Newbie ???'s Mild wheeler

[Xploderkid97]

First a little background knowledge-in moab now-i just finished a lot of mods right before leaving-I have a 97 tj that i put adjustable lowers and uppers track bar, new shocks all around( tera flex installed lowers and uppers), then i put a high pinion d30 with tj knuckles and a superior d35 with a detroit locker in the rear all put together with 4.88 gears and right now 33 inch tires-

with all the torque i have when i am in a left turn or anything that causes my jeep to sway to the right- my front left tire is lifting off the ground. same happens if im on an obstacle- it feels like its binding up and causing it to lift

Is this the detroit causing this with the flexy suspension? Have i done something wrong? or is it normal and can it be avoided? Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[I Lean]

Yes, flexy short-arm suspension + rear locker will do that.

First thing, make sure your rear swaybar is there, and hooked up as it should be. That will help a little bit.

After that, consider a long-arm upgrade. That's the single biggest thing you can do to improve the ride and handling of the thing, both on and off road.

 

[Silly Willy]

Yes, flexy short-arm suspension + rear locker will do that.

First thing, make sure your rear swaybar is there, and hooked up as it should be. That will help a little bit.

After that, consider a long-arm upgrade. That's the single biggest thing you can do to improve the ride and handling of the thing, both on and off road.

X2

 

[Xploderkid97]

would doing the lower long control arm upgrade be enough to hold me over? or do i need the whole kit? The rear sway bar is connected but does look like its seen better days-

another question would be about the on road manners- both my axles wander very aggressively (with sway bars on) especially when power is applied- is that due to flexy short arms as well?

is there anything i can do with the short arm suspension to help it?

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

the poor handling is most likely caused by the detroit locking/unlocking while you drive and amplified by the soft suspension. I personally hate detroits in short wheelbase rigs for just that reason.

 

[iamsparticus]

Sounds like you just need to go with longer arms because those stock arms are really short and don't flex as much when it is lifted, and the detriot might be the reason it has weird road manners but i just put a lockright in the back of my 4runner and i don't even notice that its there, so maybe not

 

[I Lean]

The lower long arms will help, the full kit will help more--so it really depends on your budget.

Sparticus19, your lockright isn't as noticeable for two big reasons--you have a much longer wheelbase, and stiffer suspension.

 

[Xploderkid97]

well the budget is kind of shot right now as i leave for school in 5 days... i was going to give it to my sister to drive as an around town get to school vehicle but the way it is driving now im reconsidering- if you put any acceleration it pulls hard to the left and if you let go it sends it right back into the right lane.

the next question i had is since this trip to moab ive got a grinding noise in my clutch- i just put a new one in last may and havent driven it a lot since then- it was fine just before the trip- but like i said everything has changed since i drove it last- could it be too much torque for it? its not slipping- its seems to be more of a grab- but it does grind when im putting it into gear.?? thanks for the help!

 

[JL Rockies]

Unrelated but I am heading down there tonight and wheeling with out of state friends. We're doing Kane Creek Sunday, Elephant Hill Monday and the tri-wham Tueday.

Let me know if you want to come with.

nine five four seven nine eight six six three seven

 

[Silly Willy]

nine five four seven nine eight six six three seven

Again off subject, but why does everyone spell their number rather than just use the actual numbers?

 

[JL Rockies]

All the kool kids are doing it.

 

[Xploderkid97]

thanks for the invite but we ended up calling the week early- my clutch got progressively worse and the group we were with bailed out early as well. have fun on the trails!

 

[Xploderkid97]

now it was one thing to lift its front left when i get on the gas but is it normal for it to bind up just in 4 low? i do have a tera low... when im in 4 low and do even the slightest turn it causes my jeep to lean hard to the right- its almost like it gets bound up then it will pop free and go back to a level stance- is this normal as well?

 

[Taconut]

Again off subject, but why does everyone spell their number rather than just use the actual numbers?

To keep webbots from stealing the phone numbers!

 

[rholbrook]

well the budget is kind of shot right now as i leave for school in 5 days... i was going to give it to my sister to drive as an around town get to school vehicle but the way it is driving now im reconsidering- if you put any acceleration it pulls hard to the left and if you let go it sends it right back into the right lane.

Mine did the same thing really bad. It would also make a terrible noise and vibrate like crazy if I turned sharp going really slow. The axle was actually jerking as the locker was trying to release. I tossed the "POS" Fabtech lift with barely over 5K miles on it because the joints were shot. I put some Rubicon Express arms on it and it drives like a new jeep....well almost. Check your bushings or joints on the lower arms where it bolts to your axle because they are allowing the axle to move and that’s why you basically change lanes on acceleration and deceleration. Mine was scary on the highway.

 

[Xploderkid97]

Check your bushings or joints on the lower arms where it bolts to your axle because they are allowing the axle to move and that’s why you basically change lanes on acceleration and deceleration. Mine was scary on the highway

with brand new adjustable lowers and uppers i would hope they are good - but im wishing that i had known all this before i bought them-

it is very scary on the highway but more scary is when im climbing up tip over challenge and my jeep is already naturally tipping over.

 

[rholbrook]

Did you fix your problem?

 

[Xploderkid97]

i hadnt had time to look at it till today- and i havent completely fixed it yet- but when i finally got into lookin at it i realized that i had a made a major stupid mistake- i forgot to take the 6 inch track bar bracket off the rear axle that i put underneath- my buddy did the rear while i did the front when i finally got underneath to look at everything i felt pretty dumb when i saw that.

but that hasnt fixed all the problem- just helped a lot with the binding in 4 low issue and improved the road handling ten fold but it still had a slight jerk to the way it drove when power put to the wheels-so i dug deeper and come to find out the brand new bushings that i took to teraflex to push into my lower control arms were never put in- my upper bushing has about an inch and a half play on the passenger side and an inch on the driver- so tomorrow i will be making a phone call.

i am hoping this will be the cure- right now it coast in a straight line and rides well when cruising its only when torque is applied that it goes astray.

 

[Xploderkid97]

another ? - i was planning on going to a 35 inch tire- will a 35 inch tire make the symptoms worse? should i stay with a 33?

 

[turbohaulic]

IMO if you want 35's go for it. The problem is there whether you go with bigger tire's or not. Keep going on fixing the problem and then you won't have to worry about it Good luck, sounds like your making some progress to figuring things out.