Front axle hop?

We welded my rear diff and pulled both sway bars in one shot and now whenever I try to climb a sand dune it feels like my front axle starts hopping real bad.Hills that I should be able to climb easily see me losing all forward progress before the hill even starts to pick up. I don't want to push it too hard because I know axle hop can break U joints and well I like my u joints unbroken. Anyone have any ideas?

Better tires, lower gears, remove weight from the rear of the vehicle, reattach the front sway bar to keep the front end down.... ummm what else.......

DaffyXJ said:

reattach the front sway bar to keep the front end down

Click to expand...

How does this work?

air down to 10 psi to 8 psi and you should be able to go up most anything

I've been up dunes and such many times in the past at street pressure so I'm not sure if that's the cause. The sway bar did cross my mind so I was thinking about that. I was thinking about it recently and a couple weeks prior I was runnin in the wash and hit a rock and later on, a berm with my driver's side front tire and ever since I get a thunk from the front end when the axle is in its downtravel.

it feels like my front axle starts hopping real bad.

Click to expand...

Have you converted your front suspension to leaf springs? Wheel hop is due to your leaf springs wrapping up into an "s" shape and causing the wheel to jump up and down as the spring releases and re-wrapps up. If you have a stock upper/lower/trackbar front suspension you don't have wheel hop. Front end wheel hop isn't possible as the links aren't allowing the axle to rotate about its centerline as they are rigid, thats one reason so many like to make a link suspension for the rear so you don't have to worry about wheelhop/axle wrap for the rear wheels among other things.

You may be feeling something but I'm going to say it isn't coming from front axle wheel hop unless your control arm bushings are sponges and allowing huge amounts of deflection.

I've been climbing hills and had all four tires hopping, fighting for traction. I don't think he's refering to axle wrap up front, I think it's an issue of keeping the tires in contact with the obsticle.

As to the swaybar, it will keep the front end down on a hill climb keeping the weight on the front a little. same idea as a winch to the axle to pull the front end down.

As to the swaybar, it will keep the front end down on a hill climb keeping the weight on the front a little

Click to expand...

How will a sway bar keep the front end down? :looney: A sway bar prevents body roll, it does absolutely nothing on flat ground or if the suspension is compressed equally on both front tires. The sway bar runs thru bushings on the "frame" mounts so it allows it to twist (during body roll) and raise/lower as the suspension cycles but doesn't preload the front suspension in any way to keep the front tires on the ground.

I guess technically the sway bar does add weight to the front of the vehicle like a winch would but how would that little weight stop your vehicle from bouncing on the front if thats whats really going on?:dunno:

Got to add my 2-cents worth on the front sway bar (anti-sway bar) discussion. The only way the front sway bar will hold the front end down is if the sway bar links are too short (i.e. lift installed without sway bar link extensions/disconnects). Otherwise, the front sway bar really would only limit front suspension at full droop.

shocks

Your axle end upper control arm bushings are probably shot.....replace them. When I changed my front suspension I went to a three link, partly to get rid of those rubber bushings because I didn't like the front axle wrap that I got. With only one upper arm I could use a solid joint, so now there's no front axle wrap. The wrap is real quick, since it's only the amount that those bushings will deflect, not like a more severe axle wrap that you can get with the rear leaf springs.

thanks Grover but I am aware of what axle wrap is...

I have been thinking shocks as I'm pretty sure I still have the original 1996 shocks because they're just black shocks. Over 140k on them. The bushings are also quite likely since I took a couple pretty good hits comin thru the wash out here. maybe I'll be able to replace them tomorrow before going to Truckhaven saturday