sloppy steering, need advice

[hoobness]

Since elsguapo (my YJ) has been up and running since the rebuild, there have been a few kinks I still have not been able to work out.

In particular is my steering. Its pretty sloppy. I dont dare go on the highway or travel over 50 for that matter. It becomes very unstable, the steering is unresponsive for like 10 degrees of steering wheel travel, and then responds, the faster Im going the worse it is.

before I knew the limits of the handling, I was zooming up a road I have been going on for years in the jeep(before the rebuild) and some bump steer jerked it over a lilttle bit. I went to correct it only to toss myself into a back and forth fight to keep the jeep in the lane. I just slowed down and it disapeared.

It was never like that. It goes great -straight.

Here is whats going on in the front end: I swapped in Dana44s, so I have FSJ steering linkage - all the way up to the FSJ draglink. I have a YJ drop pitman attached to the YJ steering box. I have NOT had a true alignment, Ive only eyed it. I do not have a trac bar, I need to modify either the FSJ trac bar to fit to the frame, or the YJ to fit to the FSJ Dana44. I do NOT have a steering dampner, again I am trying to figure out a solution to that to.


Any ideas?

[GaryMB]

What about the condition of the steering box, steering shaft, length of shackles, condition of steering column, tire pressure, tire size, arch of leaf springs, and caster? An alignment would probably help, along with a trac bar. When you said that you were moving back and forth, was the Jeep just swerving in the lane as if from over-correcting, or did it feel like the axle was moving side to side more so than the Jeep? Any vibes? I would get the front end up in the air, check for play EVERYWHERE, and plan on installing a trac bar and having the alignment done asap. Chances are a steering damper will help as well. What are the axles out of, and have they been rotated at all in a way that would affect the caster? Poor caster would cause the Jeep to be squirly at higher speeds. Also it is just possible that you still need to adjust to the new handling characteristics of the Jeep (especially if it is lifted higher or has larger tires than before). On my CJ with 3.5" of lift and 32's, no trac bar and original steering damper, the steering wheel would be turning back and forth 90 degrees on the freeway at 70mph to correct for bumps. However, it was just slopy no matter how far I turned the wheel and would not suddenly be responsive. It was a compilation of several factors that affected this.

	Caster Caster angle is the angular displacement from the vertical axis of the suspension of a steered wheel, measured in the longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car - an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint) and vertical.

[hoobness]

the axle is from a Grand Waggy. I kept the caster the same., the shackles are 1" lifted from Rubicon Express. Yes the jeep feels like its swerving from over correction. No vibes. Not sure about the axle moving under the jeep, wouldnt know what that feels like.
The steering box and shaft were fine when they were attached to the stock Dana30 back in May. It had excellent handling for a jeep. It was tight and responsive, no slack in the wheel.
Now its like steering a boat.

	Caster Caster angle is the angular displacement from the vertical axis of the suspension of a steered wheel, measured in the longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car - an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint) and vertical.

[Bounty__Hunter]

Do you run a locker in the rear axle? This will increase the side to side movement of the front axle forced by steering input, since you run no front trackbar.

Caster shouldn't be an issue since you left it the same as the SJ. I'd concentrate on the trackbar and steering stabilizer and go from there.

	Locking Differential Provides even more traction than a limited-slip differential by “locking” the axle shafts together when the driver wants to do it. Locking differentials do not allow for wheel-speed differences and must not be used on dry, paved roads.

	Track bar A track bar is a component of a car suspension system that provides lateral location of the axle. While the purpose of the rear suspension of an automobile is to allow the wheels to move vertically with respect to the body, it is undesirable to allow them to move forward and backwards, or from side to side. It is this latter movement that the track bar is designed to prevent. It is a simple device, consisting of a rigid bar running sideways in the same plane as the rear axle, connecting one end of the axle to the car body or chassis on the opposite side of the vehicle. The bar is attached on either end with pivots that permit it to swivel upwards and downwards only, so that the axle is, in turn, allowed to move in the vertical plane only.

	Caster Caster angle is the angular displacement from the vertical axis of the suspension of a steered wheel, measured in the longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car - an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint) and vertical.