gbkd80

So with winter among us, and living in the northeast, I've decided to put some time and effort into my XJ and get it driving solid.

It's hard to know what kind of 'slop' I'm really dealing with, but I do know that the steering does have a lot of play and feels swimmy, and if I drift a little it takes a good amount to get it back on straight, if that makes sense. I have no death wobble, doesn't ride rough or bumpy. But one thing I have noticed is coming out of my driveway and going over some deep holes on the way out the body rolls a lot and feels kind of squishy. It's not extreme, but I don't know how else to describe it.

Been on the tube, watching all kinds of front-end repairs. I will say right off the bat that I'm in no way a 'car guy' but I can turn a wrench and follow instructions well, and nothing I've seen so far scares me in the least, so now it's just a matter of knowing where to start and what to look for. Here are some pictures I took for my own reference:


You can clearly see right through the swaybar bushings... I have those already and plan on replacing first.


Drivers-side swaybar links (?)


Drivers-side tie rod end


Passenger-side um, everything...


I don't remember which link this is, but the boot looks effed...

I was also told my driveshaft u-joints are shot, which I can do also, no problem, but in diagnosing the front end, I don't really have a reference to a good-working Cherokee to know how good or bad mine is before I go overboard with repairs. I drove a 99 or 2000 XJ back when they were brand new and I remember how nice it drove, but I couldn't remember specifics.

Just looking for some tips, and if anyone could (pun intended) steer me in the right direction on parts to use, brands etc...

gbkd80

I went out in the garage and put it up on stands to have a good look at it.
Tie-rods look pretty good, nothing is really movable by hand that I can tell. I'm concerned as to why I'm leaking fluid when I turn the wheel without the vehicle on/running? I was hoping it might be a pressure thing...

downs

Judging by the looks of the parts I can see in the front end I'm willing to bet you would really benefit from full front end rebuild. It does look like someone did replace the upper swaybar link bushings. Werid they would do that andnothing else. And your bumpstops are still there and not disintegrated.

MOOG is a good choice for front end parts. You can get them online, Rockauto and Amazon for pretty good prices. I'd personally stay away from any of the housebrands from the bigbox stores like Duralast.

If you've got the money I would order up all the front end bushings you need, and all the steering components along with the track bar and do it all at once. If you can't afford it I'd start with the track bar, sway bar bushings (because they're cheap, easy and quick to replace) then the steering components and then the control arm bushings. I'm willing to bet when you pull those control arms you'll find the bushings all shot out and collapsed and cracked.

Not sure if you're still on stock springs or not but if they are they'll probably need to be replaced as well. If not with a lift with some OEM style replacements.

Edit-I just watched the video. You certainly have some play on the frame side of the track bar. Not sure why you're leaking while turning. If you don't see play in the tie rod ends and what not then maybe leave them alone for now and put the money towards other front end parts. I still bet those control arm bushings are worn out.

gbkd80

Yeah, you're right about the play on the track bar.. I didn't even notice that. I'll have to replace it. Do I need to go the adjustable route? This is a stock XJ...

Control arm bushings: replace the bushings themselves or just get new control arms?

Gotyoulooking

I'm also in the same predicament. I replaced the swaybar bushing with some poly from autozone and also did the ZJ Tie rod upgrade following https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/xj...upgrade-82987/ . But I stopped doing the rest because now I'm thinking of just getting the RE 3.5 lift and replacing all the old joints when installing the kit. I can wait till then cause I have no issues and noises after the above replacements. They not hard to replace, just need some penetrating fluid and take measurements so you not too far off alignment.

You don't need adjustable since your stock, and when I was looking at the control arm bushings it was a better deal just to get whole control arm new with the bushings in them already

downs

I wouldn't bothering going adjustable unless you plan on lifting it.

As far as whole control arm vs just bushings. You can get the name brand kits (MOOG) that contain all the bushings you need for 65 to 70 dollars, there are cheaper bushings out there if you want to go that route as well. That's about the cost of two namebrand control arms. It's up to you. I've replaced bushings before and it wasn't a huge deal and worth saving some money to me, but it is much easier to just stick new arms with bushings already in them into the Jeep. Even if you go that route you are still going to have to press out and pound in the new bushings which is going to take the same tools as doing the control arm bushings anyway.

To me it would just depend on how nasty/rusty your stuff is already.

ericjw1991

I haven't needed to do any total rebuild on my front end. But I did have a snapped swaybar link, and two collapsed shocks, and the trackbar. Had a deathly metal-on-metal sound .
I recommend you PB Blast everything for a week lol. I had to fight the swaybar link bolts to the death, and the shocks busted my knuckles open. The trackbar I had to cut with a sawzall.
As for parts, MOOG everything I can lol. Replaced the rubber bushings with Polyurethane ones. As I replaced the components, I went ahead and replaced all bolts/ washers/ nuts I could. Afterwards, I greased, then spreayed Fluid Film ( once a year ) to fight any new corrosion. Makes it easier next time.

gbkd80

Well I was having some luck tonight, for a little while, and then everything went downward. I was replacing the washer motor and said, why not, I'll start the sway bar bushings too. Well I took off one side (came off pretty easy with a breaker bar) but then I realized I couldn't get the busing around the bar so I took the other ide down too... now it comes completely free, I can do what I need... until I went to put it back on. Either I have the wrong size bushings for that swaybar, or I have the truck standing on the drivers-side control arm and it's throwing things off... but I fought with one of the bolts and then stripped it in the middle, so now I cant even get it out... what do I do, cut it off with a dremel now? I should have just gotten the entire kit, I think one of the link bushings is shot too.

PatHenry

What bolt did you strip?

​​​​​​​I usually jack the Jeep up with stands under the frame rails and then I can use the jack on the axle to extend and compress from whatever side I need to get things in place.

PatHenry

Replacing the entire link is usually the best.

gbkd80

That's what I was thinking after the fact... it's the bolt on the drivers-side swaybar bushing bracket furthest in. So I'm guessing since the frame rail is boxed in, it broke a weld inside or something and now I can't get it out even when prying on it from what little room I have between the frame and the bracket....

gbkd80

Yeah.. I'm seeing that now that I found out how accessible everything is to take apart (minus the frozen bolts, etc)

PatHenry

IIRC, those bushings are surprisingly hard to get in. These are the sway bar to frame bushings

So is the bolt spinning (like a welded nut broke off)?

Do you have an impact to back the bolt out?

gbkd80

They were a real pain... I'm actually wondering if I got the wrong size. I was asked at AutoZone what size I needed and I thought that was bogus so I just bought the MOOG replacements from Advance, based on the vehicle fit. Maybe they were on to something. They sure do fit larger than the old ones but I kind of expected that, being new and all...

I don't have an impact.. I'm just starting to wrench on this thing so I have basic hand tools. The bolt acts like it's backing out and then pulls back in. It feels like when a thread is all stripped out on the bolt but then I read that these had welded nuts inside the frame that break off. Maybe I'm just better off cutting it off and re-tapping the hole or using one of those rivet things...

PatHenry

Hmmm, you can cut the bolt, but I'd try spraying some PB blaster on it and try putting some leverage outward with a prybar or something behind the head while slowly cranking it out.

If the nut was off the bolt would just spin without coming out.

If you cut it, you might be able to use an easy-out or left handed drill bit to get the rest of the bolt out.