Jeep pulls to the right....

[OverRockOffRoad]

Hey everyone I figured I would ask you all your thoughts on what could be the cause of my new XJ pulling to the right. Its a 94 XJ 4x4, auto, 4.0 with 121k.

I have given this thing a few pretty good shake downs and I was a Tech at 4WP for a while so I can usually pin point these things fairly quick but I am not having any luck with this one.

I have check the brakes they are brand new, the calipers seem to work fine, I drove it home almost 2 hours from my house when I bought it, the guy who sold it to me also drove 2 hours to meet me.

I replaced the track bar, I have checked the alignment, rotated the tires and the steering is tight. The CAs bushings could use some new ones but I am planning to lift it so I am holding off on that for a bit, they are still in decent shape and should be fine for a little bit.

The right front tire was rounded a while the others are all pretty flat. I have jacked it up and used a pry bar to check for play, the BJs seem okay but I am unsure about the hub bearing. My next step I am going to replace the hub bearings. I do hear a faint clunk sounds every so often from the right front. I can't hear any grinding sounds or anything like that.


With that said any thoughts? Maybe something I have not thought of, any input would be appreciated. Like I said my next step is to replace the hub bearing/hub assembly's.

[4.3LXJ]

Joey, check the castor angle on both sides. I would be willing to bet there is a 1.5° difference. Early Jeeps came from the factory that way

[XJ Wheeler]

Check for grooves from the pads on the knuckles. These have a common problem with wearing there and the pads could be hanging up. Although, i bet you would have found evidence of that already.

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[OverRockOffRoad]

3909

Are these the grooves XJ Wheeler?




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[4.3LXJ]

Serious grooves

[OverRockOffRoad]

Joey, check the castor angle on both sides. I would be willing to bet there is a 1.5° difference. Early Jeeps came from the factory that way

I messed with the shims on the control arms already, I for got to mention that in my post. It didn't seem to change anything.


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[4.3LXJ]

Joey, what I meant is that the axle on early XJs are assembled to pull to the right by changing the castor relative to the other side when the tubes are pressed in. Use an angle finder or cell phone with a leveler app and measure the top of the ball joint. They are probably different

[OverRockOffRoad]

Joey, what I meant is that the axle on early XJs are assembled to pull to the right by changing the castor relative to the other side when the tubes are pressed in. Use an angle finder or cell phone with a leveler app and measure the top of the ball joint. They are probably different

Sounds good I'll check it out.

I was taught that they made them with different caster to compensate for the crown of the road. But this makes them pull slightly to the left just enough to keep them from drifting right due to the crown of most roads.

When we align the lifted trucks, we had to adjust them with higher caster on one side in order to keep them driving straight. Since caster does not normally wear tires we would set the camber and use caster to make them drive straight.

[XJ Wheeler]

3909

Are these the grooves XJ Wheeler?




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That's the ones!

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[abebehrmann]

Had the same grooves on mine, fairly easy fix if you own a welder. My passenger side brake got really hot though, you ever feel the temp of the wheels after driving it a bit?

[OverRockOffRoad]

Hmm so these grooves looked like they where supposed to be there, they're not?
They also will cause the Jeep to pull?

I drove the Jeep a lot today and I could not feel any excess heat coming from that side.

abebehrmann I've got a welder, you just fill them in and grind it down smooth?

[XJ Wheeler]

Hmm so these grooves looked like they where supposed to be there, they're not?
They also will cause the Jeep to pull?

I drove the Jeep a lot today and I could not feel any excess heat coming from that side.

abebehrmann I've got a welder, you just fill them in and grind it down smooth?

Yeah, those arms (what i am going to call them) on the knuckles are suppose to be smooth. What happens is the pads catch on a certain part of the groove and won't release from the rotor.

Although it probably isn't your problem since the wheel isn't getting hot. I've had a few calipers lock up and you would notice.

I'll let Abe comment on the other question since he has done it.

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[abebehrmann]

Yeah, you can just fill in the grooves and grind it smooth. Be sure to lube up those areas when you put it back together to help make sure it doesn't wear new grooves.

[OverRockOffRoad]

Sounds good, thank you for the help. I will look into welding them up and see if it helps.

If it does not help the pulling issue it seems it will prevent another issue before it happens and I am okay with that.

[bigjim350]

Could also be a tire more worn than the other. If you get some free time, swap sides on the front tires and see if it pulls the other direction.

[OverRockOffRoad]

Could also be a tire more worn than the other. If you get some free time, swap sides on the front tires and see if it pulls the other direction.

This was one of the first things I did, the rears were fairly flat so I rotated them the very next morning after buying it, then I drove it and it still pulled so I swapped them side to side and it still pulls...

The tires and wheels are due for a change so I have a new set coming in next week the they both need replaced. I ordered some 32/11.50/15 BFG ATs on some Procomp steely wheels.

After looking some more I see that the one that was on the front has a couple small chunks taken out of the sidewall and the wheel has some good curb rash. I am sure the PO something, nothing looks bent but I am going to pull some measurements and see.

[OverRockOffRoad]

Joey, what I meant is that the axle on early XJs are assembled to pull to the right by changing the castor relative to the other side when the tubes are pressed in. Use an angle finder or cell phone with a leveler app and measure the top of the ball joint. They are probably different

Well I got under there while I was doing the lift and put the angle finder on it and it was off by about 8* so I thought it over and decided to pull both shims from the drivers side.

The Jeep sails straight as an arrow down the road now!

Thanks Steve!

What I had done with the shims before was I pulled one from the D side, it seemed to help but still pulled. So then I over thought it and put the D side shim back and pulled both P side shims. This made it worse and proved to me that it is the D side, so I put those back and pulled both D side shims. Problem solved.