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Biggest ride improvement?

D

dakotus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cleveland, Oh
My ride is crap. Im looking to improve it step by step. What would yield the greatest improvement given what I currently have...

Front:
2 inch BDS coils and 2 inch coil spacers
stock trackbar with redrilled/relocated hole
Old Man Emu long travel shocks
BDS fixed length lower control arms with poly bushings
stock upper control arms
Homemade disco's with poly bushings

Rear:
3.5" BDS leaf packs with 1" shackles poly bushings all around
Old Man Emu long travel shocks.


Problems:
steering wheel flys all over the place when going over decent sized bumps.
(im from Cleveland...pot hole city...big problem)
squeaks all around after going over those bumps


Solution:
I was thinking upgrading the LCA's with JKS with the rubber bushings. Will that help significantly?


(thanks much in advance)
 
How big are your tires? It sounds like you could use a steering dampener and lower the pressure in your tires a little. If you have a larger tire than stock,(I hope you do) the pressure wont likely need to be the same as stock.(so the tire has an even contact patch) I haven't driven many vehicles that don't drive crappy on really crappy roads.
 
Sounds like bumpsteer to me.
:D
 
The poly bushings are probably what are causing the squeeks. Replacing the LCAs might help out with the sound a little, but won't do anything for the steering problems, unless the poly ones are worn out.

If you are getting bumpsteer, you might want to take a closer look at your track bar, maybe replace it with an adjustable one and re-locate it back to the stock hole.
 
1. Start with tire pressure (35 psi is probably way to high) it is free and could make a huge difference.
2. Poly bushing I would replace with decent rubber OEM type bushings.
3. Probably won't make a huge difference but I would replace the stock trackbar with a decent aftermarket adjustable style.

Have you checked that your shocks are not shot? Another free thing to check and if they are shot I would replace them with another decent shock (OME, Bilsteins, etc)

Michael
 
I have OME shocks right now, and theyre not even a year old. They should still be good. I only took them offroad one time. I can still check though.

WHen you say replace poly bushings, do you mean all of them in the front end? I have poly in the LCA's, and swaybar....and shocks of course
 
Those polys are not causing the bad ride. They are noisy but are not a culprit in your harsh ride. Mine are noisy also but mine rides just like a Jeep. My Mercedes rides good but it won't go offroad worth a damn.
 
dakotus said:
I have OME shocks right now, and theyre not even a year old. They should still be good. I only took them offroad one time. I can still check though.

WHen you say replace poly bushings, do you mean all of them in the front end? I have poly in the LCA's, and swaybar....and shocks of course
Click to expand...

It sounds unlikely that there is anything wrong with your shocks, but it could be worth checking while you are doing the other work if you can't fix it with other "easier" fixes. Personally I would make the changes in the order I mentioned.

I would replace all of the poly bushings, but again, I am assuming you lowered your air pressure in the tires, the shocks are good, your bolts aren't over torqued, etc, etc. I would start with the LCA and then the TB, shocks are fine with poly assuming there isn't too much binding.

Michael
 
Good to see some others arent sold on the poly bushings either, especially if you have the rear pinion at 10 degrees or so, they just dont give like rubber. On the shocks i mean. Just my 2 cents
 
Replacing the poly bushes will help you travel for one and reduce strain on your mounts. But also stop small vibes being transferred into the frame as rubber absorbs much better.
Also was your caster changed after you 4" lift? Sounds like it was not and even if you had taken it to a alignment shop, most likely it was not done then either. This will stop the darting over the road.
See my site on how to do it youself. www.go.jeep-xj.info
 
Low Range said:
Good to see some others arent sold on the poly bushings either, especially if you have the rear pinion at 10 degrees or so, they just dont give like rubber. On the shocks i mean. Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
:huh:
 
alwaysready said:
ya the steering jumping after a bump is from alignment issues or the trackbar not being parallel to the steering rod.(aka bumpsteer)
the squeks are from the poly bushings..
Click to expand...

yup, you either need to modify your steering or your trackbar to get them parallel to each other.
 
OK guys, thanks for all the replies. I think if I go with a nice set of LCA's that are adjustable (instead of my fixed ones) and a nice trackbar I'll be set.

Im thinking JKS for the LCA's
What about the trackbar?
 
dakotus said:
OK guys, thanks for all the replies. I think if I go with a nice set of LCA's that are adjustable (instead of my fixed ones) and a nice trackbar I'll be set.

Im thinking JKS for the LCA's
What about the trackbar?
Click to expand...

rustys trackbar
 
lancey3 said:
rustys trackbar
Click to expand...

He said he's looking for something that isn't going to give a harsh ride and/or fail... :rolleyes:

For the trackbar I'd look into the RE1660/RE1665 Heavy-duty XJ trackbar setup.
 
One more question here....

Considering that I have 4" of lift, im kind of in a tough spot for picking a trackbar model no? One model goes from 0-4", the other 4"+

what to do? considering that I dont plan on lifting any higher (seriously)
 
4" with short arms is going to give a harsh ride no matter what you do. The only way to soften the ride is to deal with the geometry. Either a set of drop brackets or a long arm setup will fix the harsh problem.
 
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