been neglecting the xj. . .. .

[jeepmike887]

and its in pretty sad shape right now. Ive got a few problems with it right now, and Im not too sure what they may be.

first, their has been a driveline vibe/ noise, mostly noise that has been getting louder and louder over the past month, sounds like road noise from the mud tires, but 10x louder, like a whirring noise, not sure if anyone else has had something like that, but Im not too sure what it may be. also, it gets louder with speed, but is still fairly noisy when at low speeds too. also it only makes the whirring noise when I am on the gas, doesn't have to be hard accelereation just slightly on the gas and at makes the noise. but let off and its normal.

next, I just noticed this morning after backing the jeep up maybe 100 feet, the caster on the front tires was way off, and the tires were leaning inward. but then I drive it forward, and they are back straight, perfect castor. balljoints maybe? the unit bearings are fairly new.

Id like to sell this thing fairly soon to get a better dd, and Im just trying to make it smooth again so it is decent on the road.

97, sport, re5.5 LA lift, 33x12.5x15 bfg muds, 4.56 gears, sye, and front shaft in the rear right now, cause Im waiting on my new tom woods shaft.

 

[w0mps]

Your optical camber problem is due to your caster being off. Get an alignment or do a driveway one and you're set.

 

[jeepmike887]

you adjust castor via the longarms right?

 

[Begster]

The whirring noise is your pinion bearings.

Yes, the castor is adjusted with the long arms.
What do you mean your tires were leaning inward? Since you were asking about the ball joints, are you sure your not being confused with camber?

 

[jeepmike887]

looking at the front tires from the front, they are not straight up and down, the top of the tire is leaning towards the jeep. and your right, I am probably confusing the two, I thought castor was the angle of the tires? if thats right what is camber?

how sure are you on the pinion bearings, that requires the gears to be taken out and set up again correct? thats the only thing I don't work on, on my jeep, I have a shop set up gears.

 

[5spd_xj]

You are describing camber... Castor is the angle of the axle tilted forward or rearward from vertical, as viewed from the side.

 

[94CountryXJ]

Camber is fixed and not adjustable unless you have offset balljoints.

 

[jeepmike887]

but can't camber be adjusted with the angle of castor?

I honestly thought offset balljoints were for turning your pinion angle upward

 

[Begster]

No, I think you might need to review all your terms again.

Offset balljoints are not for turning your pinion angle upward, they don't have anything to do with the pinion. They are for fixing minor discrepancies in camber.

And yes I'm sure about the pinion bearings, I currently have the same problem on mine. No you don't need to set up the gears again, as long as the pinion bearings haven't gotten so bad that the slop affected the gears, you should be fine with just changing them.

 

[94CountryXJ]

I think about the most you're gonna get adjustment wise is MAYBE 4* with offset balljoints. Might not even be that much. Been awhile since I have had to install an offset set.

 

[tomcat]

really bad toe can give the appearance of poor camber too.

 

[jeepmike887]

alright, so first off, how difficult a job is the pinion bearings as Ive never messed with gears, but by looking at it, It seems I would have to remove the ring gear to get the pinion out to get the new bearings in. or is it as simple as taking the yoke off, and going at it from the outside?

and the toe could be a problem as I had just aligned it myself roughly for the new tr and dl I just got, I used gojeeps procedure for the alignment, with 1/4" of toe in. It may have changed somehow though, I'll check that for sure.



Also I think I may be correct about this one as I have been working on a d44 swap in my comanche, the pinion angle is horrible, and your saying

94CountryXJCamber is fixed and not adjustable unless you have offset balljoints.

so If I was to put shims on the axle or turned it to improve pinion angle slightly (not so much as to affect steering, and did not touch the knuckles, the tire would have the exact same camber?

I had always thought turning the axle up or down would affect the camber, because the inner knuckles are not perpendicular with the ground. may be way off here.



If I am correct their ^^ then you could use offset balljoints to correct that shim, say a 4 degree shim to move PA up, the BJ's would correct that 4 degrees.

Maybe Im crazy.

thanks for all the replies

 

[tomcat]

alright, so first off, how difficult a job is the pinion bearings as Ive never messed with gears, but by looking at it, It seems I would have to remove the ring gear to get the pinion out to get the new bearings in. or is it as simple as taking the yoke off, and going at it from the outside?

you will have to take off your wheels, brakes, rear cover, slide the axle shafts out (take out your c-clips if you have them).

remove all 4 bearing cap bolts for the carrier and remove the bearing caps (keep track of side and orientation, look for assembly marks to help), and "pop" out the carrier, being sure to keep track of any shims. you can now remove the pinion nut, and remove the pinion gear. you are going to need a press to press the bearings off and on. you will also need to keep track of all the order and position of any shims, bearings, slingers etc. do your pinion seal too.

 

[jeepmike887]

thanks for the description tomcat, I'll take it to the shop, Ive got enough projects right now, that I don't want to get deep into this and mess it up somehow.

havn't been to the shop in a while anyhow, Id like to see what those crazy guys are up too.:woohoo: