XJ Steering

[ASauer17]

Those that drive XJs... how is your steering in general?
Mine is loose, but not "need a new steering box loose".

This XJ keeps getting front end alignments and it's NEVER perfect. Always pulling to the right. To go straight the wheel is turned atleast 1/8th of a turn.

[johnsxj]

Tire pressure even side to side? XJ sitting level side to side? (rear springs are known to sag out in funky ways) Both ends of track bar tight and without any play? Was it ever in an accident? Steering box to uni-body bolts tight? Check the steering shaft that goes from the column to the steering box.... The little U-joints in there are known for wearing out. Alignment shop not taking road crown into consideration when making adjustments?

[ASauer17]

The jeep is a 1998 with 212,000 miles

Tire pressure even side to side? Yup!
XJ sitting level side to side? Its sagging almost equally, no dips visible on flat pavement
Both ends of track bar tight and without any play? yup!
Was it ever in an accident? Minor accident in 2011. Slid into a rav4. However, this started before hand.
Steering box to uni-body bolts tight? Haven't checked, I will
Check the steering shaft that goes from the column to the steering box.... The little U-joints in there are known for wearing out. will check
Alignment shop not taking road crown into consideration when making adjustments? This truck has been aligned by Snows in Framingham and Town Fair Tire in Marlborough, and Sears in Framingham and in Marlborough. Tried a few locations over the year

[Frank]

There is an adjustment on the steering box itself. Try gently turning the wheel while looking at the d.s. tire to see if it moves with very little input from the steering wheel. Have someone else look to see if the other wheel moves exactly at the same time. Some one under the vehicle can spot a bad tie rod end this way. FjR68

[DOUG]

Try swapping the front tires side to side. 1 of 3 things will happen:

1, it will stay the same, indicating a mechanical problem.
2, it will pull in the opposite direction, indicating a bad tire.
3, It will drive straight...all is well.

[ASauer17]

After checking everything like 1,000 times..

FINALLY brought the Cherokee to a shop and see what was really going! Ready for this..... everything checked out perfectly. All steering components are solid, everything is tight, etc..

What fixed the constant dragging to 1 side? A shim... $5 in parts... a stinkin shim!

[ZAEDOCK]

Shim? Where did they put this shim?

[Frank]

I think they needed 5 bucks for the roach coach ! FjR68

[nostaw]

The only thing I can think of is the LCA adjustment on the unit body end (I don't remember if it is caster, thrust angle, axle centering, or all of these)...

I used adjustable control arms so I never messed with them.

JW

[Frank]

Wow ? There are eccentrics on the lca. I dont think I ever saw that. Makes sense though . The first alignment shops should be fired ! FjR68

[ASauer17]

camber shim! right LCA

[ZAEDOCK]

That's a caster shim.

[ASauer17]

Ya, for off-camber-ness

[ZAEDOCK]

Camber won't cause a pull. If the caster is less on the right (which is what happened in your case), you'll get a pull toward the right. The shim he installed increased positive caster.

[ASauer17]

The Jeep had a less then 1/16 dip.

Thanks for the info, Joe. Never heard of a shim at lca before this.