Front suspension problem
 

Hello, Cherokee Forum. I have a quick question and would really appreciate it if I could get an answer.

My 95 XJ has some sort of problem with the suspension, the thing is, I'm not so sure what it is. When I drive slowly over bumpy/irregular roads or off-road I hear a rickety sound on the driver's side. It sounds like two pieces of metal hitting each other. In terms of sounds you want to hear coming from a car, I would rate this as one of the noises you do not want to hear. It has been described as sounding like the car is coming apart (obviously it is not and has gone 10,000 miles with this). It goes away on the highway though and when the tires have optimal pressure.

Is this a common complaint on here and is this potentially hazardous? And also, what is it? I haven't had time to really delve into learning about my car because I have been in college learning about the finer things in life.

Mainly I just want to make sure my wheels are not going to come off on the freeway.

Thanks!

First thing i think of is the transmission/Tcase mount.

Honestly..
Your going to have to get under the thing and see if you see anything loose, we dont have teleporters here unfortunaley, so we cant do that for you..

Get under there wiggle the sway bar links, the tie rod, trac bar, etc.. have someone crank the wheel left and right and see if you see anything thats not moving on plane with other things..

Honestly I would suspect your sway bar bushings are shot and its rattling around, you have a shock going bad (or a bushing on the shock)...

As well as the previous post, it may be worthwhile to get under the Jeep, and use some visual/muscle to try and find an issue. There are a variety of things that could be causing this noise. Definitely look for something wrong, ie worn bushing or broken spring, but also grab things like your sway bar links and other steering/suspension components. and see if they are loose or warn. It also might be worthwhile to jack up the front of the Jeep on the frame rails to check other things like control arms.

Its tough to diagnose an issue like this without actually hearing it, so best of luck!

You're making me look like a big copycat now. Haha.

You are....

:D

Ok just did a physical investigation and this is what I found out.

The cylindrical thing that goes up into the engine compartment from the "wheel compartment" with the rubber donut thing at the top (the "shock absorber?") is loose. Amazing! On the right side, it is not. Also, it is completely covered in gunk due to a long-lasting steering fluid leak. I have heard that fluid can be corrosive, is this true?

Forgot about the lack of a teleport feature on this website ;)

I can take pictures and just took a video with the noise while driving but it is kind of hard to get stuff off that camera...would be more than glad to upload it if it will help someone diagnose it further although it seems straightforward now..loose shock absorber?

Upload the pic of the part.

I'm waiting.....

:D

Yes that would be the shock absorber, unless it;s the spring but i doubt you would get that wrong :D

If it is just the bushing on the top of the shock (right under where it goes into the engine compartment just buy a bushing for it.
You'll have to undo the upper shock mount from under the hood (sometimes a pain in the arse)..compress the shock to get the stud out of the engine compartment..then put your new bushing on and reinstall.

Attachment 346419
Attachment 346420

And here the area from underneath the hood, as you can see it is quite messy:
Attachment 346421

Looks like that strut is done.

Any recommendations for replacement parts? It seems to have dug into the unibody..is this a problem? I'm almost certain this is the source of the problem because when I moved it it sounded like the noise I get...when I am going slow over bumps, I get hard, slow knocking and when I am slowing down I think it gets to some sort of vibration sweet spot and rattles.

Is this what I should be looking for? http://www.partstrain.com/store/??N=...rut%20Assembly)

Thank you everyone

Kinda hard to tell in the photo's.. But it looks like the strut may have broke free from the body itself. And if that's the case your gonna need to know a good welder.
Your gonna need a new strut, ( might as well do all four ) and someone to re weld the strut top mount .

Cherokees don't have struts, and you have a leak issue, brake line maybe