Jeep veering right

MAG00

Member
When traveling at highway speeds, if you were to take your hand off the wheel at any time, my rig immediately starts to veer right (passenger). My shop has said that the alignment was right on. So, I am looking for ideas as to the culprit. Now I realize it's a jeep on 37s and coil-overs and it's not going to drive like a cadillac, but this is something new as it has not had this issue in the past.

At the time my rig was in the shop they replaced the trac bar bushing after which they checked the alignment which they said was right on. My first thought was maybe the axle was slightly off center. I would think this would show up when checking the alignment, but maybe not. So I measured using two methods. First I held a 4 ft level on the outside of the tire and measured to the fender. I placed the level on the best spot I could on the tire. By this method, it appears that the axle is shifted towards the passenger side by approx. 1/2". The I tried using a laser from the outside of the frame and measured to the backside of the rotor. By this method, it appeared to be shifted to the passenger side by approx. 1/4". Would this amount of difference (either method) account for the jeep veering towards the passenger side when traveling at highway speeds?

I checked tire pressure on both sides and they were with 0.5 psi of each other.

Side note, I have noticed that when I apply the brakes the steering wheel will pull slightly to the right (passenger). If I am slow rolling and tape the brakes you can see it. Normal speeds and braking, I don't notice it. If I brake real hard, the jeep will veer a little to the right.

Any other ideas? Anything else I could check or tell the shop to check out?
 
When traveling at highway speeds, if you were to take your hand off the wheel at any time, my rig immediately starts to veer right (passenger). My shop has said that the alignment was right on. So, I am looking for ideas as to the culprit. Now I realize it's a jeep on 37s and coil-overs and it's not going to drive like a cadillac, but this is something new as it has not had this issue in the past.

At the time my rig was in the shop they replaced the trac bar bushing after which they checked the alignment which they said was right on. My first thought was maybe the axle was slightly off center. I would think this would show up when checking the alignment, but maybe not. So I measured using two methods. First I held a 4 ft level on the outside of the tire and measured to the fender. I placed the level on the best spot I could on the tire. By this method, it appears that the axle is shifted towards the passenger side by approx. 1/2". The I tried using a laser from the outside of the frame and measured to the backside of the rotor. By this method, it appeared to be shifted to the passenger side by approx. 1/4". Would this amount of difference (either method) account for the jeep veering towards the passenger side when traveling at highway speeds?

I checked tire pressure on both sides and they were with 0.5 psi of each other.

Side note, I have noticed that when I apply the brakes the steering wheel will pull slightly to the right (passenger). If I am slow rolling and tape the brakes you can see it. Normal speeds and braking, I don't notice it. If I brake real hard, the jeep will veer a little to the right.

Any other ideas? Anything else I could check or tell the shop to check out?
Do you have a steering stabilizer? If so, is it gas charged?
 
I have PSC hydro assist steering. I wonder if something is off on it. Thoughts?
Could be. You could have leakby on the hydraulics. You could disconnect the ram from one end and see if it slowly extends or retracts. Pretty simple check to rule it out.
 
Axle off center won't cause a pull.

You could have a binding caliper. Jack it up, spin wheels by hand and see if one is binding more than the other. If that's not it, swap front tires side to side and see if the pull goes to the left indicating a tire pull.
 
Recommend double checking the length of the lower control arms, one may be longer/shorter than the other. I had a similar problem and discovered my passenger lower control arm was shorter than driver. Just a thought.
 
Could be. You could have leakby on the hydraulics. You could disconnect the ram from one end and see if it slowly extends or retracts. Pretty simple check to rule it out.
Yea, I could just mark it's current location on tie-rod (for re-install purposes) and disconnect it and see what happens.
 
Axle off center won't cause a pull.

You could have a binding caliper. Jack it up, spin wheels by hand and see if one is binding more than the other. If that's not it, swap front tires side to side and see if the pull goes to the left indicating a tire pull.
OK. Something else I should be able to check at home as well. Thanks.
 
I would personally verify the shop is correct. Sounds like something is off with castor or toe.
Yes, I would want them to verify the alignment is all correct. They said it was, but .... I just would hate to have to pay to get the alignment checked again just to find out it's good. Guess I could check the other things mentioned here and if none of them seem to be an issue then have the alignment checked again.
 
Yes, I would want them to verify the alignment is all correct. They said it was, but .... I just would hate to have to pay to get the alignment checked again just to find out it's good. Guess I could check the other things mentioned here and if none of them seem to be an issue then have the alignment checked again.
 
Recommend double checking the length of the lower control arms, one may be longer/shorter than the other. I had a similar problem and discovered my passenger lower control arm was shorter than driver. Just a thought.
Not saying it's not possible, but it was not having the issue prior to replacing the trac bar bushing and new tires. They shouldn't have messed with any of the control arms in taking care of those items. But anything is possible I guess.
 
Yes, I would want them to verify the alignment is all correct. They said it was, but .... I just would hate to have to pay to get the alignment checked again just to find out it's good. Guess I could check the other things mentioned here and if none of them seem to be an issue then have the alignment checked again.
I didn’t say have them check, I would personally check myself.
 
You dont want your modded rig running factory alignment specs (toe OUT). Also I had a bad tie rod end and didnt know it until I jacked it up, pulled the wheel off, and was able to grab the end of the tie rod with huge pliers and wiggle it.
 
Well, I think I at least found one issue. My passenger side tie rod end appears to need replacing. Hopefully this video link works. passenger side tire rod
Video didn't work for me but unless the TRE is shifting side to side or up and down, a rotational movement is totally normal. Also, IF the TRE were bad, that could lead to things like death wobble more than a pull to the right.

That said, I kinda have to go with the possibility you have something going on with your ram assist. If you had a pull to the left, that would be normal radial pull caused by Trail Grapplers.
 
Video didn't work for me but unless the TRE is shifting side to side or up and down, a rotational movement is totally normal. Also, IF the TRE were bad, that could lead to things like death wobble more than a pull to the right.

That said, I kinda have to go with the possibility you have something going on with your ram assist. If you had a pull to the left, that would be normal radial pull caused by Trail Grapplers.
I will check the ram assist as well. Just was sharing what I found as of right now. The TRE definitely has movement side to side in it. I'll try the video link again. passenger side tire rod
 
Top Bottom