Vindicator9000

This is probably an obvious answer, but I'm a Jeep noob, and I wanted to get a little input.

I picked up a $500 94 XJ for a winter beater / toy a few weeks ago. I've gotten it running, and got most of the major bugs worked out, but the rear end is EXTREMELY bouncy. Like, it feels like it's almost getting some air over normal sized road bumps.

It's barely tolerable on the street, but I tried to take it out on some chip and gravel backroads, and it was undrivable. The rear end is jumping around like crazy. A small washboard is downright scary at any speed above 20mph.

So, I would normally suspect blown shocks on the cars I'm used to working on. There's a few reasons I'm not so sure on this jeep:

1. It's got a 3" lift. I'm not familiar enough with XJs yet to be able to tell the quality of the lift. I don't have any broken leafs, the shocks look reasonably good (I know, you can't really tell by looking at them), and everything is tight.

2. It was minorly hit in the rear end before I bought it. The subframe where the bumper attaches is bent under a bit at the rear mount point for the leaf spring. I suspect that the leaf spring is compressed somewhat more than normal because of this. The whole suspension seems a bit stiffer on that corner.

3. Jumping up and down on the back bumper seems to not give as much suspension travel as I think it should. It's only moving 2-3" on the corner that I think is the problem (right rear). The left rear seems to move more.

4. Someone removed both swaybars. I know this shouldn't cause any major issues, but it definitely feels a bit... unstable on the highway. Not unmanageable, but it does roll more than I really like. I don't know if that's a symptom of the suspension problem, or the missing swaybars, or I'm just used to daily driving a lowered import, and now I'm in a lifted cherokee.

So, any input?

Vindicator9000

awww, no one?

mike albo

I would put the front sway bar back in for DD on the street.Then start by pulling each shock and manually working the in and out.If they are really easy to move, yes replace them.

huntingman2706217

set of shocks on ebay are only $120... wouldnt hurt... think thats what the deal is.. my frame is also bent down cause ding dong before me pulled a car trailer with a dump truck on it or something... but mine rides fine... if you push hard on the front or back andit pops back up and doesnt move... then the shocks should be good... if it bounces up and down 3 or 4 times there bad... they dont fail stiff... maybe they are newer shocks... but made for something like 2500 pickup... If your DDing it then lke stated above i would stick a front sway bar back in it... but almost all on/off road XJ's just pull them... the back isnt worth the time to even intall it... so just leave it... welcome and goodluck!!

Bama91XJ

check the u-bolts i have read around alittle.

Vindicator9000

Cool, I'll pull them tonight and take a look.

I am planning on hooking up the front sway again. It's actually still there, but someone cut the endlinks off. I picked up a decent set of bushings, but still need the endlinks yet.

Vindicator9000

hrm... now how do I get these off?

It looks like someone replaced the upper nuts on the passenger side with some grade-8 bolts at one time. I threw an impact on one, and it looks like it's just spinning.

Is there a nut or something on the other side under the carpet maybe?

The other side has bolts coming down with nuts on the ends. I haven't screwed with that one yet.

Bama91XJ

were they tight on or were they loose?

huntingman2706217

lol... uh yeah... search XJ shock mounts... youll find there nothing but trouble... youll also find alot of solutions...

kswiencki

ah, the dreaded spinning shock mount bolt. just another "joy" of owning an XJ

WHAT EVER YOU DO: donot use heat... unless you donot like the carpeting in the rear.

Vindicator9000

The grade 8s were a little tight, I guess. I don't know for sure because I just threw the impact on them right away, and they just spin without moving. It was then that I noticed that they were totally different from the stud/nut setup on the other side.

I imagine that there's probably a nut on them somewhere on the other side, but I can't pull my carpet up right now because I got the hatch roped shut... long story, but it involves the rear floor being bent down, and I'm hoping to fix that this weekend.

So, after searching around, I think I'm going to do the rear swaybar mount mod as seen here:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/upp...unt-mod-27284/

With stock Comanche shocks, I guess, unless someone has a better idea in the supercheap price range lol. I still have the rear swaybar, but it's broke and just hanging, so I'm going to take it off and use the mounts.

Vindicator9000

Alright, several months later, here's an update to my problem.

I eventually realized that some idiot previous owner had put the AALs in the wrong location, to where they were longer than the springs above them. This caused the mains to bend slightly and flatten out a bit where they contacted.

Also, I really have no idea what AALs they are, because they didn't really seem to fit perfectly in any position.

So, I did like any good jeeper and broke out the grinder. I moved the AALs to the second position. They were too long in front, so I cut about 1.5" off the front of them and bolted the packs back together with new clamps. The packs now step downward like they should. The pack appears to curve perfectly, and the mains no longer look flat. One thing I did notice is that the AAL appears to have a ton more curve on it than the other leaves.

Shackles are stock, and don't look the best, but the angle looks okay. I also installed new skyjacker shocks, and I know I have enough travel on them.

So now, the problem has changed somewhat. Instead of being overwhelmingly harsh, the ride in the rear is overwhelmingly bouncy. I mean, REALLY bouncy. Ride on the street has improved a ton, but it's still almost undrivable on back roads. Jumping on the bumper, it doesn't seem overly bouncy, but it is.

Would swapping the AAL out with the main from an S10 or something make a difference maybe? I've heard that bastard packs can help a bunch at putting spring back in a pack. Should I be looking at shackles? I'm trying to avoid replacing the mains for cost purposes, and the fact that I can't find any at the JY right now.

Sorry guys, I know I've asked a ton of questions about this problem, but I'm somewhat stuck.