Should I get alignment done?

[zeebo56]

I bought a 2020 jlu sport a month ago. At the 200 mile mark I swapped to Rubicon suspension and the longer mopar lcas. I also have 35" tires now.

I need to adjust the steering so the wheel is straight but overall the steering is not bad.

I noticed the tires today liked like one side on each had less wear or contact with the road (inner tire on passenger side and outer tire on the driver side). Also when the passenger wheel is straight it almost seems like the driver side wheel is slightly facing outwards but very subtle in that I question myself if it really is.

I attached pics of the tires and how the contact on the road looks. First pic is passenger and second is driver side.

Jeep now had 700 miles so 500 on the new tires.

And if alignment is recommended is there something I should ask for or look out for when finding a shop to do it?

Thanks

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[rustyshakelford]

What you have done would not change the alignment. The lift would change the caster but the longer LCA would solve that and are not adjustable. The toe wouldn’t change. You can center the steering wheel yourself with a 15mm wrench and ratchet or two wrenches. Find the drag link which is attached to your pitman arm and goes to the passenger side knuckle. The adj sleeve will be closer to the drivers side. Loosen the nut and twist the silver adjustment sleeve until the wheel is straight. Tighten the 15mm nut back and fine tune as needed. If those are Patagonia’s, the run a higher psi, they are designed to run on the center tread and it’ll reduce noise.

Brett

 

[zeebo56]

What you have done would not change the alignment. The lift would change the caster but the longer LCA would solve that and are not adjustable. The toe wouldn’t change. You can center the steering wheel yourself with a 15mm wrench and ratchet or two wrenches. Find the drag link which is attached to your pitman arm and goes to the passenger side knuckle. The adj sleeve will be closer to the drivers side. Loosen the nut and twist the silver adjustment sleeve until the wheel is straight. Tighten the 15mm nut back and fine tune as needed. If those are Patagonia’s, the run a higher psi, they are designed to run on the center tread and it’ll reduce noise.

Brett

Awesome thanks. I was going to do the drag link today but it was raining. I will do that tomorrow. They are patagonias. Just wanted to make sure the things i did wouldn't require alignment. Appreciate it.

 

[limeade]

I'll disagree with @rustyshakelford and say you should get your alignment checked. I have seen the toe be off after doing even a mild 2" lift. I've personally experienced this after lifting a TJ and XJ, which have basically the same steering and suspension as JL's.

If it's within spec, well you've got peace of mind knowing your alignment is good. If it isn't, then you saved yourself from poor tire wear (at the least).

I do my own alignments (toe) as they're very easy to do. When I did my first one, I still took it to a shop to check it out and the alignment was spot on. I use the alignment instructions in the ORO U-Turn Steering installation instructions (page 6). Once you get an alignment done, then recenter your steering wheel.

 

[scrape]

I'll disagree with @rustyshakelford and say you should get your alignment checked. I have seen the toe be off after doing even a mild 2" lift. I've personally experienced this after lifting a TJ and XJ, which have basically the same steering and suspension as JL's.

If it's within spec, well you've got peace of mind knowing your alignment is good. If it isn't, then you saved yourself from poor tire wear (at the least).

I do my own alignments (toe) as they're very easy to do. When I did my first one, I still took it to a shop to check it out and the alignment was spot on. I use the alignment instructions in the ORO U-Turn Steering installation instructions (page 6). Once you get an alignment done, then recenter your steering wheel.

Caster changes have a small effect on toe but if you get your caster back to where it was before your lift then the toe will be exactly the same.

 

[limeade]

Caster changes have a small effect on toe but if you get your caster back to where it was before your lift then the toe will be exactly the same.

Not sure about that, I never thought about how caster changes toe (if it does at all).

When you install a suspension lift, everything above the axles gets lifted the corresponding amount. The drag link, which is attached to the pitman arm,. which is attached to the steering box, which is attached to the frame, is then lifted that amount from where it was stock. The drag link is now pulling on the front passenger tire (for the JL), which I have seen to affect the Toe setting.

The control arms are what affects the caster, by tilting the inner knuckles forward or rearward. So I don't see how this can affect toe. Caster isn't changing how the tires are pointed (in/out). Only the steering linkage (mainly the tie rod) can affect this since they are attached to the outer knuckles.

On the several Jeeps I have lifted and played around with front control arm length to get proper caster, my toe settings have never changed.

Therefore, I don't believe caster affects toe setting at all.

 

[scrape]

The drag link is now pulling on the front passenger tire (for the JL), which I have seen to affect the Toe setting.

And the tie rod is pushing on the front driver knuckle equally as much. Toe will only change if the the tie rod is bending or deflecting.

I don't believe caster affects toe setting at all.

If you have toe-in which most people do, adding positive caster will increase negative camber and increase positive toe. Would be hard to measure with a tape measure but you can verify this with a laser alignment.

 

[zeebo56]

I took this pic today and it definitely seems like the driver side is toed out. Does it look like that to you all as well?

Do I just need to toe the driver side in?

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