They're both torsion bars, I can't answer your question. Your Antirock is definitely set way stiffer than mine is so there's something else going on.
Steering wandering after Currie Antirock install
- Thread starter Hotchef181818
- Start date
I’m on the second loosest hole. Maybe that’s refered to as #2 instead of 4. And you are correct, brain fart they are both torsion bars.
I’ll do another dry steer test tomorrow night and see if anything looks different than last check. Maybe something came loose and I’m not seeing or hearing it.
Have you checked the rest of your front end linkages? I’m wondering if maybe some worn bushings or a loose track bar could cause some similar issues (though I’d expect the highway to be the harder to manage than in town).
When I installed an AR I also didn't change anything else that should have made a difference and it definitely doesn't track as well. Set on next to softest, not a daily driver, and it rides plush on rough trails so I don't really mind. Not trying to thread hijack, just seems to be at least a few of us that experienced this.
All new rokmen arms with Johnny joints and a new Metalcloak trackbar with properly resized holes. Like 500 miles on these.
I’ve torqued them probably 4x in the past 400 miles so it’s unlikely but always a possibility.
You are reacting to muscle memory and trying to counteract the new to you extra body roll while driving. I see it all the time with folks. You are unfamiliar with it and your brain doesn't like it so it is unconsciously trying to compensate for it by keep the Jeep from leaning by steering into the lean. Try ignoring your brain and the body roll and see what happens.
Yep, you nailed it. I've seen it in other ways as well. I let a guy drive Kat's Jeep once. He hit the brakes and slowed down for every little bump. I said, "you have Bilstein shocks on your rig, don't you?" Yeah, how did you know? You keep slowing down for all the annoying little bumps.
Your brain thinks it is very logical. It doesn't like it, it is fixing it for you so you are more comfy.
Odd, that thought had crossed my mind this morning on the way to drop it off but I didn’t trust my instinct. This is my fifth mild tj build and I’ve never used an anti rock so it’s my first experience and quite possibly what’s going on. It would explain why it seems to settle on the highway vs around town too since the inputs are smaller.
I appreciate the insight though. I’ll put more miles on it over the next week and see if I adapt. I’ll say that it doesn’t feel dangerous, just different.
My first build years ago was a scout 2 that I relentlessly chased every issue down until I could do 75 on without hands on the wheel. I’ve never experienced this with my tj builds though. Maybe it’s time to reprogram the brain.
This is a very interesting explanation.
Kind of like how you cannot (well most people) ride a bicycle with the steering reversed (as in you turn the handlebar right, the wheel goes left). Your brain overcompensates and makes it insanely hard to do. But if you keep trying, b you can eventually learn it (and that messes up how you ride a normal bike .. but you don't forget it completely and it'll come back).
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Glad you watched and enjoyed it. @mrblaine has a very good way of explaining things since he understands what's happening. I thought that video was very apt in this context to get the message across.
People have different sensitivity to body roll. I've never driven a Jeep before I got my TJ, and it was an interesting first week driving it. I don't have one, but I suspect the Antirock would be similar but may take more time to get used to for some of us (provided everything else steering related is in order). If my Jeep came with it, I wouldn't have known any better and gotten used to it in the first week.
What I find amazing is this... that I drive a tight handling BMW 330ci on a daily basis. Then I drive my TJ in the weekends with its Antirock on its loosest setting. Big soft 35" tires. It feels and drives great to me, even when towing my tent trailer on curvy mountain roads without a problem. My TJ handles fine to me. Why, when I'm used to driving a BMW, am I not bitching about my TJ with its Antirock on its loosest setting?
I've seen that video before. Does seem to support the whole "muscle memory" thing...
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it's because you're smart enough to realize that they're two completely different creatures. You know what to expect from each. I drive three different vehicles...a Lincoln Town Car, a 3/4-ton Dodge pickup, and my wife's XJ...and I don't expect any of them to be comparable to another. And they aren't.
It is very easy to tell, just pay attention to the steering wheel when it is being moved to make the small changes in steering and correlate that to the body roll.
I did leave out one mechanical issue that could cause the same thing and that is a steering gear that is faulty. If you find that you can't hold the steering wheel straight and it wants to pop over center as in you are continually finding yourself correcting it with small twitches to try and get it to go straight, the gear is shot and needs replacing. It would be exacerbated with the slight increase in body roll the AR affords, but it would have still been there before with the other anti swaybar.
I’m not sure if this directed at me or not but this post was created in response to a perceived change in handling after a part was swapped, not the general handling of the vehicle.
What my perception of what is taking place is the equivalent of when I went to a much wider tire on my old 400hp Subaru. It would “hunt” or be effected by smaller changes in the surface of the road than when I had narrower tires.
For the same reason that others find it uncomfortable, our brains all work in different ways and lest we forget, you've been driving a lifted TJ continually from at least 97 or so. We all perceive things differently. You are probably one of those that doesn't get seasick very easily whereas I on the other hand, only have to step in the cabin of any boat on the water underway and get it near instantly. If you pay attention to the image your brain is processing while you walk that is known to you as what you see around you, your image is likely not rock steady without any movement like a shaky camera would present.
My perception of that image is absolutely dead rock solid. My brain works very hard at counteracting the bounce and movement of my body and head while I am moving to keep that image perfectly still relative to my movement. When I get on a boat, it goes into extreme overtime trying to process and keep that image still and that is what produces the sea sickness.
I have to help folks relearn how to drive their rigs after we get done fixing up their steering all the time. They complain of dartiness and difficulty driving. I explain that we are dealing with muscle memory and if they will just steady their hands, stop watching the steering wheel and just gently point the rig where they are looking down the road, it will all smooth out. That has worked every time so far and then they report back how precise the steering is. The dartiness was a result of all the small corrections they were used to making from worn parts and their brains continued them based on sensory inputs due to road conditions. If it does the same with steering that has no slop in it, then the rig is being moved back and forth in a manner that makes it feel darty.
The greatest value we have when trying to be helpful to others is the ability to get out of our own skins and put ourselves in the place of others to try and see what they are experiencing.
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