Rear Body Roll

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desertred

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Along the Wet Mountains, CO

• Oct 3, 2009

• #1

I'm looking for ways to reduce the amount of body roll on my 88XJ with 218K miles, particularly in the rear. I can grab my rear cross bar of my roof rack with one hand and just rock the XJ with very little effort. Current shocks are Monroe Sense-a-traks with ~25K miles on them. Springs and bushings are all original, but appear to be in pretty good shape. Rear ride height is near stock (little/no sag), except one rear corner may be down about 1/4 inch. Any ideas how I can reduce the body roll?

 

joe_peters

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Grants Pass, OryGun

• Oct 3, 2009

• #2

Do you have the rear sway bar? When I lifted my 90 I threw mine away, and I have learned to live with the roll.

 

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desertred

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Along the Wet Mountains, CO

• Oct 3, 2009

• #3

Yes, the rear sway bar is still there.

 

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yossarian19

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Grass Valley, CA

• Oct 3, 2009

• #4

Stiffer springs with less arch? Modify mounts / bracketry to get a front sway bar installed in the rear? Stiffer shocks?

 

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winkosmosis

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Maui, Hawaii

• Oct 3, 2009

• #5

The whole body rolls the same!!!

 

Tim_MN

Freakish Hand Strength

NAXJA Member

Location

Minneapolis, MN

• Oct 3, 2009

• #6

Wondering why some body sway is such a great concern? At 218K miles you should expect that the notoriously weak factory leaf springs may be worn out and need replacement. New leaf springs, new poly sway bar bushings, and some quality gas charged shocks will firm up the tail end a bit. UpCountry package leaf springs are somewhat firmer than the stock leaf springs and are still available from Chrysler/Jeep. It is after all, a 21 year old 4x4 SUV, and you should not expect sports car handling from it.

 

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winkosmosis

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Maui, Hawaii

• Oct 3, 2009

• #7

Well a stock XJ does pull the same skidpad Gs as a Toyota Camry

 

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winterbeater

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Royal Oak, Michigan

• Oct 3, 2009

• #8

winkosmosis said:

Well a stock XJ does pull the same skidpad Gs as a Toyota Camry

Click to expand...

That is interesting! Where did you see that information?

 

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winkosmosis

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Maui, Hawaii

• Oct 3, 2009

• #9

winterbeater said:

That is interesting! Where did you see that information?

Click to expand...

I think I may have misremembered the Gs being the same as a Camry... It's the Grand Cherokee http://www-ksl.stanford.edu/people/kpfleger/auto/handling.html



But there was a magazine review where they compared it to the Explorer and were amazed at how well it handled.

 

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winterbeater

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Royal Oak, Michigan

• Oct 3, 2009

• #10

I just got curious to see if I could find documented skid pad numbers for our beasts. Not easy to find, but finally came upon an old Motor Trend test on the '97. The bottom line is 0.73g's. And that's with a new unmolested later model.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/112_9903_1997_jeep_cherokee/engine_safety.html

 

D

desertred

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Along the Wet Mountains, CO

• Oct 3, 2009

• #11

Getting back to my original question, I had thought that my rear springs might need replacing. However, I have read many threads that seemed to indicate if there is no sagging (ride height remains at stock level), the springs did not need replacing. This swayed me away from replacing them up to this point. Looking at the selections available at Quadratec, there are Standard, Medium, and Heavy Duty replacement springs available. As my XJ doesn't see any off roading other than prepared trails, forrest service roads, and ski resorts (no rock climbing or mudding), which would be the best replacement for my needs?