08 FJ Tough Country 3" Wandering probloem

[Big Casino]

I put a 3 inch T.C. on my 08 and having trouble with it wandering in the ruts on the road. Has been aligned twice. Anyone else having this probloem. Schwab doesnt have an answer. Any ideas would be appreciated. Please dont say OME.

[firetruck41]

What are the alignment numbers?

[tddfj]

beleave i read some where that wandering is the norm for just about any lft. more on the highway than secondary streets.

[Lemony]

Did you change your wheels? my wheels have 6 in back spacing and with a 1.5" spacer they wandered alot I thought it was just the big 325 50 22 tires and I was still rubbing the sway bar and went to 2" and the wander went away.

[Big Casino]

With this lift they cant get enough caster to cure the wandering probloem. What about an adjustable control arm? Stock wheels and tires. It is a handfull on the highway enough it may have to come off. It had zero wander stock. Any ideas are much appreciated.

[firetruck41]

What does Tough Country say? Why would they sell a lift kit that doesn't include correct caster? Sounds like a bad product, if that's the case.

[Big Casino]

They said that they have had zero troubles with this kit. I think they are just trying to get rid of me. It is only a coil spacer idenical to the others (Rev Tech) so why am I the only one in the country with this probloem. I am only out 6 tenths of a degree from spec on caster and 2 other shops that I have talked to say that it should not drive the way it is. As always ideas welcome.

[Lemony]

Did they use the right spec's? the first time I had mine aligned after the lift and it was always pulling right, I took it to a different McLeas tire (closer to work) and after they said Id have to pay the 2nd time I asked for both sets specs and Oh nO they used tacoma specs the first time and it was instantly free? go figure

[fj40nutts]

I did the sway away kit and also I notice a bit of a wander..I had the alignment done localy and they said it was in spec. Hmm maybe its not just your kit, its possably inherent with any lift. I attributed it to the short wheel base. My 40 wanders like crazy and i am used to it by now. I would like to know more about this before I get pulled over for solber drunk driving!

[KightOwl]

"The pivot points of the steering are angled such that a line drawn through them intersects the road surface slightly ahead of the contact point of the wheel. The purpose of this is to provide a degree of self-centering for the steering - the wheel casters around so as to trail behind the axis of steering. This makes a car easier to drive and improves its straight line stability (reducing its tendency to wander)."

Read more here Caster angle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have been consdering having new UCA's made with more caster or, just purchase off the shelf, to reduce that "wandering" effect.

I've driven a Toy Xtra cab with it's long stable wheel base for many years and when I first got my FJ that short wheel base felt very twitchy and still does.

[KightOwl]

Here's another idea that is less costly.

Try more "toe in". It has it's pros (more stable) and cons (friction).

Read more here - Performance > Suspension Tuning > Toe - Nissan 240SX Performance Tuning

Here is another good article that might help with the wandering problem solving. Caster, Camber, Toe

[Brock]

I read somewhere during my lift searches they recommend a 0 camber and .04 toe alignment after the 3 inch lift....

I had been reviewing RevTek, OME, ToyTec and a couple others...cant remember where I saw it but those were the numbers to make it track straight.

[DrSolar]

If you have aggressive tires wandering is caused by the aggressive tread bitting into the ruts on the road not alignment. Alignment is the problem if your vehicle can not track straight. It's not the lift, it's your tires.

[Brock]

my wifes car does it on certain roads...it is combination of tire traction and road conditions in most cases I will agree...

ball joints when completely worn will allow that but it is different as steering wheel input will not have the desired effect due to their worn condition....where you can move wheel back and forth between 11-1 and the vehicle will not turn back and forth.

[KightOwl]

I finally installed Camburg UCA’s on my FJC and here are the alignment numbers with a ~3” lift (Fox Shox 2.0 w/ adjusters from All Pro Off Road).

All three are w/ lift
Camber: Left - Right
Caster: Left - Right
Toe: Left - Right

Before UCA
0.5° - 0.1°
1.7° - 1.4°
-0.12° - 0.0°

After UCA
0.3° - 0.3°
2.1° - 2.0°
0.06° - 0.07°

Stock Specs
0.15° +-0.50°
2.82° +-0.50°
A+B 0.08° +-0.16°
C-D 0.04 +-0.08 in.


The UCA's did not give me what I wanted as far as caster goes. I need to learn how to weld and make my own.