DropTheBanana

When getting my '95 Cherokee aligned it was brought to my attention that the right mounting bracket for the torsion bar is bent ~3/4 inch out of place. Just days before I had new tie rod ends put on and they guy who did that job never brought this up.

The mechanic that did the alignment says that I might need to get an entire new front axle. Before I authorize this work, does this sound about right? I would hate for a couple of $10 parts turn into a $1K repair job.

biggoofy

there is no torsion bar on a 95 and a bent bracket would mean that you need a new bracket welded on should not get any where near 1k thats nuts I do a complete d30 front axle today for $40

Bustedback

He means the swaybar. If there is no rubbing or anything, I would just leave it alone.

DropTheBanana

"mounting bracket on the torsion bar" is the mechanics exact words. So, he obv is not familiar enough with Jeeps to allow him to do more in depth work on mine.

There was a rubbing/clicking type noise when I turned right mostly, but also did it on left turns occasionally.

I was just gonna leave it be for the time being, but driving down the highway yesterday the front end started shaking pretty violently and felt like the wheels were about to fall off. I decided that waiting probably wasn't the best thing to do.

biggoofy

I would look into new track bar bushings and if that mech didnt even know the name of the part he was looking at dont go back there man also look for worn steering parts IE tie rods and steering stablizer

Bustedback

The swaybar can also be called a torsion bar, it is kind of a torsion spring. And steering stabilizers will not cause or cure steering and handling problems.

biggoofy

The trac bar holds no load so I cant understand how it would be referred to as a torsion bar and also does not act as any sort of spring as for the stabilizer no it wont fix any worn parts but it can eliminate death wobble and keep him safe while driving

you say you are hearing a click when turning that really leads me to look at the axle shaft u joints or cv joint depending on which you happen to have as a bad joint will cause a click

DropTheBanana

I can't seem to find a diagram of what I'm looking for online to point out exactly what it is.

I'll take pics in the a.m. and post those.

biggoofy

ok man sounds good

OrvisKrawler

here is a detailed pic, now what part are you talking about as being the "torsion bar"?

biggoofy

I was just looking for that lol

OrvisKrawler

lol beat ya, for future reference if you go to google images and type in "jeep front suspension" its the first pic that comes up

biggoofy

sweet good info man thanks

DropTheBanana

Both brackets of the lower control arm on passenger side.

If you look at the part of the orange line that looks like pac-man, it looks like he is eating the part that's bent.

OrvisKrawler

so you just need to cut off the brackets and weld new ones on depending on how bad they are, if they arent too bad you could just take the arm off and bend them back, they arent that hard to bend with a hammer and a big pair of vise grips or something, if its mangled then it will have to be cut off, post up a pic so we can see how bad it is