shackles then measuring the distance or degrees on the axles? Will this give me any negative side effects? Will this cause my front drive line to vibrate while I am in 4wd?

thanks
Tony

 

This should get you in the ballpark. Divide the differnce in length of the stock and aftermarket shackles by the distance from spring eye to spring eye. Then take either the inverse tangent or inverse sine. Then just install a shim that is the closest. You should get somewhere around 3-6*.

 

inverse tangent or inverse sine?? It seems that that would get me two different numbers?

I guess I will have to get the trig book out.

thanks
Tony

 

I was told if my wheels have any toe out they will follow any crack in the road. I turned the tie rods in some and the difference was profound! Might not be perfectly aligned now but my old cj is beyond the help of any alignment shop.

 

I too was having a wandering problem on my 79 CJ7. I originally set the toe-in 1/4 inch on recommendation of a front end mechanic. No shop in my little town can do the front end with 35 inch tires. I had the front end out installing a Detroit and set the toe-in 1/2 inch when I re-installed everything. I drove about 5 miles on the highway before I realized my knuckles weren't white and I could relax my death grip on the steering wheel. The jeep is actually fun to drive now.

 

Tony
I have a very similar setup same as you . I have replaced everything up front , tie rod ends , all that stuff . I have the HD 1/2 " rise shackles from 4WD HARDWRE .Mine did do some wandering on the road . Saturday I got my new PWR steering box put in and WOWSERS what big difference Tony . Solid feel and more stable . Feels like I added 10 steering stabilizers . My .02 .

Jeff

 

yeah could be.

When I first bought the jeep it wondered bad, then I tightened down the steering box and it was safe to drive agian.

thanks
Tony

 

Remy Dodge's post as well as the one I'm responding to are excellent. One thing I'd ad though is to take a look at the spring plates. Chances are if it's an old Jeep, one of them can be cracked and cause a whole host of problems.

 

inverse tangent or inverse sine?? It seems that that would get me two different numbers?
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If you are in the range of a few degrees, they will be close to each other. For example, 3" of additional shackle over a 36" spring will be the same angle to one decimal place which is about as accurate as you can set it to.