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uneven front end

A

atfrith

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Colorado
ok well i recently lifted my 90 XJ 3" and just the other day i noticed that the front looked like it was a little uneven while driving. So when i got home i took out the measuring tape and sure enough the front left was a little over 21" from the center of the hub to the fender and the front right was a little over 20". I bought the kit from a guy off jeepforum.com (not sure if he posts here or not) and he even helped me install it and these same springs gave him 3" on both sides when it was on his jeep... What could be wrong here? I dunno if not having the front sway bar on could affect it or not, or maybe a track bar that is too short..... Sry if these suggestions seems stupid but i'm new to this and i really have no clue. Thanks guys
 
You need an adjustable track bar.
That, or redrill the axle mount for your stock trackbar.
Do a search for 'adjustable trackbar'.
HTH.
 
bgcntry72 said:
You need an adjustable track bar.
That, or redrill the axle mount for your stock trackbar.
Do a search for 'adjustable trackbar'.
HTH.
Click to expand...

yeah...what he said...let me add

Do NOT buy a cheap trackbar relocation bracket... I can e-mail you pics of my failed bracket that cracked in half. Buy an adjustable


my $.02
 
Just re-read the post.
Sorry for the hasty answer.
First, make sure both of the coil springs are 'seated' on the coil mounts.
If they are, you may want to take them out and make sure one isn't taller than the other one when unweighted.
I have overcompressed coils before, it happens.
If the springs are from OME, one will be taller than the other one, and the taller one goes on the drivers side.
Good luck.
 
hey thanks a lot guys for the FAST responses, hahah. And i thought the guys on jeepforum replied quick, u guys rock. I'm almost 100% sure they are seated right but i will check it tomorrow just to make sure. I was talking to someone else just now about it and it was brought up that it could be a bent control arm. And i got to thinking.... When i bought the Cherokee last summer from a car auction, the front right side tire was almost completely bald whereas the others were fine. I put new tires on it and got an alignment and everything and it seems much better but it still seems to pull to the right even after the alignment. If it were a bent control arm would it lead to those symtoms (bald tire, suspension lower on the side of the bent control arm)?
 
well i just went outside and took a quick look at the control arms and they all looked fine as far as i could tell....
 
The coils have to sit in the lower mount a certain way, there are stops formed in the lower mounts that the ends of the coils have to sit against, if not it will sit uneven
 
well i'm pretty sure we got them sitting even because teh guy i was installing it with made it a point to try and get them up against the ledge thing. But who knows, maybe one of them got a little off. But i'm not sure if a small distance away from the ledge would amount to a 1" difference height in the two sides...
 
it can make a difference, another thing to check is if the fron axle is centered under the vehicle, if it is off to one side then a coil will lean more than the other and cause it to ride higher on the side that leans less
 
When you did the lift kit it acts the same as droop, since the trackbar drops at an angle, the more it drops the more it will pull it to the drivers side, you can try drilling a new hole in the mount on the axle to bring the trackbar more to the drivers side or Buy and install an adjustable trackbar
 
so you think its the track bar? If so then i'm probably just gonna buy an adjustable one from RE. So would the shorter track bar be enough to pull the front right coil down a whole inch?
 
you would want to lengthen the adjustable trackbar so that it would push the axle to the passengerside, this will cause the driverside coil to stand up straighter and the passengerside to lean out at the bottom which will lower the high side, but you only want to do this to the point that the axle is centered under the vehicle
 
Before you put the coils in, were they the same height?
Please, since the stuff isn't new, check it out before you toss more loot at it.
Good luck./
:spin1:
 
yeah they seemed perfectly even. And the guy who helped me install them (Silverxj2001 from jeepforum) had them on his jeep before he got some RE 4.5 coils and they gave him 3" each. So if everyone here thinks its the track bar then i think thats what i'll try... Is that what ya'll think?
 
Swap the coils, from side to side.
Just humor me.
Isolate all the 'elbow grease' possibilities before spending money if you don't have to.
 
yup, before putting money into parts, you definately want to confim some things, ! make sure axle is centered, do some measurements
make sure the coils are seated properly if both of these are correct, then as big of a pain as it might be, you will want to pull the coils and make sure they are the same length. If the axle is not centered and you can't get by with drilling a new hole in the lower trackbar mount on the axle then you will need an adjustable trackbar to center it, another thing to consider is if the shackles on the rear leafs were allowed to sit on their own weight before tightening them up, if one was bound a bit before wight was put on it it could be holding 1 corner up higher and giving the effect that one side of the front is lower, since it is you front passengerside that is low, I would check the drivers side rear shackle. It is a process of ilimination so don't get frustraited
 
Also, XJs tend to droop a bit on the passenger rear after time due to the rotational torque load on the leafs.
As the passenger rear sags, the drivers front comes up a bit.
If swapping the coils doesn't work, maybe try swapping the leafs.
I know it is a lot of work, but I know my suspension well, and I tune it myself.
At times, that means pulling everything apart several times in a day doing trial and error work.
HTH.
 
hahah, great, well i've been freaking out this whole time for nothing. I must have been on unever ground when i measured earlier cuz i just went out and measured again and they are about the same. haha. I guess having no sway bars will do that. Thanks for all ur help guys
 
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