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JK steering and alignment gurus help!?

Racks for the last 30 years will do what you need it to do. I agree the tard button pushers aren't helping. I remember when the newer Hunter rack came out back in the day it had a literal step by step instruction on how to take measurements and then videos of how to make adjustments. I'm like holy fuck they really dumped this down for the monkeys 🤣

I mean if you want to go real old school and have a flat piece of concrete you could plumb bob it into the ground. Some factory books have collision measurements you can compare to.

But I'm more interested in the caster sweep because of the axle damage.
 
This is the print out from first alignment. One guy that works there is known for Jeeps. He said you got bent axles.... that's when I took it to the second shop which has unbent trailer axles for before. He "unbent" the rear and put in 1° offset BJs.

20231007_113722.jpg


I did not get a printout from him but I need to holler at him for it and a castor sweep aswell.

It still drives the same, has a jerk/dart when trying to correct for wander while going stas well.

I took the spacers off today and it is a bit better but still there. I also had the wheels/tires rebalnced and checked for bent wheels, all came back good to go. Except the "spare" they said it wouldn't balance out cause balance beads....???? Shouldn't it run true with beads in it?
 
I also thru angle finder on pinion flange to check against castor angle as mentioned before. Pinion is sitting 1° down which should show @5° castor. Drivers side shows 4 and pass 5 so I'm going to try and bring upper CA in to see if that evens out
 
How old is the steering box?

My boss has a newer Ram that is doing the same thing you describe. To the point where you can't look down to adjust the radio station without being in the other lane.

I'm thinking it's the box doing it as everything is tight and in spec.
 
It had been thru 3 boxes. I grabbed one out of a yard that hadn't been in a front end wreck so I would think but I know it's not "new" it could have the same issues.

Literally only thing not changed is the steering lines, pump, housing, gears, diff. Only thing not new is the box, arms and front upper frame side bushings.

I told the guy don't be surprised if the axles are bent... I'm trying to get it best I can till he gets another front end but I get all kinds of conflicting measurements which puts me in a how is this saying this and where the do i go from here now mindset.

Just pulled measurements on front end again... measured from the middle of tube between the coil mounts. Front side to the front swaybar bolt, rear to the first body mount. Lazer even across the middle on each side...

Front side measured 1/4" forward on drivers side and I can visually see the coil is closer to the swaybar end...

Rearside measured 1/8" forward on the passenger side...??? How does that work?

I like to learn things and know how to tell, fix, diagnose, etc so yeah, I need an axle , quit dickin with it but id also want to know where and how tell next time without spending $1300
 
With the thrust angle being being near zero the rear axle should be pretty spot on in relation to the frame.

That would make the front axle having some setback. You could absolutely have a front axle pushed back on one side and all the measurements on that paper in the green.

Can you set the truck on jackstands, take the wheels off, and measure wheelbase left and right sides? I have a feeling that if the coil is closer on one side that answers your question.

Now is that the cause of that you have going on? No idea.

My boss's truck is bone stock and collision free. I think it may just have a funky steering box or steering shaft causing the darting action.

I used to work at a Dodge dealer and the trucks were notorious for this. They either wander around or steering would get super tight mid turn. The steering shaft would have ujoints that cause this.

My guess though is that if it were wandering you would have excessive backlash which snugging up the adjuster could help eliminate. Or you visibly see play in the sector shaft which usually is accompanied by an oil leak. Anything is possible though.
 
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