halaciousnm

'92 Cherokee Laredo 4.0 HO 5spd 4wd totally stock. 99% street driven.
At 170K replaced linkage & track bar 2nd time. Toe in= 1/16" only THEN I develop DW???? My reguler Mech (not a Jeep specalist)suggested I had tightened up some of the front end and now there was something else reacting to that.
So, I've ordered new CA bushing kit from Quadratec. I'm wondering if there is anything I need to be aware of in changing them--like will the axle try to rotate or something. I plan to change them 1 at a time with Jeep on jack stands.
Would like some experienced advice to avoid hassles.

gpXJ

So long as you do them one at a time, the axle shouldn't rotate too much. It's not difficult to get it back in line with a ratchet strap (go to sway bar to rotate forwards, and trans crossmember to rotate toward the back). You will most likely need a ball joint press, so be prepared to have one or hit up Autozone or Oreilly's to rent one from them. You can get them out without one but it requires drilling holes through the rubber until you can knock it out then bending the metal sleeve until it comes out of the mount. Put the new bushings in the freezer overnight untill right before you are ready to pop them in - this should make it pretty easy to pop them in and seat them with just a mini sledge.

halaciousnm

thanks! I'm fortunate enough to have a 20T harbor freight press for the swap. Onward into the fray!

gpXJ

That's great, but it ain't gonna help you get those upper arm bushings out of the axle side mounts.

halaciousnm

My bad. I thought you were referring to pressing the bushings out of the arms. I don't have rust issues; do you think I'll still need that tool to get them out of the jeep?

Bustedback

Complete arms are more cost effective and a simple bolt on. It's such a hassle to press the bushings in and out without damaging the flimsy stock arms.

tjwalker

I think I'm in this camp too, having done both.

halaciousnm

I wish I'd heard this before I ordered the bushings. I guess if it turns out to be a problem I'll have to get complete CA; I was waffling on that anyway. My rear springs have been back ordered so this project will end up getting done in stages anyway unless I have the originals re-arched locally. Any more advice?

Jeep Driver

This

Pepe_95

Another option is to replace just the rubber bushing material. I went through this same decision making process about 4 months ago. I opted to replace all the bushing with an energy suspension kit. The removal of the old worn out OEM bushings was as simple as heating them up a little with a map gas torch and pushing out the old rubber. I've heard horror stories about how bad these bushings can be but, I didn't have that sort of experience and I did everything front and rear shocks, springs, bushings.

It probably didn't hurt that my jeep lived it's whole life in the desert so, rust wasn't really a factor.

just my .02

halaciousnm

I am appreciating all the POVs on this. Current plan since the CA bushings are already en-route is to try and press new ones into the old CA. If the CAs distort I will order complete new arms. I'm also replacing all the springs/bushings. I've already replaced all the linkage and track bar and bushed the bracket. The hubs were replaced about 20K ago and the shocks about 7-8K ago. All street driving since; total mileage approaching 170K. I can find no play in the ball joints. Tires are street tread Cooper 235s @ 50-60%. Bushings should arrive today. Any new insights?

halaciousnm

Ahh! gpXJ, NOW I see why a ball joint press is useful. Stupid Chrysler ideas! Off to borrow one.

sturoc

What of the top bushing by the diff pumpkin, it stays on that mount and not in the arm.
Best technique to replace that sucker ?

on a side note: I had a 97 ZJ and we tried replacing the CAs while it was up on a lift what a *****. Also adding to the problem was the new arms were 1/4+ shorter than the stock ones I left em out and returned those

halaciousnm

At this point I have replaced all linkage; track bar & bushed hole; front & rear springs; front shocks and all control arms then had it aligned--still have DW. Today it's back in the alignment shop for them to assess what got missed.

md21722

Faulty parts, tires knocked out of balance, check and replace steering dampener as needed. What about the axle side bushings, did you replace those?