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New to this being lifted thing...

willcasp

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I have a 2018 JLU Sport S. I had "the local shop that all the Jeep folks recommend" do the suspension work. Here is what I have:
Teraflex Sport 2.5" ST2 Suspension System
Falcon 3.3 Fast Adjustable Shock
Alpha HD Adjustable Spare Tire Mounting Kit
Alpine IR Front Trackbar
Falcon Nexus EF 2.2 Fast Adjusting Steering Stabilizer

I have driven a lot of trucks. Even the 4 wheel drive trucks were just stock suspension height. (GM Z71 pickups).

The Jeep wandered a bit before the suspension upgrades. It now wanders more. More along the lines of a 1970's truck more.

I don't really have an issue with it. I was wondering if this was normal or not. The other cars I drive are my wife's Audi Q5, when I absolutely must... and a Tesla Model S 90D (which literally can drive itself)

Am I good to go?
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rustyshakelford

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Have you had it aligned? I think that kit comes with new lower control arms to correct caster. These should drive great whether lifted or not. However, a lift can often amplify issues that were there prior the lift or something during the install is causing issues. I wish they would’ve sold you a better lift vs $1600 shocks and you would have more options to adjust and get it dialed in right.

Hope this isn’t coming across as snarky or negative it just frustrates me when thing like this happen and you trusted a place to make things right and give you a great product.

Brett

My guess would be your caster is to low but that’s purely speculation until we get more info
 

RubiSc0tt

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These should drive great whether lifted or not. However, a lift can often amplify issues that were there prior the lift or something during the install is causing issues.
He's right. While it may not drive better than your other vehicles, one of the best handling Jeeps I ever had was my '98TJ w/ Rock Krawler 3.5" XFactor Long arm and XFactor steering. Pretty substantial modifications to both steering and suspension, and it was fantastic on both the highway and the trail, for being a giant brick with oversized tires. Totally different vehicle and all, but similar concept.

Start simple. Get the alignment, see if it improves. I did see somewhere on the forum here that Tire pressure can cause the JL's to wander a bit. Most will roll off the lot at 40+ psi, in the thread i think most people said they were running a JLU with stock tires around 35-36psi on the street and it helped even out the ride/ wandering.
 

Rock Krawler Suspension

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They "should" drive like they're on rails when everything is right. Tire pressure and caster are likely your culprit as others have mentioned. An alignment spec sheet would help greatly.
 
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willcasp

willcasp

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@rustyshakelford , @RubiSc0tt , @Rock Krawler Suspension ,

First, thank you for taking the time to reply. I am new at this one. Two datapoints.

1) I don't want to make assumptions here, what do you mean by alignment? What should I make sure is aligned? I did get the tires aligned, and I have an alignment sheet for that from the company that mounted the BF Goodrich 35" KO2's on the AEV Bora wheels. The installer did check the alignment after I had the tires were mounted, as he wanted to be sure the details were correct such as the wheels strait. I didn't want to assume that this is what you meant, hence, the ask!
2) I did check a few things this morning. The Jeep seems to track straight just fine at freeway speeds this morning. I did have to do some input corrections. Not as many as yesterday, so it may have been 70 mph and wind that was the issue. I also have a loaner JKU Sport S ( LED light installation, long story)... mostly stock. Anyway, my JLU tracks better than this JKU thing. So, it may be just me. I do have a 500 mile checkup on the suspension. I will talk to the guys at the shop about it.

On the shocks, that one was me. I do quite a bit of off road adventure motorcycle riding. I wanted the ability to easily dial in the shocks as needed. The shops out here cater to the Microsoft/Amazon crowd, who are not scared of spending money. Not cheap to get things done out here. I won't be doing rock crawling with this rig. I will be taking my wife out to a lot of places that I usually only get to on the motorcycle. forest service roads, WABDR, stuff like that. That was the target for this suspension installation. The research I did was that the Terraflex stuff was good, but it was expensive. I imagine I could do better for other applications. I read complaints about the drive being stiff. It doesn't really bother me, feels like a sports car.
 

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Rock Krawler Suspension

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1) yes, on that sheet, what do the caster numbers for the front end say? it should have a number for driver front and a number for passenger front

2) that leads me to believe that you may have not experienced a Jeep in crosswinds yet, you'll get accustomed to driving something shaped like a toaster in crosswinds pretty quickly.
 

Punkindave

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I've had 2 almost identical JLU Rubicons.. One was a 2018 and the current one is a 2019.
The 2018 drove just as you described, like a 70's truck requiring lots of steering correction on the highway. The new one tracks perfectly before and after the MOPAR lift. There is a difference between "wandering" and the much written about "death wobble/bump steer"
There have been many causes identified, one you should check that isn't obvious is a firmware update for the steering (believe it or not it's all electronic and computer controlled)
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