Front end alignment issues after lift

[kjkotlar]

I'm having some issues with front end alignment after lifting my 03 KJ. I got a set of OME 927 front springs and Bistein shocks and also installed the JBA uca's. After putting it all together and exercising the suspension the center of wheel to lip of fender flare is at 24 1/4" which is a little more than I was shooting for but that's what I've got. I did buy the springs from a guy whose 02 KJ was totaled by the insurance company after some severe hail damage (struts are brand new), but one of the springs still had the little tag on it that said 927 so I'm pretty confident that is what they are. The problems I'm running into are that 1) the angle on the cv joints at the end of the axle tube is pretty extreme, to the point that it doesn't look like it will last very long and 2) the camber and toe in are so excessive that the guy at the front end alignment shop said that I need to look into an aftermarket steering knuckle that will accommodate the lift kit, even with the lca cams at full extension I'm not close to the camber spec or the toe in spec. I thought that possibly there were aftermarket lca's and tie rods that were longer but I haven't been able to locate anything like that with google searches which makes me think that they shouldn't be required. He also mentioned possibly getting brackets that would lower the front axle to help with the cv joint angle, but I'm thinking that would just increase the angle on the cv joint coming from the drive shaft. I'm wondering if anyone else has run into these issues and what steps they took to correct them. Also, after everything was said and done I re-read the info that came with the JBA uca's and it says that they will work with a maximum distance of 22 1/2" from wheel center to fender lip. I did research which parts to use for this here on the forum and it seems that a number of people have gone with this combination successfully so I'm wondering if I'll be ok with that much height. I realize that there are shops out there that will try to talk you into all kinds of things you don't need, but I'm comfortable with this shop. The tech that worked on it drives a wrangler and spent a good bit of time with me showing me the issues and explaining why he thought I should try to locate a steering knuckle that would correct the angles. Any feedback from your experience would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[duderz7]

That's good you trust your mechanic, but in my experience wrangler boys have no love for the liberty, plus it's front end is a totally different animal. That does seem really unusually high, please post some pictures of your setup. There's got to be something wrong here. Many of us are running the same springs with additional clevis or top spacers and are not that high.

 

[kjkotlar]

You make a good point about the front end of the Liberty being completely different from the Wrangler. The guy seemed very interested and involved in my issue, but maybe he just isn't familiar enough with the independent suspension setup, not sure. Here are some pictures I took, hopefully someone will notice something that I'm not seeing, it seems to me that everything is put together properly but I'm pretty new to this jeep stuff so it wouldn't surprise me if I did something incorrect. If there are any specific pictures you'd like to see, just let me know. You can see the extreme angle on the cv joint in one of the pics, that just doesn't look like a good situation to me. Thanks again for any comments or suggestions.

 

[duderz7]

You're right about the cv angles, those look horrible! What spacers are you using on top? Doesn't look right? It kinda looks like the shock isn't bolted to the top?

 

[lfhoward]

First pic: looks like you have some kind of lift spacer as a top plate. It shouldn’t be double-leveled like that, should it? Check out pics of regular OEM top plates for the struts. Like this:

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Second pic: the clevis is not on as far up as it could go, giving you additional “clevis lift”.

The geometry of the front suspension is that whatever extra distance you have at the “strut” gets doubled at the wheels. For example, if the two things above sum to 1.5”, that gives you 3” of extra beyond what the springs get you. Looks like you measured 5.25” of lift over the stock 19” that a KJ comes with. If the OME 927’s net you 2.5” of that, the other 2.75” comes from the spacer and the clevis lift. Eliminate those and you will be much better off.

 

[EagleKJ]

I see the same thing. Looks like a big spacer up top?

 

[kjkotlar]

Those were the upper shock mounts that I got from the guy that I bought the springs from. He gave me a pair of 1/4" steel plates that he had used above those but I didn't use them. I'll pull them off and try the factory mounts, maybe that's the issue. Thanks for all of the comments and observations, I'm learning on a lot from this project.

 

[kjkotlar]

Also, I'm pretty sure that the clevis is as far as it can go, there is a raised section on the bottom of the strut if I'm not mistaken. I'm writing this as I sit with my morning coffee so I'll have to verify that after I'm fully awake. Again thanks for all of the comments.

 

[kjkotlar]

Once again I've learned something new thanks to the observant eye's on here on the forum. The top plates that I received when I bought the used parts were indeed taller than the original plates. When I removed the stock struts I was focused on the isolaters and didn't notice the difference in the top plate height. Yesterday I had time to remove the passenger side strut and disassemble it and put it back together with the stock plate and that brought my wheel center to fender flare span down to about 22 1/2, with a much more acceptable cv joint angle. I should have time today to get to the driver's side and move on to the front end alignment. Thanks again to all who commented and helped to steer me in the right direction, no pun intended.

 

[duderz7]

That should help greatly with your alignment as well.

 

[tommudd]

You have a stupid darn RRO spacer on top and over 5 inches of lift no wonder you are having issues
Tear down and get rid of that top plate and use a stock one
some knucklehead was trying to get lots of lift in totally the wrong way

 

[tommudd]

Correct alignment specs are posted on here many times

 

[kjkotlar]

Thanks Tom, I didn't realize it was Rocky Road but it is quite a bit taller than the stock plate. I've pulled them both out and replaced them with the stock plates and all is looking much better. I'm out of town this week visiting family but I've got an appointment for an alignment next Monday. Looking forward to getting it back on the road. Again I really appreciate all of the comments and suggestions, without this group I would have been fussin' and cussin' for a long time.