Alignment really bad after lift

[RecklessWOT]

So I know that taking the entire suspension off a truck will generally mean you need an alignment, but I just want to make sure I didn't **** something up before I bring the thing to a tire shop or something and they tell me to piss off.

Today I just installed a 2" rough country lift (all springs and shocks, no blocks) including the drop down for the sway bar. I took it for a test drive and now my steering wheel is almost 1/4 turn to the right trying to go straight. Doesn't shake or wobble or bounce or anything crazy, but I noticed under acceleration it's slightly worse and while breaking it's slightly less.

Did I do something wrong or will simply taking the thing in for an alignment fix the issue? It just seems weird that it's worse under load. Has anyone else come across this, is it a common issue? Sorry, this is the first time I've ever installed a suspension lift on my own truck before I'm just really unsure

 

[glockholiday]

It's fine, that's what happens when you move the axle 2" farther away from the steering box. You can adjust it with the drag link. Just park with your wheels straight, leave the key on so the steering wheel is unlocked and adjust until it's close to straight. May take a couple attempts/test drives.

This is the arm to adjust. It goes from the steering box to the curved arm on the left knuckle. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PL3WZ21hViw/hqdefault.jpg

 

[RecklessWOT]

Thank you, makes perfect sense. And yeah I just replaced mine not too long ago so I know the ends aren't worn out or anything, shouldn't be terribly difficult. So I would want to space them out farther right? (I know it'll take a few tries but I want to be sure I'm at least going in the right direction to start)

 

[bucket]

Drive the truck on a straight, flat road, and note exactly where the steering wheel is positioned. Go back home (or wherever you can safely stop and work on the truck) and park the truck with the wheels straight and the steering wheel in the same position it was when you were driving. Don't jack up the truck, just turn the key to keep the column unlocked. Then simply adjust the drag link until the steering wheel is centered. Then drive again to check your work.

 

[Georgeb]

Drive the truck on a straight, flat road, and note exactly where the steering wheel is positioned. Go back home (or wherever you can safely stop and work on the truck) and park the truck with the wheels straight and the steering wheel in the same position it was when you were driving. Don't jack up the truck, just turn the key to keep the column unlocked. Then simply adjust the drag link until the steering wheel is centered. Then drive again to check your work.

Techically you can do the work on the road. Just Drive, adjust, drive adjust, wash, rinse, repeat until its right. Bear in mind the road crown will cause it to want to go right ever so slightly so try to pick a road with a little as possible. The walmart parking lot would be a good location and you could grab a snack too!

 

[RecklessWOT]

I got it back fairly straight for normal driving (about where it was before the lift), but for whatever reason it still pulls to the right when I get into the throttle. As soon as I let off it snaps right back to normal. Definitely never did that before. Any idea what might cause that?

 

[crazy4offroad]

Go over the rear u-bolts and make sure they're tight, and just make sure you didn't put one spring on backwards (doubtful, but you never know). When on the throttle the pinion normally rises, and for it to poll right would mean the driver side moving rearward or passenger side moving forward. With the force of acceleration it is unlikely the driver side is moving rearward so I would check the passenger side for movement.

 

[RecklessWOT]

What would cause them to move forward or back? What movement would I be checking for? I know everything is tight, did a thorough final bolt check before I drove it anywhere. If anything I may have over tightened the rear u-bolts. I know I had a couple of spring/shackle bolts seized into the bushings so I cut a few off and used new grade 8 bolts when I reinstalled everything, but reused any old ones that were still in good shape (after polishing on the wire wheel and spraying lightly with white lith). Could that have something to do with it? As far as I remember, the front springs were different but the rears looked to be the exact same no matter which way you mounted them

 

[bucket]

Not likely, but do you have it shifted to 4HI with one hub locked?

Do you have the factory G80 locker, and if so, do the rear tires match?

 

[RecklessWOT]

No both hubs are unlocked and I definitely haven't been driving around in 4x4 this whole time lol. And it's just got a regular open diff with 3.73s nothing special. The tires all match and still have decent tread left on both sides (though the fronts are quite chopped for more reasons than one).

I read something about this on a Jeep forum once but can't for the life of me remember what was the cause, or what site I even saw it on

 

[crazy4offroad]

Axle wrap from torque can cause the axles to move if everything's not tight but it sounds like you have that covered. Jeeps have upper and lower control arms that get subjected to trail hazards and can throw things out of line if bent. They also have a track bar that if loose can cause lateral axle movement but our trucks don't have those weaknesses. This is a mystery to me, I would be looking at the frame for cracks, spring hangers, it's possible the steering box mounting area of the frame is cracked, etc. Sounds like it is time for a full "physical" of this truck from front to back. You may also want to double-check your rear pinion angle, if your kit came with correcting wedges make sure they were used.

 

[RecklessWOT]

My jeep's older so it's got 4 leaf springs just like the burb, but you're right comparing a little tiny CJ to a beast like this is apples to oranges.

I am meticulous with the underbody of this truck, the frame is seriously still factory black, no cracks or even surface rust anywhere. Even when I took the shackles off I wire wheeled and repainted them just for good measure. About a year ago I inspected around the steering box before I replaced the ball joints when I was trying to figure out why the truck was tracking around so bad at that time and all was well. Literally the only things wrong with the truck are a couple of interior blemishes, the lack of paint on the exterior from baking in the desert for so long, and the slightest of a tiny little intake leak for which I need to refill the overflow tank maybe 2-3 times a year. Oh and the radio doesn't work sometimes. Health-wise this ****'s tip-top. The kit didn't come with any wedges, I'm sure it's mostly in my head. I mean I can feel it is definitely there but I'm probably just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate the input. I'll just keep an eye on it and if anything gets worse or if I start to have weird tire wear I'll look deeper into it at that point.