Newbie wheeling question...

CMU Renegade · **Joined:** Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:50 am **Posts:** 6

I'm new to the 4x4 world, and I recently took my '05 Renegade offroading, when I got off the trail it was obvious that I needed an alignment. The steering wheel needs to be a few degrees to the left to drive straight. I'm wondering whether or not I may have damaged something I don't know about, or if a simple alignment will fix it. I took the Jeep on the highway and was doin 70+ with no problem. Anybody have any thoughts? I don't wanna continue trailing if there could be something serious I'm not seeing. Thanks!

TheChucklesStart · **Posted:** Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:46 am

Whenever you off-road there are risks, keep that in mind when you go off-road.

The faster you go, the more likely you are to break something. The more your tires spin, the more likely you are to break something. The harder the suspension works, the more likely something is going to break.

This seems obvious, but I broke my old landcruiser a few times and if I had know what I know now, it would not have broken nearly as often.

How fast were you going? What kind of stuff were you doing?

CMU Renegade · **Joined:** Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:50 am **Posts:** 6

I was going at idle speed and I was just cruising along a spot where there were two big ruts in the mud for the wheels(obviously some other trucks had been going through here alot before.) It got pretty deep at some points and i had to spin the wheels a bit to keep moving. When I got back to the flat, dry ground the alignment was off. I'm wondering if maybe me turning the wheel while i was in the ruts could have screwed the alignment. I also got under the Jeep and looked at all the suspension components and what not; everything seemed to be fine. I havnt had the Jeep that long, and I havnt really begun to do much work to it, so I don't know all the ins and outs just yet. I'm gonna take it in today or tommorrow and find out for sure.

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

This happened to me last month in pretty much the exact same situation. I went and got it aligned and its all better now. Nothing was broken.

Consider getting a lifetime alignment so you don't have to pay everytime you need an aligment. If you are going to go offroad this will happen from time to time. I get mine aligned with every rotation just because its free.

Edit: My steering wheel was off way more than just a few degrees too. Probably 30 degrees off center.

CMU Renegade · **Joined:** Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:50 am **Posts:** 6

Well thats reassuring. I'm pretty sure that's the case with me too, but since I'm so inexperienced with wheeling I figured checking on here for some peace of mind couldn't hurt. Thanks!

acbafam · **Posted:** Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:12 pm

Where did you get a lifetime alingment done???¿¿¿???

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

Any Firestone shop could hook you up with the lifetime. It is good at every shop nationwide and there's no limit to how many times you can use / abuse it. Since its free I have them check the alignment pretty much everytime I'm in there. They know I wheel it and they have no problems at all.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:36 pm

cool. do they do the alignment while you wait at all the shops?

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

hoss75 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:36 am

AdamIsAdam wrote:

cool. do they do the alignment while you wait at all the shops?

I have Firestone Lifetime too and they generally take 2 to 3 hours to get it done when I take it in and I've taken it or my other car in to maybe 4 different Firestones and this is about the average at all of them.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:22 pm

So, you don't have to buy anything from Firestone to get lifetime free alignment? Do you have to fill out a membership form?

kj lad · **Posted:** Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:37 pm

If you're in deep ruts you can usually use them as railroad tracks (slowly). A big mistake that novice offroaders makes is to steer too much in ruts. The vehicle usually won't climb out of the ruts so the front wheels are pushed straight on even when turned at an angle (e.g. you may have a left turn half lock on the front wheels but still go straight). I doubt you have damaged anything, but an alignment will give the shop a chance to check the front end for you.

It's good practise to clean out under your skid plates (take them off to do this), inside your wheels and your suspension/steering system after you've been offroad. Damage is easy to pick up on a trail and cleaning everything allows you to inspect for damage and grease anything that's drying out.

Enjoy your offroading and be safe. :wink:

Ian

Skyjump136 · **Joined:** Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:50 pm **Posts:** 1633

hoss75 wrote:

AdamIsAdam wrote:

cool. do they do the alignment while you wait at all the shops?

I have Firestone Lifetime too and they generally take 2 to 3 hours to get it done when I take it in and I've taken it or my other car in to maybe 4 different Firestones and this is about the average at all of them.

Maybe that's a local problem. I usually make an appointment and never wait more than 45 minutes. I've had alignments done at four different shops and always get great service. If you're just bringing it in unannounced I can see where you may have to wait longer though.

Tokyo - you just have to buy the alignment. They do way more than tires. Most of my routine service is done at Firestone. They service transfer cases, transmissions, diffs. For my 30000 mile service I paid them HALF what the dealer wanted. And all their work is guaranteed and keeps your warranty in good standing.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Sun Jul 31, 2005 9:44 pm

good info. Thanks all. I've also been contemplating getting the lifetime tranny fluid change for $99. I know they charge for filters, but in between filters, there's no charge for annual flushes. That's good to do more often also when off roading.

I haven't been liking how my KJ has been shifting lately. Curioosly enough, it got better off the last Jamboree, but I think that had more to do wiht the long drive and keeping the KJ running most of the time on the trail. I got the tranny fluid very hot and it shifted woderfully for about a week after. Now it's shifts kinda hard on the upshift. I do a lot of short trips so the fluid takes a beating. It's only got 10k since last change.

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