confilid

Hey Jeepers, good to be part of the forum!

This is my first Jeep, bought it a few months ago. 92 Cherokee 4.0L 4x4 5-speed. I love this jeep and I want it to last. It's been my daily driver / work vehicle (drywall taper.. messy stuff) and I've put some long highway miles on it since I work out of town.
Most recent trip had me puckering a little bit. When I got onto the prairies, the roads were less than smooth, and when I'd hit a bump or pothole at 100km/hr (speed limit) my jeep would rock left and right like a boat for a good 5-10 seconds.
Everything on it is pretty much stock, as in I haven't modified or lifted anything yet. I picked it up for a grand so I'm well aware I'm gonna spend some money fixing things. I'm self-taught in the mechanical area, I can figure things out for the most part, but mostly I've worked on engines so far, haven't tweaked anything to do with suspension yet. I wouldn't call myself a mechanic by any means, but I can turn a wrench.

As far as I've read on here so far, this problem doesn't sound like the "death wobble", but correct me if I'm wrong? Thanks for your time guys.

wolfesgreenxj

Put new shocks on it an check you sway bar links to see if they are connected.

BillyBoy

A lot of these issues can't be seen until you jack up the jeep... the disconnect between components will be obvious. Don't jack on the axle, as that's what everything's connected to. Go on the side, towards the front, and jack on a framerail. You'll be able to check one side at a time. Sometimes a broken swaybar link will be perfectly lined up when there's weight on it, but separate when up in the air.

Also, you have a sway bar in the back too.

Reguardless, even if you find nothing officially "broken," inspect the swaybar bushings. They're cheap, easily replacable, and if they haven't been replaced before, might be your whole issue.

Also, the front shocks aren't hard to change either. Do some research before changing the backs though, as the head bolt that holds them in tends to break.

Good luck, keep us posted.

confilid

Thanks guys. Took a quick look after work today, the plot thickens.

I have no sway bar of any kind on this Jeep, as far as I can tell. If I'm understanding you correctly BillyBoy, I should have one in the front and one in the back? I have neither. So this is obviously my first issue.

I took a couple quick snapshots - looks like the mounts in the front are sitting there wishing they had a swaybar, and in the meantime, rubbing up against the shock coils.
In the back, well, I can't exactly tell where a sway bar would have been mounted in the first place.



Driver's side, from the front




Passenger's side, from the front




Passenger's side, from behind

Jimbo Slice

I'm no expert yet, but it appears as if someone has disconnected your swaybar (stabilizer bar?) links. I'd look at replacing not only the hardware, but the links themselves as well as the sway bar bushings.

Good luck.


Oh and by the way, ex drywall guy myself. Salute to you Sir!

67 GMC

This thread has some good pictures:


https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/whe...highway-78784/


You'll need to have access to a good "pickle fork" or tie rod end separator to do a lot of the suspension work. Just no way to separate some of the parts without the fork and a BFH. It's one of those tools that you can't do without but once you're done with the work, you hardly use it again. Not expensive at all. Also check youtube videos for help.

BillyBoy

No one has yet mentioned...

Is this your primary vechicle?
I'm not sure if it's safe to drive on the road, especially at high speeds with those peices missing...

I know some guys "disconnect" their swaybars for more articulation {travel} when offroading... hence the invent of "quick-disconnects" but on the highway? Maybe not so safe.

I'd also spend a little time doing some research on which parts to buy... I've read that you can purchase some front end Jeep GRAND Cherokee replacement parts {sway bar/linkages} that are MUCH beefier and better for about the same cost as the regular Cherokee parts.
Just an FYI. I also found that when taking some of my parts off {... I live in michigan, so my Jeep's as rusty as yours appears...} cutting the old parts off was easier than trying to take them apart. A Metabo grinder, or even a sawzall helped tremendously. So did soaking with a can of the good old PB Blaster...
Keep us posted.

confilid

That's correct Billy, this is my primary vehicle and I drive it daily. I knew when I bought it there were some issues, the guy never took care of it at all.. But I have been driving it for several months on long distance trips (12 hrs @ highway speed) and this most recent trip is the first time I've experienced any boat rocking motion.
I'm definitely anxious and motivated to get to work on this problem. I'm working in Saskatchewan (Canada) and winter is right around the corner.. I'd expect snow on the ground by Halloween, and it'll probably stay on the ground til May Long Weekend. That being said, I'm getting set up in a shop with in-floor heating and should be able to work on my jeep to my heart's content all winter.
Definitely going to look into the GRAND Chero replacement parts, I like the sounds of that. When I had my old Bronco 2 I tried to grab everything compatible that I could from the beefier Explorers. Any tips on where to start my research? I've phoned a few shops in the area but most of them so far seem to concern themselves with <10 year old vehicles with warranties.

Cheers Jimbo - another brother in the drywall world! I'd like to say I'm a full-time musician and drywall is my hobby, but unfortunately it's the opposite

Thanks for the link 67 - those pictures really helped.

Thanks again for the input guys, I'll keep you updated, and looking forward to making y'all proud.

BillyBoy

I think there's a link on this website to "what parts are compatable." You have to use the searchbar.