CJ-5 steering unstable

A year ago I purchased an old 79 CJ-5 with a blown engine, that had been sitting for over 12 years.

I put a new motor {6 cyl} in it, clutch, rebuilt the tranny, put a 4 inch lift with 33X12X16 tires/wheels.

It runs wondeful {very stiff off road, but not bad on highway} but it has one flaw that I can not trace down and it's make it a danger to drive.

When you are at highway speeds, and slow down either letting off the gas, down shifting or braking {it is worse when you brake} the jeep tries to dart all over the place, it is extremely hard to hold the lane and frankly scares the hell out of grown men and children....

I put a steering stabilizer on {nothing fancy}, I've checked the linkage, etc and can not find anything wrong...But this flaw is ruining an other wise great jeep....

Any idea's where to look next.....? NOTE: it does have power steering.

 

A CJ5 with bad steering? Blasphemy! You should try and drive one from the '50's.

Seriously, a very common problem. The guys here can offer you all kinds of wisdom. Did you jack it up on stands and have someone wiggle the wheels back and forth while you looked at every part and piece? There's likely to be a lot of slack in a lot of places. Grab one of the front wheels with both hands and wiggle it vigorously.

 

Not thanks...having enough trouble with this one...frankly it's not safe to take on the freeway...if you have to slow down or stop quickly you will be totally out of control...I ended up leaving like 40 car lenghts between me and the rest of the world.....

I solve this and I have a great weekend toy...and hunting vechile for back and forth to my ranch....

But right now....It is not safe.....

 

Could be an alignment problem too. Or something bent/busted from a previous owner. Loose or broken spring. Lots of things.

 

Get a full alignment done, then keep going back until they find the problem!

Pete

 

I'd check the bushings in your lift kit. If they're soft rubber, replace them with urethane.

Also, getting a front end aligned "reasonably close" is not that difficult to do yourself. There are plenty of internet resources out there.

 

Sometimes it depends on what you call "highway speeds"

 

Everybody'is probably right. That is all I can sya, enven my TJ is scarry to drive over 50.

 

Almost sounds like you almost have a brake not working on one side or one braking harder than the other.

EDIT: Just re-read your post. I missed that it was happening when you let your foot off the gas. Good luck

 

Check the toe in mine got bad one day , found out later that I had tweeked a tie rod , readjusted it was alot better.

 

could brakes be draging on one side

 

I will have the alignment checked again by a shop here in town, but not sure if that is the problem or not....

It tracks straight and handles fine when you let go of the wheel, etc...the only time I have a problem is when I slow down and the faster you slow down the worse it is.....

 

My vote: Caster.

When you hit the brakes your brakes are fixed to the axle housing and trying to stop rolloing mass of the tires/rims/rotors....etc.

So when you hit the brakes your brakes grip the rotor and your entire axle housing tilts farther forward as it trys to stop the rotational force of the tires/rims/rotors/etc. (more so if you have soft/weak springs), thus loosing more caster and multiplying the problem, especially at higher speeds due to the increased rotational force.......and if you just want to give that dangerous Jeep to me I'd understandR)

 

Sounds like your caster is changing as others have stated above, check your ball joints, bushings, and U bolts for any loosness. Could also be too much toe out, but it seems to be more a caster issue, which is typical after you have added a lift. IIRC, you want positive caster, the upper ball joint should be rearward of the lower. Think about your bike forks.

 

My '80 drifts when I let off the throttle, some suggestions I got had to do with the locked rearend also. I haven't owned it very long and it is my first jeep. There is definately a learning curve in driving such a short wheelbased vehicle. At first I could barely get to 45 mph but after a few weeks driving it 60 mph is very comfortable for me.

 

alright, have somewhat the same problem here. the jeep is okay, but at some points decides to criss cross between lane sides on the freeway. going 75 mph with a cj wandering from side to side isn't fun at all. this mainly started when i sitched from 31's to 34's, and i've got some lift shackles ready to go in. what exactly am i looking at in caster once the shackles go in (it's currently running BDS 3" lift with no shims)?

I believe i've got 6 degree shims at home for when they get put in. Is this roughly what I need?? Anyone have a rough estimate on what would bring everything back into check?

 

Speaking from personal experience here: If you already have steering problems, you are asking for a death wish by using the words "lift shackles" and "75 mph" in the same paragraph.

I have recently become a firm believer in poly bushings. I don't buy the poly hype for all applications, mind you, but for suspension bushings and the like, the harder the better. I am actually in the process now of getting some aluminum stock machined and replace the poly with alum, just for good measure.

6deg shims are a good start, but that probably should have been done with the 3" lift. Adding the big tires probably amplified a problem that was already present.

Are you running a stock steering setup?