Are my alignment specs acceptable?

[Roky]

Thanks Roky; I’m so glad you replied! Nothing against the other folks here - I have much respect for them - but not only do I respect you, I KNOW you personally.

Thanks again, brother!

Sure brother, no worries, I think everyone is saying about the same thing, here, not perfect, but not bad at all…Do you have a link to your exact jks kit…. Wondering if you have the kit with cam washers or just longer lcas. Teraflex fixed lcas does the same thing, pushes caster to higher side….

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[Wabujitsu]

Bad caster can cause bump steer which on a country road at moderate speed, repeated bump steer could feel like vibration.

I definitely DO NOT have bump steer.

The reason I took it to the shop to begin with is I suddenly started feeling a shimmy starting at 70 MPH when the tires warmed up. When cold, I had a shimmy upon braking from 45 MPH, which went away when warmed-up. My diagnosis was a tire was out-of-round - belt separation. The shop owner concurred. I only had about 10% usable tread left, so I bought new tires.

He also checked the ball joints; I don’t know how. He is convinced they are fine. I will dig deeper with him about that. He also found that when turning the wheel, the OEM drag link and tie rod were “clicking;” you could only hear it while underneath the vehicle, and you could see movement that corresponded to the click. The bushings/ends were worn-out. I decided to replace them with HD RockJock link and rod.

I don’t have any shimmy or vibration at any speed, now.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Sure brother, no worries, I think everyone is saying about the same thing, here, not perfect, but not bad at all…Do you have a link to your exact jks kit…. Wondering if you have the kit with cam washers or just longer lcas. Teraflex fixed lcas does the same thing, pushes caster to higher side….

Brother, I don’t know which kit it was; it’s been about four years. I don’t believe it came with cam washers, because I recall the current shop (which did not install the lift) said they added cam washers to it when I bought the Falkens from them a few years ago. I’m pretty sure it came with longer front LCAs, and, I’m certain, relocation brackets for the rear.

 

[Wabujitsu]

I forgot to mention - with the previous Falken MTs, from first day to last, I had to hold pressure on the steering wheel into the crown of the road. I was told that’s a characteristic of all MT tires - and I do remember that from previous trucks I had with MTs.

Since I had these new hybrid MTs mounted and realigned, I DO NOT have to hold pressure on the steering wheel into the crown of the road. Minus all of the bumps and divots in the road, my Jeep tracks straight, with no hands on the wheel. I do occasionally find smooth road to test that.

 

[ASSFROW]

Gary, the JKS lift kit came with the appropriate-length LCAs for the geometry of the lift kit. I would presume they are longer. No, they are not adjustable. My apologies for not pointing that out.

No need to apologize, we got to the info needed. I take back what I said about the rack. The longer control arms are the reason for the high caster. Like everyone has said, I wouldn't worry about it, keep an eye on tire wear and definitely rotate with oil changes. The off camber will cause more wear on the outside of the drivers side tires. If you do decide to reduce caster, I'd probably go with a set of adjustable uppers to rotate the axle forward keeping the wheels more centered in the "wheel wells".

 

[Wabujitsu]

No need to apologize, we got to the info needed. I take back what I said about the rack. The longer control arms are the reason for the high caster. Like everyone has said, I wouldn't worry about it, keep an eye on tire wear and definitely rotate with oil changes. The off camber will cause more wear on the outside of the drivers side tires. If you do decide to reduce caster, I'd probably go with a set of adjustable uppers to rotate the axle forward keeping the wheels more centered in the "wheel wells".

Thank you very much for your advice, Gary! I’m very diligent with tire rotations.

 

[Wabujitsu]

No need to apologize, we got to the info needed. I take back what I said about the rack. The longer control arms are the reason for the high caster. Like everyone has said, I wouldn't worry about it, keep an eye on tire wear and definitely rotate with oil changes. The off camber will cause more wear on the outside of the drivers side tires. If you do decide to reduce caster, I'd probably go with a set of adjustable uppers to rotate the axle forward keeping the wheels more centered in the "wheel wells".

Gary, would I need adjustable front upper AND lower CAs? Or just the front UCAs?

 

[ASSFROW]

Gary, would I need adjustable front upper AND lower CAs? Or just the front UCAs?

Just uppers, adjust them until your caster is in the 6 degree range. Your lowers are longer than stock, increasing caster, so adding the uppers and adjusting them longer than stock will bring your caster down. TBH, if you like the way it drives now I wouldn't do anything.

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