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rough ride!!! normal??

C

cassio

NAXJA Forum User
Location
san antonio, TX
to me its no a big deal but my dad keeps saying my cherokee drives too rough.

he says it feels like theres no powersteering, since the wheel turns so rough.

and also

he says it doesnt take bumps well saying the whole car shakes(i told him its cause its straight axles)

is this "roughness" normal or should i get something checked out.

i have a 2001 2wd

ps how will my car handle after i do a minor lift with blocks and spacers??
 
cassio said:
out of 16 views noone can tell me if theyre cherokkee drives the same? lol
Click to expand...

Nope. We did not drive you Jeep and compare it to ours. Mine rides like crap, it is lifted 4" with 33's, and has no back, apples to oranges. What I would do. if you are concerned, get it checked out, then come here and ask about things they may find wrong.

HTH


Rev
 
As said, hard to really say without driving it at all. Try driving another one and see if you can tell a difference at all.

My '90 definitely doesn't drive like a passenger car. I can feel the road, and reminds me of when I was in my great uncles old ford pickup. I wouldn't say it drove rough, but it definitely knew you were in a truck.
 
when mine was stock, it rode rough compared to my wifes LHS. Like Rev said, that's like comparing apples to oranges. Now at 5.5 and 33's, the ride is softer but handles like crap. My steering is lighter (turns easier) than her LHS though.

It could be that something is wrong with it or your dad is comparing the ride with something else.

With a lift, your jeep will by no means take corners like it's on rails. Heck, they don't don't do that stock.

When lifting your jeep, you will sacrifice "streetability".
 
cassio said:
out of 16 views noone can tell me if theyre cherokkee drives the same? lol
Click to expand...

i wasnt trying to flame i just thought it was a simple request

to reiterate my question im wodering if xj's have a rough ride by nature, becuse my mom drives a grand cherokee(older than mine) and it drives like a van! sterring is really soft and ride is smooth.

maybe its my shocks....
 
cassio said:
maybe its my shocks....
Click to expand...

I'd bet money on it. I have 7" lift, 33" tires, and Bilstein 5100 shocks. It floats now, much better than the crappy RS9000s I had on before.

Another thing to check is your tire pressure if you're running oversized tires. Remember that bigger tires are for bigger trucks...and need air pressure in them according to the vehicle's weight. A Ford Superduty running 33" tires is going to need more pressure in them than an XJ on the same 33s.
 
It is impossible to answer your question without actually driving your vehicle. Descriptions of how YOU think it drives (or your father) are irrelevent, and probably confusing.

Everyone uses terminology differently. You said your father describes the steering as "rough," yet it sounds like he is referring to steering effort. That's like a friend from many years ago who complained that his autocross-prepared AMX 2-seater didn't "handle" well. Nobody could figure out what he was blathering about, because he was class champion and there wasn't anything in the state that could match the way his car handled.

Turns out he was running a quick ratio manual steering box and he was complaining about how hard it was to turn the wheel when parking. That's not "handling," that's "steering effort."

I don't know what your father was commenting on, but for me the only thing that would cause "rough" steering is sand in the steering box, causing a grating sensation when turning the steering wheel.
 
ECKSJAY said:
Another thing to check is your tire pressure if you're running oversized tires. Remember that bigger tires are for bigger trucks...and need air pressure in them according to the vehicle's weight. A Ford Superduty running 33" tires is going to need more pressure in them than an XJ on the same 33s.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. When I got my XJ I put on the LT 235's off of my '86 Ram Charger. On the Ram Charger I kept the 235's at 40psi, but on the Jeep at that pressure it was like trying to drive a basketball. I dropped the pressure to 36psi and it really smoothed out. Of course, "smooth" is subjective. I like that I don't have to slow down for speed bumps but they are by no means "smooth." Scares the crap out of my nine year old when he's sittin' there listening to tunes and playing his GameBoy and BAM..BAM over a over a speed bump at 20mph. What kills me is a giant 3500 duelly or Excursion that slows down to 2mph for a bump that's all of 3" tall. What is that?!

OTOH My 12yo '93 XJ has a lot of rattles that are born of worn bushings and a loose heat shield. As soon as I get the time....

XJ Dreamin'
stock 2WD '93 XJ, 4.0L OH, AW4, 235/75R15 AT's
 
Personally, mine rides too smooth for my taste. But that would be b/c the previous owner put some no name aftermarket shocks on, and they are crap. But on the other hand, when I let my dad drive it, he says it rides like crap and the handleing is sloppy.

I have to get a good laugh though, cause every time I let him touch it and look things over, the Jeep will not cooperate with him at all. Like yesterday, I hooked up this awesome scanner to it and I was messin with it and revin the engine and it purred mighty nicely. He gets in and does the same thing, and it starts skipping anywhere from 2-3000 rpms. But then I get back in and it runs just fine for me. (tune up time perhaps???)

This is the same person who told me that I should spend my money on a 1993 MX-6 with 300,000 miles on it rather than some "stinkin heep" Guess my Jeep doesn't like bein called names....LOL.

But back on topic, I would say definately drive a few and see what you think. Go to some used car lots and drive some around the same year as yours and see what ya think.
 
Tire pressure's the first thing that came to mind for me as well. It's all subjective since none of us feel the same thing you do in your own vehicle of course...

Grand Cherokees WILL ride better than a similarly-equipped Cherokee; they're designed that way and although the front is similar, the four (or five?)-link rear suspension will help it swallow up those nasty parking lot speed bumps and pot holes a lot better than our leaf-sprung rear...

Will it handle differently with a "minor" block and spacer lift? Of course. Will that change the ride? Probably, but again since we don't know how "rough" yours rides right now or where the perceived roughness comes from, it's hard to define how that will change when adding a lift of indeterminate height.
 
cassio said:
i wasnt trying to flame i just thought it was a simple request

to reiterate my question im wodering if xj's have a rough ride by nature, becuse my mom drives a grand cherokee(older than mine) and it drives like a van! sterring is really soft and ride is smooth.

maybe its my shocks....
Click to expand...

My 2000 4x4 XJ 3" lift rough as a board. Old ladys 98 ZJ like a Caddy. No compairson between the two. The Grand rides much better, much heavier too.
 
My 85 wagoneer was to stiff when I put my 31's on at 45 pounds so I lowered it to 38 pounds and I like it better there.
 
Back when my sister showed Paint Quarterhorses our Dad built a stall in the bed of his '51 IH pick-up. He had 5 leaves on each side up front and 9 leaves on each side in the rear. It rode fine with a 14 hand stallion Paint horse in it, but it was one scary bucket of bolts empty:scared:. Ride is subjective, but it's also dictated by intended use. An XJ is a light weight utility truck. A ZJ or WJ is a full-size luxury station wagon.

XJ Dreamin'
stock 2WD '93 XJ, 4.0L HO. AW4, LT 235/75R15 A/T's
 
yeah, i agree with everyone else, the ride quality is hard to judge on the internet. and yes, the quality of that ride is all in the eyes of the beholder. it may ride rough, it may ride smooth, but it all depends on who's driving. but one thing to remember, if it's stock it's going to ride like the jeep it is. it's a jeep! its not going to be a caddy. but better shocks definately will help out the ride quality. go with rubber bushings when you need new ones if you want a softer ride; poly ones are a profromance product and aid in handling, not ride. good luck though.
 
XJ Dreamin' said:
Back when my sister showed Paint Quarterhorses our Dad built a stall in the bed of his '51 IH pick-up. He had 5 leaves on each side up front and 9 leaves on each side in the rear. It rode fine with a 14 hand stallion Paint horse in it, but it was one scary bucket of bolts empty:scared:. Ride is subjective, but it's also dictated by intended use. An XJ is a light weight utility truck. A ZJ or WJ is a full-size luxury station wagon.

XJ Dreamin'
stock 2WD '93 XJ, 4.0L HO. AW4, LT 235/75R15 A/T's
Click to expand...

Just to add to the random comments, my wife's camaro rides much rougher than my XJ. I don't know how your's rides, (your jeep that is ... I guess I don't know your wife either:) )
 
check power steering fluid level?
 
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