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Just picked up a 94 Grand Cherokee. Im not sure what this is called but on the front axle there are 2 arms connected on each side and are pointing to the rear of the car where they connect to the body. Anyways one of them is busted off. Would this be able to be welded back on? The Jeep still drives nice and doesnt pull it just makes a rattle when you step on the brakes from the arm hitting the axle. Thanks for your help.
Its no joke, Im new to jeeps and 4 wheel drive vehicles in general so I dont know **** about front axles. Ive mainly worked on RWD and FWD cars in the past so this is a learning experience for me. So I apologize for being such a noob.
Yes it's an upper control arm. It holds the axle at angle for the driveshafts. If it was the lower you would have and axle wondering all about. Yes you can run without it, but you don't want to. You can use any upper arm off any jeep with coils not leaf springs. The upper arm front and rear on all jeeps is same. Hit a junk yard and find a cheapy replacement.
So it would be the pass side. Either have it welded back on, or get a replacement axle. The front d30 jeep axle is pretty common, make sure you get one with same gears, and a high pinion. (were the driveshaft attaches to axle. it could be high or low. you want high) I have a lift kit with long arms. The kit requires the removal of that bracket and that side arm is not use. But with stock short arms, it could cause death wabble and/or bump steer i'm sure. You'll notice it the most on braking since the axle will want to roll foward more.
Yes, that and are you trying it on street or dirt? You are not exactly geared perfect. The back will be like 3.55 and the front will be 3.54, just enough of differance that with distance, the front has travled enough over rear that the case is bound up. Front shaft is twisting more than rear (or the other way around) and it will not let go in the case. This happens all the time on pavement and when it does let go, it feels like you dropped the transmition in your jeep. If the axle is rolling back and forth, it will cause the same binding. On dirt, the tires will slip enough to not let it bind up. When you do take it out of 4 wheel. Do it at a stop, and back up till it lets go. The shift on the fly (allows you to put in 4 high while driving) is for wet road, or dirt only, and should not be used above 45mph.
Mike, what you are saying is misleading. he said it wont come out of "4full". and he said its a Grand Cherokee. He can run full time all the time and I think a Grand has a low pinion D30. And we still dont know if its an upper or lower arm bracket thats busted off.
Subliminal:
Heres the deal, the best advice until we have more info is to not drive it. Sure you can drive it but stock control arms are not known for their strength, I wouldnt trust just one stock upper or especially just one lower.
Considering its a full time t-case, its either got a set of clutches in it or its open, it should just pop in and out without any issues. The fact that its not leads me to believe theres something binding and its possible that the front axle has moved in such a way that the front driveline is binding somehow.
My advice is to not drive it until you get someone who knows Jeeps to look at it or until you can get some good quality pics up so we can look at it.
You say you just picked it up. Lord only knows what the PO has done to it to break a control arm off. Its possible that whatever broke the control arm bracket also fubared your driveline somehow.
On a 94 GC if its full time its probably all time 4WD. If your 4WD selector knob offers 2WD and you can't change out of 4WD then your transfer case has issues that need to be checked out. FULL TIME is meant for street use so you are okay running that in a DD.
If you have a broken control bracket anywhere DO NOT DRIVE. I am not clear if the bracket on the axle is broken or the bracket at the body is broken and if it an upper or a lower, but either way you shouldn't drive the Jeep. Either on the axle or body you can weld a NEW bracket on.
Pics or a better description are defintely needed here.
Its no joke, Im new to jeeps and 4 wheel drive vehicles in general so I dont know **** about front axles. Ive mainly worked on RWD and FWD cars in the past so this is a learning experience for me. So I apologize for being such a noob.
I apologize, I wasn't trying to be harsh, I just really thought it was a joke, because no, it is definitely not safe to drive like that. Like said above, at the very least get a new bracket welded on.
89xj said:
i didnt know this was a grand cherokee forum also?
Do NOT drive that thing like that. Order replacement LCA brackets and have them welded on by a competent welder.
For future reference, the part that is loose is a "lower control arm" commonly known as an LCA. The primary function of the LCA is to hold the axle under the jeep, without it the chances for the axle to end up not under the jeep is high, you don't want to be driving when that happens.
