John Parrot
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Nevada
I need help. Really hoping someone can tell me what's going on with my Jeeps. Long post, sorry, but it's a long story.
I am on my 5th XJ now. I've had an 88, 89, two 90s, and a 93, all 4WD 4.0, none of them lifted. Four of them have developed the same problem (the other one I only owned for a short time and didn't drive it much). It must be something I am doing to them, but I don't know what.
Here's what happens:
After a week or two of owning the Jeep, it starts to shake a little at 55 mph or so. The shaking gets worse when making turns, especially to the left.
Then it starts to wobble at slow speeds, like when coming to a stop and starting from a stop. A fairly big wobble, too, as it gets worse. Other drivers notice it.
On turns, again especially left turns, it does not make a smooth arc, but there are "bumps" in the arc. The tighter the turn, the more "bumpy" and wobbly. On really tight turns, it stops wobbling and starts skipping like it's in 4WD, but it's not.
The passenger side front tire starts to wear on the outside, really quickly. As it wears, it aggravates the problem. That is, if I replace the tire, the symptoms will lessen for a while, but get worse again. The driver's side tire starts to wear on the inside after a while, too, if I let it go long enough, but not nearly as fast as the passenger side.
All of this gets progressively worse.
It feels like the driver's side front wheel is tracking straight, but the passenger side is either toed in way too far or it doesn't stay straight for some reason. That's how it feels driving it and how it looks on the tires. Driving in the snow, it felt like I was sliding slightly to the right while going straight.
This has happened the same way on all of the XJs, through many different sets of tires, no matter what the mileage was on the Jeep when I bought it. On the one I owned the longest, I tried for years to fix this.
First, I thought U-joints. I replaced them and got an alignment. It seemed better for a couple of days then it came back.
I then replaced tie rod ends, track bar, sway bar links, steering damper, and another alignment. It was okay for about ten minutes until I hit 65 on the freeway and then it all started again.
So I replaced the entire axle assembly with one from a donor Jeep, thinking it had to change it somehow, since it now had a different u-joints, hubs, ball joints etc. It was good for a day then started again. At this point I gave up for a while.
Then I replaced the lower control arms. That made it worse. Everything still happened, but harder. New shocks made it drivable again, but still the same issues.
Took it to a highly recommended Jeep guy. He builds Jeeps and knows them well. He replaced the upper control arm bushings on the "frame" ends. He said he didn't see anything else wrong with it. I took it for a drive and it felt great. For about 15 minutes until I took it on the freeway. Hit 65 and it starts shaking again. It all came back, and worse than before.
I sold that Jeep with it still doing it. Now my new one is doing it as well, the exact same symptoms.
So what is going wrong and what am I doing that causes it? Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.
1990 XJ Wagoneer - 4.0 - AW4 - 242 - 144,000 miles.
I am on my 5th XJ now. I've had an 88, 89, two 90s, and a 93, all 4WD 4.0, none of them lifted. Four of them have developed the same problem (the other one I only owned for a short time and didn't drive it much). It must be something I am doing to them, but I don't know what.
Here's what happens:
After a week or two of owning the Jeep, it starts to shake a little at 55 mph or so. The shaking gets worse when making turns, especially to the left.
Then it starts to wobble at slow speeds, like when coming to a stop and starting from a stop. A fairly big wobble, too, as it gets worse. Other drivers notice it.
On turns, again especially left turns, it does not make a smooth arc, but there are "bumps" in the arc. The tighter the turn, the more "bumpy" and wobbly. On really tight turns, it stops wobbling and starts skipping like it's in 4WD, but it's not.
The passenger side front tire starts to wear on the outside, really quickly. As it wears, it aggravates the problem. That is, if I replace the tire, the symptoms will lessen for a while, but get worse again. The driver's side tire starts to wear on the inside after a while, too, if I let it go long enough, but not nearly as fast as the passenger side.
All of this gets progressively worse.
It feels like the driver's side front wheel is tracking straight, but the passenger side is either toed in way too far or it doesn't stay straight for some reason. That's how it feels driving it and how it looks on the tires. Driving in the snow, it felt like I was sliding slightly to the right while going straight.
This has happened the same way on all of the XJs, through many different sets of tires, no matter what the mileage was on the Jeep when I bought it. On the one I owned the longest, I tried for years to fix this.
First, I thought U-joints. I replaced them and got an alignment. It seemed better for a couple of days then it came back.
I then replaced tie rod ends, track bar, sway bar links, steering damper, and another alignment. It was okay for about ten minutes until I hit 65 on the freeway and then it all started again.
So I replaced the entire axle assembly with one from a donor Jeep, thinking it had to change it somehow, since it now had a different u-joints, hubs, ball joints etc. It was good for a day then started again. At this point I gave up for a while.
Then I replaced the lower control arms. That made it worse. Everything still happened, but harder. New shocks made it drivable again, but still the same issues.
Took it to a highly recommended Jeep guy. He builds Jeeps and knows them well. He replaced the upper control arm bushings on the "frame" ends. He said he didn't see anything else wrong with it. I took it for a drive and it felt great. For about 15 minutes until I took it on the freeway. Hit 65 and it starts shaking again. It all came back, and worse than before.
I sold that Jeep with it still doing it. Now my new one is doing it as well, the exact same symptoms.
So what is going wrong and what am I doing that causes it? Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.
1990 XJ Wagoneer - 4.0 - AW4 - 242 - 144,000 miles.