I'm trying to buy bushings to tighten up my jeep so it'll feel a bit more like it would have when new. I'm going to buy sway bar bushings for the front bar.

When I went to the back to look for the sway bar I couldn't find one. There's not even signs that one was ever mounted there. The holes in the 'frame' where it mounts aren't scratched or showing any signs that a sway bar was ever there. If there was, it was removed when the vehicle was nearly new.

It's a 99 Cherokee Sport model. Did they forego rear sway bars or did a previous owner tear it off for off-roading?

If it's the latter, it'd certainly explain the lack of handling I'm feeling compared to my friends's 99 Cherokee.

 

Not all Cherokees came with rear swaybars.

Rear sways are for street use.
Removal of the swaybar is a common mod AFTER lifting.

Look under your friends, probably has one.

 

if yours was equipped with a factory tow package it didnt come with one.

 

exactly i had two when i got mine one front one back now i have non. but i would only remove the rear it serves no use but to be there

 

OK, cool.

Yeah, I have a draw bar, a transmission cooler, and a limited slip D35. I'm not sure if that's the tow package or not but it would make sense.

 

a 99 with a factory tow package and a D35....are you sure?

 

Sounds like the tow package to me.

Why would Jeep leave the sway bar out for the tow package, is a mystery to me.

 

Both of mine have it or one had till I took it off for off road.

 

I'm not sure. I just figured the limited slip differential meant something special. On my Volvos, they threw the Eaton LSD on if you paid more for a tow package to pull a boat or trailer. Otherwise, you just got a regular old rear end.

 

Don't seat the rear sway bar. If I still had mine I'd give it to you for free. That's how worthless they are. If you're wanting to stiffen up your rear. Heavy duty rear leafs and heavy duty shocks will do it. I can't imagine why you'd want to do that to an XJ, though. Whatever you do to stiffen it will kill flex and articulation.

 

i took mine off my 98 and i couldnt tell any change what so ever on the street and i had to make a quick turn just the other day when a idiot pulled in front of me. but DO NOT remove the front one.

 

exactly it does nothing if you put new bushings and maybe a larger bar it would but this is a jeep not a sports compact it serves no use

 

Apples to oranges, but my other car is a Volvo 240 wagon, and I've been a Volvo guy for years and years. In a lot of ways they're similar. They weigh about the same, and are a unibody design. With the Volvo just upping the stock swaybar diameter by 2mm (both front and back) is like a night and day difference on cornering and safely holding the wheels to the ground when you do evasive maneuvers on the road.

I'll be using my jeep mostly around town and on the highway, so body flex is fairly annoying. I like to keep the roll around a corner as flat as possible. I might investigate an aftermarket rear bar that's beefier than stock since I'd have to buy something anyway. The front swaybar is 26mm, so it's plenty stout for daily driving.

If you get too carried away, you can pick up your outter wheel off the ground in a turn, which is never good. I come from the car world, so the goals of most of the jeeper to be different I'm basically treating my XJ like a 4x4 station wagon.

The stock jeep rear sway bar looks dinky, which is probably why nobody feels much of a difference. On my Volvo, 25mm in the rear is an upgrade from the stock 21mm and will make the car handle like it's on rails.

I'm obviously not expecting the Jeep to do any GT road racing. I just like to have the ability to dart out of the way of animals and bad drivers without the body roll.

Someone on NAXJA told me that the Jeeps with a tow package purposely came with no rear sway bar. Is there a specific reason that's true? Articulation is good, but I live in Iowa, where everything is flat. I can't think of any situation where I'd need the rear wheels to flex much opposed to the body since I won't be driving sideways on terraced fields or whatnot.

 

I believe they also didn't come with one if you have the Up Country package....which is why I don't have one...

 

I must have this. I have the tow hooks, tranny cooler, LSD rear end. Also, I have a skid plate under the gast tank, and one up front that covers some of the suspension bars. I had to remove the one up front last night to replace my front sway arm bushings. I just thought all that stuff was stock on an XJ. That front skid plate is pretty impressive.