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Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more....

COJeeper

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You get a free crappy handling Jeep with every lift! :LOL: You get an even more awesomer (Jeeps already look pretty awesome) looking Jeep that handles about just as good as stock!!! :like: 😍🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

I don't know, it looks great. I'm very happy with how it turned out from a visual standpoint. However, I could get that look from a Rough Country $10 lift. I'm quite frustrated about the feelings of imminent death that I have when driving down the road, mostly when the wheel has any pressure on it, and I hit any sort of bump. It's fact, I'm going to die next week driving 2.5 hours to a trailhead. If you don't hear from me after March 25, I'm dead.

The install went pretty well! We spent about just over 5 hours with four of us installing. One, my cousin, is a mechanic at a stealership and installs Rough Country lifts a couple times a week for the past 5 years. My cousin knew exactly what wrench and socket we needed for each part. The only thing he didn't absolutely know was torque specs because they just "crank it down". I made sure we used the torque specs in the Clayton instructions where we could.

Now the down side, the whole thing about imminent death. It's okay at best going straight and running about 25psi cold, up to 26 psi warmed. The steering wheel likes to shake for fun, I think of it like Shakira's hips. The Jeep absolutely tracks straight which is really nice. I took it for a $162 alignment and they were like, it didn't really need much of anything, but they still charged me $162, I guess they did put in the time. When I'm driving at any speed above 40mph and I have even the slightest pressure on the steering wheel for a curve and then hit any sort of the tiniest bump, it's no bueno. So, I had the 37s on the Jeep before the lift since January, no issues at all. It definitely drove slightly different but I went from 33s to 37s so, no duh. I still felt 100% confident in the steering/handling of the Jeep though, even at 90. I haven't taken it through the huge construction areas on I25 in CO yet with the lift and I'm very concerned to, honestly. I guess at this point, I'm crossing my fingers because I can't just not drive anywhere, hope I don't kill someone. My recommendation, stay away from a blue Jeep in CO if you value your life.

My alignment shows the Caster at 5.46 and 5.61 degrees. The Clayton instructions say 4.8 +/- 1 degree so I'm within spec there.

I found a couple of these threads that I'll go through, I hope I can resolve the issue.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ble-an-algorithm-to-diagnose-the-issue.62313/

jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/aev-steering-stabilizer-review-completely-solved-my-wobble.84238/









Also tagging @claytonoffroad to see if maybe they've seen this before and have any suggestions. I really want to love it but I don't look forward to dying in a fiery Jeep crash killing my passengers and poor dog who never wears a seatbelt.


Here's my alignment paperwork. I don't know whether the specs on the JK and JL are different but the paperwork shows I have a 2016 JK when I very clearly told them it's a '22 JL, maybe that doesn't even matter because specs are the same but something interesting worth noting about poor shop QA.


Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... C837669B-DD28-4571-8259-E0C3E5D7F1EC
Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... A72BE73F-BDC4-4709-8BE5-67387E813378
Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... E209D427-1F99-4BED-9ABB-F8951229D376
Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... 0AA4046B-4488-4044-93CF-7627A556A040


Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... B5543CD1-013A-462D-AAC8-0481FF14488F
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Ball joints and/or track bar probably need upgraded to handle the geometry changes. Here's my ball joints out of my '22 with under 3k miles on them and only like 3 or 4 wheeling trips with stock wheels and tires and suspension.




They floppy. IMO, toss in some Dynatracs or Teraflex joints as a next move.
 

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I'm no expert by any means. from what I've learned start with checking torque specs on everything. and that link is a great place to start diagnosing the issue. Did you upgrade your tie rod/drag link as well? The introductions of 37's expedites the wear of the factory bushings and now with the lift it's adding more stress on those other points. I'm waiting on my lift, I went ahead and ordered all new steering components out of fear of what you're going through.

keep us updated on your findings.
 
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COJeeper

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Ball joints and/or track bar probably need upgraded to handle the geometry changes. Here's my ball joints out of my '22 with under 3k miles on them and only like 3 or 4 wheeling trips with stock wheels and tires and suspension.



They floppy. IMO, toss in some Dynatracs or Teraflex joints as a next move.
Thanks man! I'm looking into these right now! Yikes! Can I borrow $700? 😄 The Teraflex are only $300, is it worth the double cost to go with Dynatacs do you know? I don't even know what a ball joint is, I just started looking up cost. I'll be using my googlefu skills to see what these things actually do, how to remove them, and check to see how much play they have.
 

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Thanks man! I'm looking into these right now! Yikes! Can I borrow $700? 😄 The Teraflex are only $300, is it worth the double cost to go with Dynatacs do you know? I don't even know what a ball joint is, I just started looking up cost. I'll be using my googlefu skills to see what these things actually do, how to remove them, and check to see how much play they have.
I ran Dynatracs on my last Jeep (a JK) for 70k mi with 35s and 37s after chasing wobble for about 10-20k mi. I also upgraded to the Dynatracs on my JL prior to bouncing to 37s. The big advantage with Dynatracs is you can rebuild them without removing them from the axle C. They're stupid expensive, but also stupid high quality. The Teraflex are also pretty nice, but not as feature rich as the Dynatracs - you gotta press them out when they wear out, though you can tighten up their fit as they wear over time with some tools. Either one would be amazing compared to the stock crap, just depends on how much you want to spend.

Ball joints attach your knuckle to the axle and are the part on which your steering knuckles pivot when you steer. If there's play in the joints, you can (not necessarily will) get steering wobble. Generally speaking, for any larger size tire, IMO one would be wise to upgrade ball joints, trackbar, and steering linkages (the rod ends on the stock steering linkages suck and are similarly floppy). I also like a front trackbar bracket that raises the trackbar a bit so it's at a flatter angle, but I'm in the minority on that one around these parts. Used to be super common with JKs and older Jeeps.
 

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I'm no expert by any means. from what I've learned start with checking torque specs on everything. and that link is a great place to start diagnosing the issue. Did you upgrade your tie rod/drag link as well? The introductions of 37's expedites the wear of the factory bushings and now with the lift it's adding more stress on those other points. I'm waiting on my lift, I went ahead and ordered all new steering components out of fear of what you're going through.

keep us updated on your findings.

I did not upgrade any steering components but planned on doing it eventually. This crap's expensive! 😲 I think I torqued the track bar NOT under vehicle load. When I was talking with Clayton, I'm pretty confident they said only the control arms need to be torqued under load. How we did that was just jack up the axel until the vehicle body started rising, that's technically the suspension under load, then we torqued. I'm going to get under the vehicle and have my wife move the steering and see if I can see anything loose as well as check my ball joints. Hopefully I get it resolved. Right now, I'm not feeling too comfortable about driving 2.5 hours to a trail then 2.5 hours back for a Jeep club run this weekend.
 

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Thanks man! I'm looking into these right now! Yikes! Can I borrow $700? 😄 The Teraflex are only $300, is it worth the double cost to go with Dynatacs do you know? I don't even know what a ball joint is, I just started looking up cost. I'll be using my googlefu skills to see what these things actually do, how to remove them, and check to see how much play they have.
I wouldn't jump straight there, yours are so new, there are other things I'd look at first.

Break out the torque wrench and check all the track bar and control arm bolts. Check the jam nuts on the same stuff.

Make sure your drag link adjuster is tight, it's what you would have used to straighten the wheel.

EDIT: Mopar specs and wrench sizes on one page:
Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... 1679410556700
 

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Looks like toe in is a little heavy, a couple extra pounds of pressure in the tires may help a little.

@Roky is a good resource on the alignment stuff.

Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... 1679410704602
 

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I did not upgrade any steering components but planned on doing it eventually. This crap's expensive! 😲 I think I torqued the track bar NOT under vehicle load. When I was talking with Clayton, I'm pretty confident they said only the control arms need to be torqued under load. How we did that was just jack up the axel until the vehicle body started rising, that's technically the suspension under load, then we torqued. I'm going to get under the vehicle and have my wife move the steering and see if I can see anything loose as well as check my ball joints. Hopefully I get it resolved. Right now, I'm not feeling too comfortable about driving 2.5 hours to a trail then 2.5 hours back for a Jeep club run this weekend.
Trackbar absolutely needs to be torqued under load, at ride height. Shocks, control arms, trackbar all should be on the ground, tires on, with its own weight.
 

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The good news is it looks great. When my 2" lift was installed I spent the first week or two wondering some of the same things... the difference in handling before/after was noticeable. I went from little 31's to 315's, so not apples to apples... After a while (a week or two) either it calmed down - or I grew accustomed to it - or both - and it stopped giving me a case of the jitters when ever I drove it. Not saying there's nothing to tweak - but some of it might just be growing accustomed to a new ride feel (?). Congrats and hope you're able to chase down any problem areas. And yeh, I'll BOLO for the blue, shaky Jeep on I-25.
 

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Looks like toe in is a little heavy, a couple extra pounds of pressure in the tires may help a little.

@Roky is a good resource on the alignment stuff.

Jeep Wrangler JL Finally installed, Clayton 2.5" Overland+ with 37s... but wait, there's more.... 1679410704602
Pretty sure Metalcloak and some of the others recommend very slightly toe out for 37s+, at least with their lifts. Not sure if @Clayton Off Road is the same.
 

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Pretty sure Metalcloak and some of the others recommend very slightly toe out for 37s+, at least with their lifts. Not sure if @Clayton Off Road is the same.
I think it depends a little on rig. I was a little squirrely at speed toed out.
 

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I think it depends a little on rig. I was a little squirrely at speed toed out.
Interesting, I know a few folks who've gotten rid of a slight wobble by going out. I'm only planning on touching it if there's an issue after I get everything else settled.

Either way, loosening trackbar (both ends OP!) and then re-torquing at ride height would be the simplest start. I stand by the ball joint recommendation though, these plastic lined OEM ones just suck. Will need it anyway eventually, might as well put a good part in there before it becomes a problem down the road.
 

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Couple of basic things. Were the links left loose until the jeep was supporting its own weight and then final torqued? What you are seeing/feeling looks like an extremely loose trackbar.

Are the axles centered?

Which shocks did you go with?
 

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While you are at it. Are your axles centered up? I normally just throw a 4' level on the upper sidewall (vertically) and measure to the fender lip on each corner.
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