New suspension installed - steering "thump"

[Cj23]

Hi All!

I just had my 2.5" Clayton overland+ kit with falcon 3.3 shocks and falcon steering stabilizer installed. Kit comes with 8 control arms, front and rear track bar and sway bar links.

A few things I noticed when driving the vehicle home. On the hwy, when I slightly jerk the wheel to the right It feels like there's more play vs the left side. When doing so, also feeling it wanting to sway a little more? If that makes sense. Called shop who said they did an alignment and drove, car felt fine. They said to bring it back and they can go on a drive with me. Any ideas what may be causing that ?

Another thing I noticed is when parked if I jerk the wheel to the left as shown in my video, the steering makes a thump sound. I don't notice it as much or it isn't there when turning to the right and letting go of wheel. Any ideas on what I should possibly mention to the shop? Or is this normal. I'm new to the jeep game and would love to get this right! Appreciate any and all help! Thanks in advance.

Sponsored

 

[chevymitchell]

Hi All!

I just had my 2.5" Clayton overland+ kit with falcon 3.3 shocks and falcon steering stabilizer installed. Kit comes with 8 control arms, front and rear track bar and sway bar links.

A few things I noticed when driving the vehicle home. On the hwy, when I slightly jerk the wheel to the right It feels like there's more play vs the left side. When doing so, also feeling it wanting to sway a little more? If that makes sense. Called shop who said they did an alignment and drove, car felt fine. They said to bring it back and they can go on a drive with me. Any ideas what may be causing that ?

Another thing I noticed is when parked if I jerk the wheel to the left as shown in my video, the steering makes a thump sound. I don't notice it as much or it isn't there when turning to the right and letting go of wheel. Any ideas on what I should possibly mention to the shop? Or is this normal. I'm new to the jeep game and would love to get this right! Appreciate any and all help! Thanks in advance.

Your steering stabilzer likely needs adjusted so it doesn't hit any clamps or bolt heads. Take a look at it while someone moves the wheel back and forth.

 

[Roky]

Hi All!

I just had my 2.5" Clayton overland+ kit with falcon 3.3 shocks and falcon steering stabilizer installed. Kit comes with 8 control arms, front and rear track bar and sway bar links.

A few things I noticed when driving the vehicle home. On the hwy, when I slightly jerk the wheel to the right It feels like there's more play vs the left side. When doing so, also feeling it wanting to sway a little more? If that makes sense. Called shop who said they did an alignment and drove, car felt fine. They said to bring it back and they can go on a drive with me. Any ideas what may be causing that ?

Another thing I noticed is when parked if I jerk the wheel to the left as shown in my video, the steering makes a thump sound. I don't notice it as much or it isn't there when turning to the right and letting go of wheel. Any ideas on what I should possibly mention to the shop? Or is this normal. I'm new to the jeep game and would love to get this right! Appreciate any and all help! Thanks in advance.

Drop your tire pressure to 30 ish psi if you’re running 35s or 37s and drive it again…… says 39 psi on the dash, that’s a little too high……

 

[Cj23]

You steering stabilzer likely needs adjusted so it doesn't hit any clamps or bolt heads. Take a look at it while someone moves the wheel back and forth.

Thank you sir! I'll have to check when I get home so my wife can turn the wheel for me. Appreciate the insight

 

[Cj23]

Drop your tire pressure to 30 ish psi if you’re running 35s or 37s and drive it again…… says 39 psi on the dash, that’s a little too high……

I'm running 35s and would leave them at 30 cold. The shop aired them up to 38 cold for some reason? Definitely going to drop them down closer to 30! It definitely felt better stock @ 30s not sure why they did that. I'm sure that has some influence on the handling ?

 

[Roky]

I'm running 35s and would leave them at 30 cold. The shop aired them up to 38 cold for some reason? Definitely going to drop them down closer to 30! It definitely felt better stock @ 30s not sure why they did that. I'm sure that has some influence on the handling ?

They probably aired them up to do the alignment…supposed to equal the air pressure in all four tires, they probably had a hard time getting it right and kept adding instead of deflating, lol.

 

[Clayton Off Road]

Hi All!

I just had my 2.5" Clayton overland+ kit with falcon 3.3 shocks and falcon steering stabilizer installed. Kit comes with 8 control arms, front and rear track bar and sway bar links.

A few things I noticed when driving the vehicle home. On the hwy, when I slightly jerk the wheel to the right It feels like there's more play vs the left side. When doing so, also feeling it wanting to sway a little more? If that makes sense. Called shop who said they did an alignment and drove, car felt fine. They said to bring it back and they can go on a drive with me. Any ideas what may be causing that ?

Another thing I noticed is when parked if I jerk the wheel to the left as shown in my video, the steering makes a thump sound. I don't notice it as much or it isn't there when turning to the right and letting go of wheel. Any ideas on what I should possibly mention to the shop? Or is this normal. I'm new to the jeep game and would love to get this right! Appreciate any and all help! Thanks in advance.

Hey there!

I always recommend reaching out to us by phone or email if you're having any issues after install, as we can usually help to find and correct the issue a shop may have made, but I'll do my best to help you out and answer your questions here

As for the wandering, this is usually due to too low caster which can be adjusted/corrected using the front upper control arms. Some shops try and get the caster back within Jeep's specs (low 4's) but our recommendation is to get this somewhere between 5.5 and 6 degrees to eliminate wandering!

If you're hearing a thump while turning the wheel chances are something is loose. A jam nut on a control arm, track bar, or even sway bar end link can cause a clunking noise if not tightened properly. Make sure all of the jam nuts are marked with a grease pen after tightening completely so that you can visually check to see if anything has come loose, and really double check the sway bar end links as a lot of shops miss that you need to hold them in place with an allen head while tightening!

Give us a call or shoot us a PM and we can always try and assist further!

 

[Bill_P]

I second something being loose. My wife's JL had a bump in the steering and the track bar was loose. Torqued it down and no more bump.

 

[Cj23]

Here's a video I got. Track bar the culprit? Also attached some photos of the wheels and it seems to be off, may be causing the floating/wandering feeling?

 

[Cj23]

Another video..?

 

[Bill_P]

That definitely looks like that bar is loose. Double check the torque on it. I don't know if it is just the angle of the video or what, but it also looks like that nut is hitting the other bar. Maybe someone who knows a little more than me, or a lot more than me, will chime in as well.

 

[mwilk012]

That is tie rod flop. The question is why. How is your steering stabilizer mounted?

 

[richk225]

Just my 2 cents worth, with tie rod flop rarely does the tie rod actually jump unless the ends are smoked. Like you mentioned, I would check the steering stabilizer and look for any witness marks on all of the steering components. Why would a shop that did an alignment let it leave with the axle fo far from being centered. Take something like a long level or scrap metal and let that hit the top and bottom of tire and measure to the same place on both sides to get an accurate measurement, at least you don`t have to get under the Jeep to measure it

 

[Cj23]

Just my 2 cents worth, with tie rod flop rarely does the tie rod actually jump unless the ends are smoked. Like you mentioned, I would check the steering stabilizer and look for any witness marks on all of the steering components. Why would a shop that did an alignment let it leave with the axle fo far from being centered. Take something like a long level or scrap metal and let that hit the top and bottom of tire and measure to the same place on both sides to get an accurate measurement, at least you don`t have to get under the Jeep to measure it

I just noticed these scuff marks. Looks like that one bolt is scraping it. ??

 

[Roky]

I just noticed these scuff marks. Looks like that one bolt is scraping it. ??

Try putting the bolt in the ss the other way ( the head of the bolt on the bottom) and see if it clears…..if it still hits, then consider using the synergy track bar/ss bolt like this……

Sponsored