Front end issues

[squareone97]

Hello,

I have a 99 XJ sport 4.0 4x4 auto. All stock. I have 2 issues that might be related to each other that I've been trying deal with since i purchased it a few months ago.

#1 vibration (pretty sure from front) from 60-75. Feels like u-joints or tires. changes a bit with engine load.

#2 loud metallic chatter while turning left. Definitely from front driver side. Only present while turning left sharp enough to get weight transfer off the driver side.

work done to try and solve these issues/ needed done anyways:

upper/lower control arms

New tires

new front rotors/pads

All u-joints-- front axles as well as drive shafts
Motor/trans mounts

front wheel hubs

pulled the front driveshaft with no change.

this up coming week I'm going to change the fluid in both differentials as well as look for any internal issues. anything specific I should check?

Any ideas on the issues I'm having? I've tried everything I could think of.

Thanks!!

 

[Tim_MN]

A vibration that appears at about 55 mph and disappears at about 65 mph is almost always a tire or rim issue. Find a local tire shop that has a Hunter Road Force balancer.

Inspect and replace as necessary all the suspension bushings: axle side control arm mount bushings, sway bar, sway bar links. Coil spring retaining clips are surprisingly noisy when loose.

Inspected the track bar condition including the mounting hardware and their bolt holes.

 

[squareone97]

I had the tires replaced and the vibration was exactly the same.

I did find the tie rod end on the passenger side as loose. The PO replaced them and only finger tightened them. I torqued it properly and found the stabilizer nut on the track arm was loose but it stripped at like 20ft/lbs. i need to replace it before I an see it the tighter tie rod end helped.

 

[TheXJDrew]

Have you tried rotating your tires and seeing if the vibration changes at all? Could definitely a bent wheel. Also, when you had your tires replaced, did they tell you the road force of them? Excessive road force can indicate a bent/warped wheel and even new tires won’t help there.

Typically when I’m diagnosing a front end issue or noise, I have someone turn the wheel back and forth quickly and watch all the components underneath the front end and see if there is any excessive movement on any of the parts and watch the track bar and tie rod ends closely. Also, jack up each front wheel one at a time and take a long pry bar and place it under the tire and pry up to see if your ball joints are tight or have a lot of play in them, then spin the tire and shake it back and forth at 3 and 9 o’clock to see if it feels tight or clunky and loose. Usually I can track down a front end issue rather quickly with these methods. Hope it helps.

 

[Tim_MN]

A Hunter Road Force Balance Machine is used to detect and resolve out of round and out of balance issues with tires and rims, a regular tire balance machine cannot do that job. I have 4 sets of oversize tires for my various Jeeps, and they are always perfectly smooth after a Road Force balance.

 

[boncrshr]

Coil spring retaining clips are surprisingly noisy when loose.

Interesting. I have one stripped out that I need to fix. I have a strange clunk sometimes when starting or stopping quickly.

 

[squareone97]

So... today i pulled the rear driveshaft and drove it. The vibration was completely gone. Apparently the u-joints weren't enough? I guess It needs a balance as well? I'll work on getting it balanced this week.

The chatter while turning is still there but I'm kind of over worrying about it. No change in 4x4 or Rwd. I inspected the frond diff and everything looks good. no metal in oil, gears don't look excessively worn. there is a little play with the spider gears on the cross shaft but I don't know what is normal. maybe 1/16 or so.

 

[lawsoncl]

How sloppy is the slip joint on the front shaft?

Are you missing the steering stops? Someone else recently posted that they had noises due to the u-joint binding because he forgot to install them.

 

[squareone97]

There is a little play in the slip yoke but not what I’d consider excessive. Have the steering stops installed

 

[squareone97]

well..... I dropped the driveshaft off at the driveline shop. They suggested that I run the jeep and watch the transfer case output shaft. Sure enough, big ole wobble in the output shaft.

The bearing feels tight and I'd like to replace the shaft with a stock one but after searching for hours I've come to the conclusion that they're impossible to find.

I don't have any plans to lift my jeep anytime soon but I guess I'll do a SYE since it seems like that's really the only replacement option. Junk yards around here charge a premium for jeep stuff. I don't really wanna swap a transfer case for $300+ and hope its in better shape then the one in my Jeep.

 

[RickDT]

A Hunter Road Force Balance Machine is used to detect and resolve out of round and out of balance issues with tires and rims, a regular tire balance machine cannot do that job. I have 4 sets of oversize tires for my various Jeeps, and they are always perfectly smooth after a Road Force balance.

My buddy will be dealing with the vibration issue on his newly acquired XJ project. We'll start checking the bushings, control arms and sway bar first after we finished installing the front bumper and fender flares on the truck and clear the garage. The previous owner of the XJ mentioned it was been to three balancing shop to clear the vibration.

 

[squareone97]

So I have an advanced adapter SYE coming. Every front driveshaft in the junkyards was missing. I picked up a front shaft from a 95 4.0 auto ZJ from a parts car. Hopefully that’ll work