Bump Steer Help
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Bump Steer Help
Hello everyone, long time lurker here looking for some help with my truck. Ever since I put on a 2.5" readylift leveling kit I have been fighting bump steer and buying more parts to attempt to correct it. Currently my setup is a 2.5" spacer lift, Carli track bar, 2.6* caster bushings on both sides, dual fox steering stabilizer on the tie rod AND a fox 2.0 in the factory location. The last time the truck was aligned was with the regular Carli 2* bushings and caster was just under 4* on both sides. I even put on radius arm drop brackets at one point but did not notice any change. Truck drives ok on smooth roads, but ANY bump or dip in the road and the steering wheel will try to rip out of your hand. I have only ever had solid axle trucks most with lifts or leveling kits and none have ever been even close to this bad. The dealer won't even look at it with aftermarket parts. I am open to any and all suggestions on what to do at this point. I'm just about ready to go back to stock suspension. Sorry for the long post, otherwise its been a great truck. Thanks in advance, Tyler.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 410
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My 17 with 2.5" ReadyLift and dual Rancho(?) stabilizers had been nothing but awesome. I am considering a stock anti-sway bar though. Stock shocks and single steering stabilizer. Running 35" Toyo Open Country R/Ts on 20's.
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I'm starting to think there maybe something wrong with my truck, possibly the adaptive steering or steering box, I may revert back to stock and see if it goes back to normal. Also I have Fox 2.0 shocks on all 4 corners if that makes a difference.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 939
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From: DFW
I have the 2.5 BDS kit with fox shocks, BDS Track Bar, Dual Fox stabilizers, and 20 inch wheels with 35/13.50-20 tires. No problems at all, in fact, perfect and smooth as glass at 85 to 90 on the West Texas highways going to the ranch. Might be the kit or something the installers did or did not do correctly.
There have been numerous threads on this subject might do a search. There is a reason I do not mix and match parts when doing modifications to the suspension---it is all a system and must function that way.
Just my.02 on the matter and it has saved me a lot of headaches and $$$$'s over the years
There have been numerous threads on this subject might do a search. There is a reason I do not mix and match parts when doing modifications to the suspension---it is all a system and must function that way.
Just my.02 on the matter and it has saved me a lot of headaches and $$$$'s over the years
5th Wheeling
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 30
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Yeah, at least... Rough country has an adjustable track bar for only slightly more than a bracket and you'll be able to get it perfect. Not that the bracket wouldn't be but if it's not for some reason, there's no adjustment...
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2017
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Did you install the lift OP? Did you torque everything to spec? Did the alignment shop give you all the specs besides caster? Check all the fittings and torque to spec. Part of the track bar has to be torqued to a little over 400 ft-lbs.
That much bumpsteer with 3 steering stabilizers means there is something wonky going on...
That much bumpsteer with 3 steering stabilizers means there is something wonky going on...
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Sorry for the delayed response. But the dealership installed just the ready lift kit originally. I installed the caster bushings, Carli track bar and steering stabilizers. I have a 500lb torque wrench and set the track bar bolt at 410 ft lbs. Still haven’t found a fix yet, may try going back to stock and lowering the rear end. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
More Turbo
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 543
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From: Extreme NW Ohio
Get a track bar drop bracket. The track bar has to be as close to parallel with the axle housing as possible to prevent bump steer. An adjustable track bar will center the axle, but will not bring the bar back to parallel after lifting. It's all in the geometry of how the suspension cycles when the axle moves up & down/side to side.
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2013
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Get a track bar drop bracket. The track bar has to be as close to parallel with the axle housing as possible to prevent bump steer. An adjustable track bar will center the axle, but will not bring the bar back to parallel after lifting. It's all in the geometry of how the suspension cycles when the axle moves up & down/side to side.
You want the track bar and the drag link to be as parallel as possible to minimize bump steer.
More Turbo
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 543
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From: Extreme NW Ohio
Ideally, ALL 3 would be parallel. I’m talking when the vehicle is sitting still, on a flat surface, loaded as it normally would be. The closer the track Bar is to being parallel with BOTH the axle housing and the drag link, the less it will “push or pull” the axle housing sideways as the track bar moves through its arc. People have been told track bar & drag link thousands of times over the years, but the axle housing has always been left out of the equation. Some bump steer is always going to be present with a solid axle front end , it just cannot be avoided, we can minimize it if we study the geometry of all of the various parts, how they are attached & how they move as the axle travels up or down.
More Turbo
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 618
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I'm not disagreeing with you, but unfortunately the steering box of most vehicles is fixed and as you lift the vehicle, you are moving the axle further away from steering box as I'm sure you are aware. There are really no practical ways of making the drag link, the track bar and the axle parallel to one another without using extended pitman arms or overly long re-location brackets which just put more stress on some pretty vital components. So long as the drag link and track bar are relatively close, bump steer should be a non-issue. I have had 3 solid axle daily drivers lifted anywhere from 4 to 7 inches and none of them had any bump steer or adverse steering characteristics once the geometry was corrected.
I suspect most people that are having bump steer problems are doing their level kits on the cheap and not addressing the whole steering system. It sometimes takes quite a bit of work to get everything dialed in and most shops don't have the know-how or patience to do it right.
After several decades of chasing and fixing problem I've created by lifting my vehicles, I'd be more inclined to lower the rear instead of messing with the front of a SD. These trucks are plenty tall enough and unless you are going to put on some 37's, 35's and a lowered tail end would be the easiest and least invasive way of getting a leveled truck.
I suspect most people that are having bump steer problems are doing their level kits on the cheap and not addressing the whole steering system. It sometimes takes quite a bit of work to get everything dialed in and most shops don't have the know-how or patience to do it right.
After several decades of chasing and fixing problem I've created by lifting my vehicles, I'd be more inclined to lower the rear instead of messing with the front of a SD. These trucks are plenty tall enough and unless you are going to put on some 37's, 35's and a lowered tail end would be the easiest and least invasive way of getting a leveled truck.
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 410
Likes: 33
I'm not disagreeing with you, but unfortunately the steering box of most vehicles is fixed and as you lift the vehicle, you are moving the axle further away from steering box as I'm sure you are aware. There are really no practical ways of making the drag link, the track bar and the axle parallel to one another without using extended pitman arms or overly long re-location brackets which just put more stress on some pretty vital components. So long as the drag link and track bar are relatively close, bump steer should be a non-issue. I have had 3 solid axle daily drivers lifted anywhere from 4 to 7 inches and none of them had any bump steer or adverse steering characteristics once the geometry was corrected.
I suspect most people that are having bump steer problems are doing their level kits on the cheap and not addressing the whole steering system. It sometimes takes quite a bit of work to get everything dialed in and most shops don't have the know-how or patience to do it right.
After several decades of chasing and fixing problem I've created by lifting my vehicles, I'd be more inclined to lower the rear instead of messing with the front of a SD. These trucks are plenty tall enough and unless you are going to put on some 37's, 35's and a lowered tail end would be the easiest and least invasive way of getting a leveled truck.
I suspect most people that are having bump steer problems are doing their level kits on the cheap and not addressing the whole steering system. It sometimes takes quite a bit of work to get everything dialed in and most shops don't have the know-how or patience to do it right.
After several decades of chasing and fixing problem I've created by lifting my vehicles, I'd be more inclined to lower the rear instead of messing with the front of a SD. These trucks are plenty tall enough and unless you are going to put on some 37's, 35's and a lowered tail end would be the easiest and least invasive way of getting a leveled truck.
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