Thoughts on cross caster

[JMONEZ]

My understanding is with a solid axle the cross caster is built in to the axle and you can’t really adjust each side individually to adjust for more or less caster without twisting the axle? That makes sense but I hear of people saying all the time just add more caster to one side, or that when installing lift they put LCAs at different lengths. I’ve been dealing with a pull to the right, my cross caster is just slightly off and everything else seems good but was curious if I could adjust LCA or UCAs on pass side slightly to possibly help increase caster to help get rid of pull to the right without causing joint bind or some other drivability concern with making that adjustment, or if it would even do anything to help. I’ll attach my most recent alignment printout. Also, I guess it could be tires (37” STT pros 28psi) but I’ve tried cross rotating and the pull to The right is still there And didn’t change . America’s tire said they’ll swap out 2 tires to see if it’ll help but believe the alignment is off causing concern. Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions? TIA and Merry Christmas

Current mods and measurements
LCA- 24 7/16
UCAs-20 1/8
3.5 Mc lift
Mc tie rod
Mc drag link
Teraflex adjustable front UCAs and LCAs
Falcon stabilizer
Yeti track bar

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[Roky]

My understanding is with a solid axle the cross caster is built in to the axle and you can’t really adjust each side individually to adjust for more or less caster without twisting the axle? That makes sense but I hear of people saying all the time just add more caster to one side, or that when installing lift they put LCAs at different lengths. I’ve been dealing with a pull to the right, my cross caster is just slightly off and everything else seems good but was curious if I could adjust LCA or UCAs on pass side slightly to possibly help increase caster to help get rid of pull to the right without causing joint bind or some other drivability concern with making that adjustment, or if it would even do anything to help. I’ll attach my most recent alignment printout. Also, I guess it could be tires (37” STT pros 28psi) but I’ve tried cross rotating and the pull to The right is still there And didn’t change . America’s tire said they’ll swap out 2 tires to see if it’ll help but believe the alignment is off causing concern. Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions? TIA and Merry Christmas

Current mods and measurements
LCA- 24 7/16
UCAs-20 1/8
3.5 Mc lift
Mc tie rod
Mc drag link
Teraflex adjustable front UCAs and LCAs
Falcon stabilizer
Yeti track bar

If front right means passenger then that number should be higher than the drivers side. It looks like it’s backwards. Also adjust toe in a little more.

 

[Carlton]

Roads tend to slope to the passengers side so jeep will pull towards passenger side. Caster slightly higher on driver side will help with this.

I'm not sure what the print out means by left and right (looking at vehicle from front, or from behind).

 

[quietpeen]

If front right means passenger then that number should be higher than the drivers side. It looks like it’s backwards. Also adjust toe in a little more.

I want to jump in and ask a few questions because I have an alignment on Friday and I want to know what to tell the guy to set my caster and toe-in too. How much more caster should the passenger side have than the drivers side? What is the ideal amount of toe-in?

Thanks

 

[Roky]

I want to jump in and ask a few questions because I have an alignment on Friday and I want to know what to tell the guy to set my caster and toe-in too. How much more caster should the passenger side have than the drivers side? What is the ideal amount of toe-in?

Thanks

I don’t know if there’s a set sweet spot, I have my caster at 6.3 and 6.5 and toe in 1/8 th of an inch. My rig tracks straight as an arrow.

 

[JMONEZ]

If front right means passenger then that number should be higher than the drivers side. It looks like it’s backwards. Also adjust toe in a little more.

So here is my previous alignment sheet, had correct cross caster but still had a pull to the right, and pass lower control arm was set longer to try and cheat cross caster. It just didn’t drive right, almost felt like dog tracking so I evened up control arm lengths. Maybe it’s a bad set of tires but this is driving me crazy, also you may notice from most recent alignment specs I actually had adjusted toe in to .10 total toe but just had changed back to .20 total toe and it actually seems to drive better, .10 almost felt more like tires were scrubbing??

 

[JMONEZ]

So here is my previous alignment sheet, had correct cross caster but still had a pull to the right, and pass lower control arm was set longer to try and cheat cross caster. It just didn’t drive right, almost felt like dog tracking so I evened up control arm lengths. Maybe it’s a bad set of tires but this is driving me crazy, also you may notice from most recent alignment specs I actually had adjusted toe in to .10 total toe but just had changed back to .20 total toe and it actually seems to drive better, .10 almost felt more like tires were scrubbing??

 

[Roky]

Yeah, that looks good, I guess I’d look into the tires. I’ve heard a few on here that complained about that tire pulling. Is your axles centered?

 

[Carlton]

On a solid axle vehicle it is normal to hold the wheel slightly left to go straight. This is due to the slop of the road to the right. I've had many jeeps and this has always been true. Remember it will not drive like other vehicles. I think often people have unrealistic expectations of their jeep.

Setting the caster a tenth or two higher on the passenger side will offset this a bit. Remember though, there are other causes of a pull. Wider tires, tread pattern, axle being offset etc.

 

[Roky]

On a solid axle vehicle it is normal to hold the wheel slightly left to go straight. This is due to the slop of the road to the right. I've had many jeeps and this has always been true. Remember it will not drive like other vehicles. I think often people have unrealistic expectations of their jeep.

Setting the caster a tenth or two higher on the driver side will offset this a bit. Remember though, there are other causes of a pull. Wider tires, tread pattern, axle being offset etc.

Ive always run higher caster on passenger side to compensate for crown in the road.

 

[JMONEZ]

On a solid axle vehicle it is normal to hold the wheel slightly left to go straight. This is due to the slop of the road to the right. I've had many jeeps and this has always been true. Remember it will not drive like other vehicles. I think often people have unrealistic expectations of their jeep.

Setting the caster a tenth or two higher on the driver side will offset this a bit. Remember though, there are other causes of a pull. Wider tires, tread pattern, axle being offset etc.

Thanks, yes axle’s are both centered. I get it, this is my second JL, first tracked straight as an arrow, never a pull. Also this one before I switched tires and went up in lift size from 2.5 to 3.5, never a pull, never had to correct steering to go straight either. I’m hoping it’s tire related because nothing seems to work. I’ll try shortening LCA length a turn on driver side and see what happens, but don’t want to bind bushings or create and dog tracking type handling. Thanks for you input

 

[word302]

Thanks, yes axle’s are both centered. I get it, this is my second JL, first tracked straight as an arrow, never a pull. Also this one before I switched tires and went up in lift size from 2.5 to 3.5, never a pull, never had to correct steering to go straight either. I’m hoping it’s tire related because nothing seems to work. I’ll try shortening LCA length a turn on driver side and see what happens, but don’t want to bind bushings or create and dog tracking type handling. Thanks for you input

You want more caster on the passenger side, not the driver side. .2 to .4 degrees more is a good split. If you're still having pull issues I'd check your that your rear axle is square to the frame (use a measuring tape from one of the body bolts). If that checks out see if you can mount up another set of wheels/tires to see if those tires are the culprit.

 

[JMONEZ]

You want more caster on the passenger side, not the driver side. .2 to .4 degrees more is a good split. If you're still having pull issues I'd check your that your rear axle is square to the frame (use a measuring tape from one of the body bolts). If that checks out see if you can mount up another set of wheels/tires to see if those tires are the culprit.

I’ll try adding more caster pass side but as you can see from my previous alignment I had .3 more caster pass side and it still pulled the same. I’m running factory arms in rear and axle is centered with rear track bar so I’m leaning towards tires too. I guess I’ll see what happens when America’s tires swaps out front 2 tires next week. I’ll update after, hopefully with good news but not very optimistic because cross rotated and didn’t change either? Thanks for your suggestions

 

[Roky]

I’ll try adding more caster pass side but as you can see from my previous alignment I had .3 more caster pass side and it still pulled the same. I’m running factory arms in rear and axle is centered with rear track bar so I’m leaning towards tires too. I guess I’ll see what happens when America’s tires swaps out front 2 tires next week. I’ll update after, hopefully with good news but not very optimistic because cross rotated and didn’t change either? Thanks for your suggestions

Do you still have factory steering stabilizer?

 

[JMONEZ]

Do you still have factory steering stabilizer?

Yes , currently running falcon adjustable but have also tried MC stabilizer and oem with no change in pull.

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