I just installed a Rough Country 3.5" lift with a Rough Country adjustable track bar on my 2011 JKU Sahara. After about 500 miles on the new lift I have noticed that the string wheel is a bit jerky as I turn right or left from center. This usually manifests when on road and at residential speeds and turning around corners or other right turns. I used the drip Putnam arm that came with my lift along with the track bar relocation bracket that came with the lift as well. Should I have mounted my adjustable track bar to the factory mounts instead? Would a dash link flip kit fix the jerky Steering? Is there anything else I should check out? Thanks in advance from a new Jeeper!

 

Did you install anything that would correct your caster in the process of the lift? It sounds like you likely are running too low caster. Stock is 4.2* caster....and when you lifted it that probably dropped to 2.8* or so unless you installed either adjustable control arms, geometry brackets, or gawd forbid, cam bolts.

 

What's the condition of your u-joints up front? You may be hyper sensitive now that you've got a lift. The joint can make the wheel feel jerky in turns as the joint binds.

 

The lift came with new front lower control arms and I also installed a new track bar. When I got the alignment done they set the caster to 4.8, and Rough Country recommended 4.6-6.0 for that lift. The new control arms are not adjustable but came as part of the lift. There was a drop Pitman arm that came with the lift which I also installed but I am using the stock drag link and stabilizer.

 

I haven't touched them and am not sure. I will check and see if there is anything needing attention.

 

Caster sounds like it's ok then....it's within an acceptable range with those extended fix length arms. The drop pitman combined with the raised TB mount should be ok. Most of us flip the DL to the top of the knuckle and raise the TB mount, but RC uses a drop pitman to achieve the same thing. How many miles do you have on the jeep? Have you gone through and confirmed all your joints are in good shape? maybe you have a worn DL joint and now it's a little more apparent post-lift? Have you checked ball joints and TR ends recently?

Kinda hard to tell from description what the actual symptom is. Is it as bad as it feels when a u-joint binds up like Karls10jk is mentioning? You know what that feels like when in 4WD and trying to turn real sharp. Or is it not quite that herky jerky....but the steering wheel isn't smooth?

 

i'm going to say Ujoint as well. I could feel the pulsing in the steering wheel on sharp slow turn long before they ever made a noise.

 

Not on my JKUR, but my wife's Solara was feeling jerky when turning. Dealer said it's a tire separation. When I moved the front tires to the rear it went away, and since I've put on all new tires and haven't felt it at all.

 

Maybe a silly question, but is it possible that 4wd is engaged? That would certainly make your wheel jerk when going around turns on the road.

 

After rereading the symptoms, I'm putting my money on this.