Wheel base off side to side??

[99xj]

I'm curious if anyone has ever measured the relationship of the front and rear axles. Are they supposed to be parrell to each other?

I did a quick measirement on mine front to back. My rear as my starting point since it's fixed. I found that the pass side wheel base is longer than the driver side by almost 1". The control arm lengths showed only an 1/8" difference in lengths from side to side.

I just never checked the wheel base measurement before!

So do I correct the difference by adjusting the upper and lower control arms?

[JPR Ram]

One inch difference seems a little excessive.  I'd definately would try to correct it.  But the rear axle may be off also.  Grant it, there are pins in the springs and block and plates to center it; but maybe one of them broke or a hole was wobbled out.  Maybe a spring bushing is wore out or maybe a broken bolt.  I'd check that first and make sure the rear axle is "square" with the frame.  Then work on the front axle.  At least that's what I'd do............

[Metal Twister]

Presuming you got the front wheels perfectly straight and there was 1" difference, that means that the front could be 1/2 " off as well as the rear. Do some cross measurements and see where the lines intersect. Personally for a off road vehicle 1/2" off in the Back and 1/2" in the front isnt bad. That could mean that the right and left side could be fixed by adjusting one forward 1/4" and the other side back 1/4".... Then same with the front... so it sounds like a lot but its probably not that far our of square.    The trick is figuring out what is off.

[99xj]

One inch difference seems a little excessive.  I'd definately would try to correct it.  But the rear axle may be off also.  Grant it, there are pins in the springs and block and plates to center it; but maybe one of them broke or a hole was wobbled out.  Maybe a spring bushing is wore out or maybe a broken bolt.  I'd check that first and make sure the rear axle is "square" with the frame.  Then work on the front axle.  At least that's what I'd do............

Rear is a 8.8 and when I put it in everything was square and measured good. I just put new springs with new center pins less than a month ago.  I'll check the rear again to be sure.

I found the difference from side to side when I was installing adjustable arms (replacing fixed arms).

I guess my concern is that if the arms are different lengths from side to side will it affect the articulation of the axle? I can split the differance, lengthen the drivers side 1/2" and shorten the pass side 1/2".

[Metal Twister]

There ya go... your on track now.

[Mikegyver1]

Did you get the rear springs on correctly? ie... front eye in the front.. my trailer springs have a front and back eye (not a black eye ) and the center pin is offset towards the front..

[99xj]

Did you get the rear springs on correctly? ie... front eye in the front.. my trailer springs have a front and back eye (not a black eye ) and the center pin is offset towards the front..

Yeah, the rear springs are correct. I got it close and I'll fine tune it tomorrow when I have a helper to measure.
I have a little wobble at 56 to 58 mph and I hope that goes away when I'm done.

[99xj]

According to the information on the internet, it's not uncommon to find a discrepancy in wheelbase from side to side.
I went back to basics. Looked up the Rough Country and  Go Jeep control arm length for the amount of lift (6-6.5") with Rough Country drop brackets. Adjusted the upper arms to 15 1/2" and the lowers to 16 1/2" and this put me in the ball park and I fine tuned to get the best combonation of caster and pinion angle. The final lengths were 15 3/8" for the uppers and 16 1/2" on the lowers.

The Cherokee is all back together and no vibrations or wobble.