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Topic: Mystery Front End Clunk Solved

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Mystery Front End Clunk Solved

Like many of you guys with XJs Ive had a mystery clunk in my front end when the suspension cycles.  Ive had the wheels off three times looking at everything.  I finally decided to replace the bushings in the lower/upper control arms as well as the track bar bushing.
 
I started with the lower control arms.  The factory bolts were frozen with corrosion and wouldnt budge.  My Sawsall and a Torch blade took care of the bolts.  The bushings were also frozen in the control arms and would not come out even with my 2,000 pound arbor press and a three-foot bar and a lot of PB Blaster.  I cleaned out the Blaster after long periods of soaking with brake cleaner and compressed air and then squirted in some CLR and watched bubble for several minutes, it worked but when they let loose it sounded like a hand grenade went off.  Save your money up and just buy new control arms if you live in the Rust Belt like I do.  A fairly easy job turned out to be a giant PITA.

After replacing the bushings in both lower control arms I took the Jeep for a ridethe clunk was still there.  I decided that I would build a ramp using 2X12s by three-feet and 2X4s that my trusted helper could drive up on then drive off (carefully) while I would be looking and listening under the front end.

Before doing this I decided to look one more time.  I went over every square mm of every component.  With a bright flashlight I notice a tiny shiny spot on one of the bolts that hold on the steering box.  I have aftermarket Hi Country tow brackets that wrap around the frame and are held on by the steering box bolts.  I couldnt see or feel if there was any wear on the sway bar but after using a mirror I saw that the paint on the sway bar was worn off.  I confirmed the contact by taping a piece of paper to the sway bar and taking the Jeep for another rideyep, there was a slight tear in the paper.  I fixed the problem by removing the washer and grinding down the bolt head about a 1/16th of an inch.

TIPS:  If youre going to tackle the control arms, do one side at a time.  The front axle will move when the bolts are removed.  I didnt have a tapered rod and a helper at the time so I used a floor jack and a come-a-long to realign the holes.  They have to be aligned perfectly to get the new bolts through the holes in the brackets/bushings, especially if you replace the factory bolts with grade 8 9/16-12 bolts (theyre a few thousandths bigger in diameter).  Leave the bolts/nuts loose (finger tight) then put the wheels back on to put weight on the suspension, then cycle the suspension up and down and sideways several times.  Then torque to factory specs (85 ft/lbs.) I torqued mine to a little better than 90 ft/lbs. because I used anti-seize on the threads.

If you replace the factory bolts with grade 8 US bolts use anti-seize on the bolt shafts because if you look at the factory bolts youll see that the shafts are smaller in diameter except for about 3/8 near the cap end and the threads.  Im sure they did this to keep the amount of contact between the bolts and the sleeve in the bushing to a minimum to prevent seizure (didnt work on mine).  I found my replacement bolts at a local ACE Hardware as well as some grade 8 nylon stop nuts.  Grade 8 bolts arent quite as hard as factory bolts but still have a rating of 150,000 PSI of shear strength and should hold up fine.



-- Edited by weebur on Friday 29th of April 2011 11:28:03 AM

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1997 Cherokee XJ, 4.0L, AW-4, NP 231 TC, Dana 35C (3.55:1) rear diff with PowerTrax No-Slip Locker, High Country front tow brackets, Rear air shocks. 126,000 miles.

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First off welcome  to glxj Thanks for posting.

 

I have not taken my control arms off yet, but plan on getting long arms in the not to distant future.  Lots of good info in your post.  Glad that you finally fixed your problem.  If you were to it again and buy new control arms, would you have just cut them off?



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You're welcome.  I found GLXJ from a link posted on one of the other 4 Jeep forum sites that I'm a member of.  It's a great looking site, I hope more guys find it and join...can't have too much information.

I'd go ahead and try to punch out the bolts because after following my usual procedure for undoing rusty bolts the front bolts came out without a problem.  It was the rear bolts that wouldn't budge, probably because of the salty slush splashed up from the tires.  You might get lucky.  All four of my nuts came off without a problem.  If your rear bolts won't come out after 15-20 minutes of trying I would not waste half a day like I did and just get out the Sawsall.  Personally I wouldn't burn them off with oxy-acetylene as you might damage the flimsy brackets and/or make the metal brittle around the bolt holes.  I guess that's not going to be an issue if you're going to long arms.  Did you see the segment on Xtreme 4X4 (Powerblock TV) where they did the conversion on a Cherokee? They will probably sell you a DVD of the episode.

I didn't mention in my original post, because it was getting a little too long, but I noticed that the factory installed the front bolts (driver's side) with the bolt head on the inside of the frame.  When I punched out the bolt, the head hit the differential.  The factory bolts are about 4 1/4 long and since I was replacing them with 4 1/2 bolts I installed them with the bolt head on the outside of the frame.

 I hoped that I wouldnt need to have a front end alignment done (I recently had it done and everything was within specs) but I have noticed that the Jeep is drifting to the left slightly.  I stopped in a local alignment shop was told that even though I didnt mess with the shims for the caster (?), I would need to have the front end aligned again. Im going to bring it this weekanother hundred bucks wasted for not being careful enough and throwing parts at a problem.

 

I like your signature, by the way.  We are making too many shemales out of our boys.  And thanks for the Support our Troops, it's nice to see these guys and gals greeted well in the airports, unlike us that were spat upon (I'm an old USMC Vietnam vet 1966).

Good luck with your conversion.

 

 



-- Edited by weebur on Sunday 1st of May 2011 10:12:37 AM



-- Edited by weebur on Sunday 1st of May 2011 11:25:13 AM



-- Edited by weebur on Sunday 1st of May 2011 11:26:53 AM

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1997 Cherokee XJ, 4.0L, AW-4, NP 231 TC, Dana 35C (3.55:1) rear diff with PowerTrax No-Slip Locker, High Country front tow brackets, Rear air shocks. 126,000 miles.

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I did see the so call "Cheap Jeep" that they used a ton of crazy expensive equipment to do stuff that people on the Cheap can't do... i don't remember that part though, if it is the one that you are talking about.

 

I always support the troops.  Just visited a college roomate that just got home from Aghanistan.  Had a kid while he was over there, was already 6 months old when he got back on Dec. 23.  A good chunk of my family is either serving or has served.  Thanks for your service.  If I didn't have a messed up colon from college football, I would probably be Marine right now.  The world works in crazy ways though... 

 

Thanks again

Andy



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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
'11 Dodge Charger

I miss the days that they made toys that could kill a kid.

*Support our Troops*


My Pics and Specs

My Build Thread

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That post was post 3000!!!! biggrin



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'99 XJ, 5.5" lift, 33" MT's
'11 Dodge Charger

I miss the days that they made toys that could kill a kid.

*Support our Troops*


My Pics and Specs

My Build Thread

 
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