Hello all,

96 XJ with a 4.0L and 4 wheel drive. When I start from a complete stop, it sometimes feels like the entire drivetrain is shifting backwards. There's no audible noise when this occurs and there's no hesitation to move... it just feels like everything under the vehicle is jerking backwards a bit. It doesn't always happen. More times than not it doesn't happen. It doesn't seem to matter if she's hot or cold. It also does this occasionally when I come to a complete stop accept it feels like everything is jerking forwards. I've also noticed it does it way more often if the A/C is on.

So far, I've checked the axle and axle shaft u joints as described in this video (youtube.com/watch?v=OVC76dSBNnY) and all seems well. I'm suspecting a mount could be bad but I know nothing about mounts.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

bumping... anyone have any ideas?

 

If you suspect the mounts, have a look. The engine mounts are easily inspected. Transmission mount tends to sag when getting old, causing the transfer case to contact the skid plate below it.

 

I finally got around to doing the mounts last weekend and have been running her for about a week now and the issue is gone. I did both engine mounts and the transmission mount although I did them a few days apart. I can say for sure the motor mounts were definitely the culprit. The driver's side one was visibly cracked and could be easily seen from underneath (could not tell there was an issue from the top). The passenger side looked alright but post removal it was cracked as well, just not as bad as the driver's side.

Regarding actually doing the work, it took about 3 to 4 hours to do both motor mounts and somewhere between an hour or two to do the transmission. I took my time since I've never done mounts before. I bought all three from Advance for around $76.