Four wheel drive issue on 96 XJ

I have a 96 XJ 4dr with 5spd manual trans.

Drives perfect in 2wd. Has new tires, new sway bar bushings, new springs front and rear, new shocks all around as well, and front end alignment was done when new tires put on.

When I put it in 4 wheel drive (part time high), it appears to drive ok at low speeds (under 25 - 30 mph). If I start a little aggressively from a red light, it pulls to the right. It also pulls to the right (and occasionally side to side) at low highway speeds (40-55 mph) while in 4wd.

I haven't done ball joints yet, but when I had them chacked, the mechanic said they were fine.

This issue is starting to bother me since I never recall the Jeep driving this way when I had my old 2 dr XJ with 5 spd manual.

Can anyone help me diagnose this issue? The Jeep runs great and is in very good shape, with only 125K miles. I daily drive it and have no intentions to get rid of it given how hard it is to find one that hasn't been off-road, crashed, or starting to rust apart.

Appreciate any help you guys can provide. eace:

Dry or wet/snowy road?

If you slam on the brakes really hard, does it swerve to the left?

kastein said:

Dry or wet/snowy road?

If you slam on the brakes really hard, does it swerve to the left?

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Wet/slushy pavement, dry (which I know I should not be using it on, but had it on to test 4WD after I did fluids).

I do not notice it much in heavier snow, but I am also not driving faster in this, so not allowing the symptoms to occur.

Its most evident under throttle, and primarily pulling to the right with occasional pulls/sway to the left, which may be recovery from my steering to keep it straight (not right).

I'd suspect loose steering stuff.

fine until you're putting power through the front axle, then the toe changes and it wants to track wonky. Or possibly the control arm bushings.

87manche said:

I'd suspect loose steering stuff.

fine until you're putting power through the front axle, then the toe changes and it wants to track wonky. Or possibly the control arm bushings.

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So tie rods and balljoints?

Also, mechanic said the control arm bushings are fine still, but upon my own inspection, I would have felt comfortable changing them. There should be no side to side play in these, correct?

yeah, tie rod ends would be my first suspect.

Your control arms shouldn't be moving side to side, sounds like the rubber "wings" on th sides are gone.

87manche said:

yeah, tie rod ends would be my first suspect.

Your control arms shouldn't be moving side to side, sounds like the rubber "wings" on th sides are gone.

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Guess it would not hurt to take care of the tie rods. How about the ball joints?

Also, I haven't checked for side to side play on the contol arms yet, so hopefully they aren't that bad. I did a visual check of the bushing and they look worn (dry rubber look with cracks).

Would a u-joint or something in the axle cause this? There are no odd noises coming from the front end and all fluids are new in the diffs, tcase, and trans.

probably not anything in the axle. If it was u-joints or something you'd feel vibrations, and I've never had a bad u joint cause weird steering. That's not to say it isn't possible, but I would suspect play in the TRE's or control arm bushings. Ball joints are a possibility as well. Something is obviously moving when the front axle pulls.

Make sure you check the uppers, if the upper bushings are worn your caster angle would change under power, it might be causing it to try and follow the road.

Basically get under there and pull/prod/pry on everything that is steering or control arm related. Don't forget the track bar, and it's mount on the frame.

87manche said:

probably not anything in the axle. If it was u-joints or something you'd feel vibrations, and I've never had a bad u joint cause weird steering. That's not to say it isn't possible, but I would suspect play in the TRE's or control arm bushings. Ball joints are a possibility as well. Something is obviously moving when the front axle pulls.

Make sure you check the uppers, if the upper bushings are worn your caster angle would change under power, it might be causing it to try and follow the road.

Basically get under there and pull/prod/pry on everything that is steering or control arm related. Don't forget the track bar, and it's mount on the frame.

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Thanks for the info. Will get under the Jeep tonight after work and see what I can find. I'll report back tomorrow morning with more info.

You should lay on the ground and have someone back up your jeep and slam the breaks and you watch the axle if it hops up and you can see it twist your uppers are shot .The trac bar could have worn out the hole on the uni-frame mount this has happend to mine couldnt get any tracbar tight so check this to.GOOD LUCK

Wet/slushy may not be providing enough "differentiation" for the differentials; wet DOESN'T, don't run part-time 4x4 on wet pavement. Run it on ice, run it on snow. "Slushy"--likely not then either.

Well....got under the Jeep last night. Although the control arm bushings look old, they are fairly secure, as were the tie rod ends and ball joints.

Spoke to my mechanic thi afternoon and he thinks it may be a bad u-joint on the passenger side.

Is that possible?

What about wheel bearings.....could that be bad?

That's rather odd.

Usually u-joints manifest as a rhythmic squeaking or clunking and lurching while turning sharply.

Unit bearings make a grinding noise as you drive when they go bad. The faster you have to go to make them start grinding, the better shape they are in... when I replaced mine they were grinding at around 50mph. Brand new ones are quiet to speeds one should never reach in a jeep.

GS Audio said:

Well....got under the Jeep last night. Although the control arm bushings look old, they are fairly secure, as were the tie rod ends and ball joints.

Spoke to my mechanic thi afternoon and he thinks it may be a bad u-joint on the passenger side.

Is that possible?

What about wheel bearings.....could that be bad?

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anything's possible, but I've never seen a u-joint pull to one side, and I've got a u-joint on this D30 I just pulled out that practically has no cap left.

A bearing possibly, if it was loose enough to affect the wheels toe.
Has the alignment been checked? It's possible that it's not right and causes the steering to pull when the rear axle isn't pushing it.

Has the trackbar been checked?

I have exactly the same problem with my 2000 XJ today. What was the fix?

hawkster said:

I have exactly the same problem with my 2000 XJ today. What was the fix?

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I changed EVERYTHING. Arms, track bar, tie rods, ends, BJ's.....basically overhauled the front end. It appeared to resolve the issue, but I wound up selling the Jeep about 6 months later cause I found a deal on another car I wanted more.

My advice.....use quality stuff if you replace parts, do it all if even 50% of the stuff looks/feels worn, and get a good alignment and wheel balance. All these things really affect the driveability.

Good luck!:star: