Getting more steering feel after 37's

So I just put on new Nitto TG's in 37" on my '13 JKU. Had the alignment checked, and had the wheels balanced by Discount Tire. My forged ends have C gussets welded on, but I'm still on my original ball joints. Only 30K miles on the vehicle. I don't have any vibration in the wheel and I've been up to about 80mph on the highway, but since the new tires, my steering seems more numb (for lack of a better word). I'd like to get more steering feel back so that highway driving is a bit more relaxed. It's not that it's difficult to keep it in my lane, but there might be a bit of lane wander at higher speeds that requires full focus on what's happening. My wife hates the steering so much, she won't drive it.

There are three areas where I can think I may need to improve. I'd like some feedback from all for which I should focus on first.

1) Ball joint upgrade - 30K miles on the originals and I haven't noticed any of the usual causes for alarm. No DW and if I try pulling on the top of the tire away from the vehicle, I don't feel any give. But now with the increased load from the ATX Slab/37" wheel combo, they could be getting stressed and require an upgrade.

2) Drag Link flip - I'm running a 3.5" lift, which may have netted slightly more than that. Here's a picture I just took from a straight-on angle and it appears that my DL is pretty in line with my track bar so adding a raised axle mount and DL flip may actually give me worse steering feel?



3) Steering box reinforcement and double shear pitman arm support - I can't afford hydraulic steering assist yet but I'd like to beef up my steering support as much as possible. Would this give me any additional steering input "feel" or would this be more of a security precaution only?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Well, slabs and 37" tires are a little different than factory wheels. You now have wider stance that differs from factory.
Ball joints are a nice upgrade. I have dynatrac and I could definitely tell a difference between them and factory.
Dlf definitely helps getting your steering angles back to factory specs. Highly recommend this.
Sector shaft brace isn't needed. Use that money towards your drag link flip. Just my 2 cents.

What is your caster set at? Larger tires will tend to track on the highway but this could still be addressed with a bit more positive caster.

wayoflife said:

What is your caster set at? Larger tires will tend to track on the highway but this could still be addressed with a bit more positive caster.

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I want to say that it's 4-5 degrees measured off the top of the ball joint. I'll double check it again when I get home tonight. What would you say is the safe limit here if I were to add some more caster and keep my drive shaft happy?

JK_Dave said:

I want to say that it's 4-5 degrees measured off the top of the ball joint. I'll double check it again when I get home tonight. What would you say is the safe limit here if I were to add some more caster and keep my drive shaft happy?

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This should help you to figure where you are at with caster:
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...nt-End-Alignment&p=42391&viewfull=1#post42391

Make sure you account for the slope of the ground you are on too.

You could add more but you will most likely get drive line vibrations IF you are running gears higher than 4.88. I would also check your toe. Won't make as much as difference as caster but, it being off won't help.

I couldn't believe the difference in driving when I added the hydraulic assist. The wind on the interstate from trucks passing used to knock me around and now I only notice because the top flops around. It does remove some road feel but I'm not sure this is really what you are after. It sounds like you are a bit more flighty.

If you think about adding the hydro assist, I would not go down the path I have. I added assist without doing a d-link flip or track bar raise and it has been more trouble than it's worth. (Custom track-bar bracket and custom d-link). All for 3/4" or up travel on the passenger side :doh:

As Eddie said, double check you caster. In my experience, adding back some positive caster with the help of adjustable control arms had a significant affect on minimizing "wandering" and better steering control in general.

jnabird333 said:

I couldn't believe the difference in driving when I added the hydraulic assist. The wind on the interstate from trucks passing used to knock me around and now I only notice because the top flops around. It does remove some road feel but I'm not sure this is really what you are after. It sounds like you are a bit more flighty.

If you think about adding the hydro assist, I would not go down the path I have. I added assist without doing a d-link flip or track bar raise and it has been more trouble than it's worth. (Custom track-bar bracket and custom d-link). All for 3/4" or up travel on the passenger side :doh:

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This is probably in the cards for me at some point. Assuming I can keep from breaking my stock front axle, my immediate budget plans are a tire carrier (so I can regain my trunk space), Dynatrac ball joints and something to help in the braking department. Hearing some of your stories when you went to 37's and not being able to steer in the rocks plus the fact that the stock steering box is weak in the first place doesn't make me want to put off hydro for too long. The blessing/curse of having really small kids (3 & 1) is that it doesn't leave much time for me to take it offroad since I can't take them with me. As long as it's mainly a mall crawler (for the time being), that will keep me from breaking anything until I can afford to upgrade.

I'm going to try Eddie's advice and add a bit more caster since I am running 4.88's and we'll see how that helps.

Sounds like a plan :yup:

I definitely got the hydro assist for my issues in the rocks.... but never imagined how much better it would make the street! I was going to stretch the wife's Jeep this summer (In an effort to make the 2-door less like a fish swimming on crack on the highway) but now I think I'm going to add hydro to hers first. It made that much of a difference. :rock: