LCA's and factory wobble fix

I recently took a 2001 service bulletin number to the dealer (relating to XJ wobbling when hitting a bump). Dealer told me that it was for new LCA's....I figured longer ones. This was independant of whether you lifted your vehicle or not. Dealer told me the price was aroun $100. I figured that for a few extra bucks, I could get adjustables that were narrower (less likely to rub on inside of tires).
I'm talking to a Jeep engineer at work last night and he tells me about working on that problem when they were still building XJ's. He said it was the "durometer" rating of the bushings in the LCA, not the lenght of the piece itself. Basically, just press in these new bushings and your problem with wobble when hitting bumps are solved. :guitar: Sounds like they went POLY :dunno:
Has anyone done this factory change?

BLUTO

I haven't heard about Jeep going poly, but I'm replacing the stock rubber bushings in my Rusty's arms with poly this weekend. I have the same problem as you. I'll post how it works out on Sunday night. Juice

Are your Rusty's LCA's adjustable or non-adj.? If non-adjust., are they the same length from center/center of bolt holes?
I figured a lifted XJ is going to need it's camber adjusted to eliminate wobble going over bumps....that's why you go with longer LCA's. This guy said they used a "stiffer" durometer bushing and that solved the problem :cheers: You just have to remember...this was a stock application - NO LIFT! Good luck, let me know if the poly bushings help.

BLUTO :wave1:

control arms adjust caster.

OOPS! my bad! For all practical purposes, CAMBER isn't adjustable....CASTOR is!

BLUTO

I wonder when Jeep made this change. This could explain why/how I experienced an episode of genuine death wobble in a completely stock '99 Grand Cherokee with less than 12,000 miles on the odometer. Jeep went on a campaign to eliminate NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) when they designed the WJ, and they may well have gone to softer rubber in the control arms to make the ride more palatable to the masses.

This may or may not relate to TSB #0200303 (front end shimmy after striking pothole or bump). That was the gist of my conversation with this engineer at work. The parts guy at the dealer told me that the fix was new LCA's (he drives a 99 XJ). The engineer tells me that it is the bushings :dunno:
It seems to make sense to me that if you have raised your vehicle, then you've changed your CASTER and need to lengthen your LCA's to rotate your axle back towards original specs.

BLUTO