Violent jerking in sharp turns

Ok I read through a ton of stuff in this forum, but haven't quite found a similar problem so here goes (my first post):

So I just got a 2001 XJ about a week ago, and I have experienced this problem three times since I got it. Every once in a while (seems after the XJ has been sitting overnight and a rain occurred the night before) when backing up at a sharp angle or pulling forward in a sharp angle (mostly when I try to park) the steering wheel will start to jerk pretty hard. If I back up at the same angle, the jerk will continue and then get worse. I even heard a pop (more like a clunk) for the first time testing this out today. The whole front end of the XJ will get violent until it comes to a halt. If I take my foot off the gas, it will eventually stop the car. It seems like after I do this, it is hard to get back into 2WD. I push the lever up into 2WD, and it will pop out when I move again. I have to jam the lever all the way up to get it to engage 2WD.

I've tried it again once I get it into 2WD, and it will happen again. I have tried this in 2WD, 4WD part time, 4WD full time, and 4WD low. It will continue to happen until I drive the XJ for a while then it will go away.

First time this happened after I bought the car, I was in 4WD full time for a little while and then got back into 2WD a couple of blocks before parking. Today when it happened I was driving in 4WD Full Time in the rain the previous evening, and I left it parked in 4WD full time overnight. It was fine parking in my spot last night, but then in the morning the problem came back again.

I noticed it a little when I flew into a parking spot just to test the truck on my test drive, and the mechanic showed me where the wheels were probably rubbing (they are a tad larger than stock). He said when I put downward pressure on the suspension and the wheels are turned full-chock, they will rub a little and the tread will jerk the car. This made sense to me at first, but I have noticed the problem, hopped out, and the wheel is not rubbing anything nor am I turning at an extreme angle. I took the car to the Jeep dealer, and they want to charge me to look at it. Any ideas before I pay them to tell me what they think might be wrong?

P.S. It's an automatic with 66K mi.

Other than this, I love my XJ!

I passed on buying a 98 Classic with FullTime a few months back with the very same symptoms.......my guess is your T-Case is on it's way out.........wait for the 242 Guru's to chime in.

I have an 01 and a 96. IIRC, the 01 has a low pinion front axle and my 96 has high pinion. When I drive the 01 it does the same thing you are describing (regardless of 2wd, or 4wd). The vehicle kind of wants to "crab walk". It's not a tire issue but more likely a bind in the axle. I'm probably not explaining it as well as some of the members could. My 96 will do it only if I lock the steering either way and turn (like when you're trying to park in a tight spot). Try searching for "low pinion" and see if you come up with something. Or wait a while until someone with more experience chimes in. My g/f drives the 01 and we've had it for over a year and have had no problems. It hasn't gotten worse by any means.

I didn't think of that...

My 01 has 231 and is noticeably worse in tight radius turns than the 96 with 231.

dont try to use 4wd on dry pavement, if you do make sure it is in FULL TIME

If you shift from full time to 2wd, most times it will stick in 4wd part time until the tension between the front output shaft and rear output shaft is low enough to allow the engagement drive gear for the front to "slip" into neutral.

keep it in 4wd full time until such a time that you are cruising in a straight line for a while, this will tend to release the stress between the front and rear.
THEN shift to 2wd.
If you turned into your driveway, you bind up the case, and if you shift into 2wd before backing out it will stick in 4wd part time, which binds much worse because it bypasses the viscous coupling between front/rear. and you get hopping/binding until you have driven straight a while and you'll hear a "clunk" when it actually slips into 2wd.

my 98 auto xj does the same thing in 4wd, had it checked out by two diffrent places both say it's normal. I needed to rebuild the transfer case and the problem was still there. The reason it is happening more offten after a rain and more noticable becasue the ground is wet and there is less friction on the tires so they tend not to grab as bad. When it rains it will hardley jerk when i turn but it will still be present, But on dry pavement it is a huge problem just like you mentioned. I try not to use my 4wd all to often to save the transfercase as not to put unwanted streson the chain inside.

not sure if this helps you but mine still does it and i have just come to accept the problem becuase it runs fine the rest of the time I drive it.

ok so I've been paying attention and haven't used my 4WD at all this week and haven't noticed any problems. It is still kind of crazy that this is "normal" on my XJ.

I've got 2 XJ's with NP242's. What I've noticed is when going from full-time 4wd to 2wd, they tend to "hang" in part-time - the jerking in a turn is drive line bind. The "hang" time is the worst when shifting while stopped - shifting above 30mph greatly minimizes it. Throttle off, and a little blip of the throttle after the shift seems to help too.

I usually shift in / out on my home street and avoid leaving it parked in full-time. If I forget, I wait until I can get on a straightaway going 30+ and deal with it then.

The others have given you good advise and have addressed all the issues I know of....
Does the transfercase make any noises while driving in 4WD FT or PT ?
While this might sound too simple.... since you purchased a used vehicle... check the ATF level in the transfercase.... A Low level certainly could cause problems ...

Charles

Yep, it sounds like its pretty standard 4wd bind.

My 231 part time case hangs going from 4wd to 2wd. Thats on a 98 XJ 4.0/Auto. This one is the worst of the 5 231's I've had (00 XJ, two 98 XJs, 98 TJ, 97 TJ).

most likely, thats the issue.

The other thing to check are the U-joints in the front axleshafts. If they are binding or worn, they can also cause similar issues.


Are you shifting much between 2wd and 4-Fulltime? What kind of conditions are you driving in and what transfer case mode are you using for each?

As far as a sound, not audible, but I can definitely feel it when I am in 4wd because the front end feels like it has a little more resistance and runs a little more "tough". Very hard to describe exactly what this feels like, but it seems like it's running well. I will check the levels this weekend just to make sure though.

Haggar said:

Are you shifting much between 2wd and 4-Fulltime? What kind of conditions are you driving in and what transfer case mode are you using for each?

Click to expand...

I live in Indiana so I've used 4WD fulltime a bit during some rains we've had (kinda disappointed about no snow; I want to go play in some nasty stuff). Other than that, I know to not use Part Time at high speeds or when on dry pavement. I haven't even touched 4WD Low for obvious reasons.

goodburbon said:

dont try to use 4wd on dry pavement, if you do make sure it is in FULL TIME

If you shift from full time to 2wd, most times it will stick in 4wd part time until the tension between the front output shaft and rear output shaft is low enough to allow the engagement drive gear for the front to "slip" into neutral.

keep it in 4wd full time until such a time that you are cruising in a straight line for a while, this will tend to release the stress between the front and rear.
THEN shift to 2wd.
If you turned into your driveway, you bind up the case, and if you shift into 2wd before backing out it will stick in 4wd part time, which binds much worse because it bypasses the viscous coupling between front/rear. and you get hopping/binding until you have driven straight a while and you'll hear a "clunk" when it actually slips into 2wd.

Click to expand...

The Select trac Tcase 242 uses no viscous coupling, they were only used in Grand cherokees with the 249 quadratrac tcase. The symptoms are very similar indeed

The Select trac Tcase 242 uses no viscous coupling, they were only used in Grand cherokees with the 249 quadratrac tcase. The symptoms are very similar indeed

Click to expand...

you are indeed correct, it is actually a type of differential on the t-case mainshaft. Sorry for the incorrect info. it will remain in 4wd part time until the tension in the drive chain is relieved though. It is normal, be thankful that this is the only daily issue with these t-cases. with my old dana 20 I had to put the jeep in reverse, pull firmly on the handle and just barely bump the clutch to get it to shift out of 4wd.

My friends 95 cherokee country did the same thing but only after we put a 3" lift on it. It also made a weird noise from the t-case or driveshaft when ever you came to a stop abruptly and when you went around a sharp turn it would jerk like crazy. It almost made him lose control on a turn on the highway. Turns out the rear driveshaft was in a bind from the lift. 1" transfer case drop fixed the problem or should i say put a bandaid on it.

Check the cheapest problem. I have had two vehicles do this and found the problem to be simple. Check and tighten if necessary the two allen head bolts connecting the caliper to the axle. Worked for me. good luck

Well, I'm not sure it I even want to speak up here, but here goes.

My 2WD will bang pretty violently when backing with steering at full travel left or right. If has also done it a couple of times rolling forward at full left. As I understand it, when turning the inside wheel has to travel a smaller radius than the outside wheel. That means that the inside wheel has to turn more sharply than the outside wheel. If not, the steering linkage will bind. The steering geometry is designed to compensate for that, but my training says that there is usually some compromise between perfect tight radius steering and perfect straight line stability and that straight line stability usually wins out. Aside from my Dad's old '51 IH pickup, my '93 xj is the first SFA that I have driven extensively. I have been assuming that the SFA steering geometry on the xj is such that at full travel the inside wheel and the outside wheel don't quite lie on their proper lines.

If nobody else is experiencing any binding at full travel in 2WD, then I guess I better get under there and have a closer look

Violent jerking in sharp turns is almost always bad axle u-Joints.

Did you ever figure out your jerking problem?

I have a 2000Xj with a 231 T-case. I am experiencing a mild jerking in 2WD in slow speed turns past 3 and 9 o'clock, right and left turns respectively. I have read this thread and it mostly addresses when in 4WD but my issues is happening in 2WD. I have a 3" lift (Old Man Emu plus 1" Spacer and JKS Shackle) with SYE installed and adjustable front control arms. I haven't noticed this until recently. I have tried shifting it in and out of 4wd thinking maybe 4WD wasn't disengaging. (Note: I usually shift my transmission into neutral while rolling 30-40 mph or less then shift between 2 and 4 wheel drive. But I am not sure if it is better to do the shifting the T-case while the transmission is in drive?)

Anyway I am guessing from reading this thread my list of possible issues are as follows:
- T-Case not disengaging from 4WD
- Bad front axle U-joints
- Low ATF in T-case
- Driveshaft bind incorrect pinion angle (Wouldn't think this likely since it started well after installing lift and adj. control arms)
- Poorly lubed driveshaft knuckles and steering linkage
- Loose caliper bolts causing brakes to grab (read this in a different thread, seems like a long shot)

What should I check first and what is most likely the problem? Any ideas?
I appreciate any assistance anyone can offer.
Thanks!