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Topic: Banging/bottoming out on the drivers side front end

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Banging/bottoming out on the drivers side front end

I've started getting a banging/bottoming out from the drivers side of the front end. I can't see anything that is hitting anything. For instance it will do it if there is a sharp dip in a parking lot, or if there is a sharp incline entering a drive, etc. I don't even have to be going very fast for it to do it, and it is only on the drivers side.

I don't see where the rubber bumpstop has hit the hockey pucks I have inside the coils. I have Rustys UCA's and LCA's with an RE extreme duty TB and TB brace. Could the diff end of the UCA be hitting the top of the diff?  I also have a set of pin bushing thingy'son the axle end of the front shocks. Could it be the shock is bottoming out? If so, why only one side?  I took the shock loose from the "body" and the shock dosen't show any signs of damage.  I have been able to hear the fluid moving in the front shocks when I hit bumps, etc... for about 6 months now. Never used to hear it, kind of a squishing sound. Could that be a sign the shock is bad?

Everything else is tight on the front end. I'm lost.

-- Edited by firehawk on Sunday 11th of April 2010 03:38:05 PM

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Any chance a bushing is starting to wear?

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I recommend to my customers to put a piece of "painters tape" around the shaft of the shock towards the top inch or so. Drive around and let it make that sound and than see if the tape has been touched. That will tell you right off the bat if the shock is toast.

Also check your swaybar end links. Not sure if your running disco's or not but they are notorious for "clunking" with bad bushings etc.

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LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW wrote:

I recommend to my customers to put a piece of "painters tape" around the shaft of the shock towards the top inch or so. Drive around and let it make that sound and than see if the tape has been touched. That will tell you right off the bat if the shock is toast.

Also check your swaybar end links. Not sure if your running disco's or not but they are notorious for "clunking" with bad bushings etc.





Thanks Adam, I'll try the tape thing.

I know it ISN'T the swaybar links.  I removed the Terra Flex disco's last fall, they were nothing but a PITA.  They rattled all the time.   I drove all winter without the front swaybar.  I'm now running a set of Warrior extended links.  The noise was there without the swaybar attached, and it is still there with the new links.

I'm about sure from all the posts on several forums that it is simply a bad shock.  But again, I'll try the tape thing tomorrow.  Can't decide which shocks to go with.  Might as well replace both fronts.  

 



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My XJ is doing the same after the 3.5" RE lift and shocks I put in over the course of a few months last year.  So far I've just coped with it.  Nothing appears to be rubbing on each other, so I thought it might be the coils rotating a little in their 'seat' in the axle, or from the compression/extension of the coils going over said bump.

swaybar is d-conned.  The rubicon express swaybar links are weird, with all the bolts and bracketry stuff.  Just haven't gotten around to a simpler setup (Quick Discos would be nice)

It's a loud noise,  very hard to describe.  almost a mix of a bang and a creak. It's not the stereotypical dull 'thud' when bottoming out. I'll have to try the tape trick and see if its the shocks.

-- Edited by ChevelleSSLS6 on Monday 12th of April 2010 01:57:39 AM

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Firehawk, do the rustys uppers and lowers come with new hardware? If you use the factory hardware on some aftermarket control arms the mounting holes are a bit larger and cause the uppers on the axle side to move or pop, bang, and creak. I spoke with RE on this and they suggested to replace the upper control arm bushings in the axle and replace the factory bolts with a set that are the same size as their holes in the control arms( grade eight of corse).
I did so and no more unexplaned noises from uppers. It was a definate pop that transmitted through the drivers floor board. This may be what your hearing too, Chevelle. I found a set of poly bushings on Craigslist, new still in the package. I think they are around $100.00 new.


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threeEs99 wrote:

Firehawk, do the rustys uppers and lowers come with new hardware? If you use the factory hardware on some aftermarket control arms the mounting holes are a bit larger and cause the uppers on the axle side to move or pop, bang, and creak. I spoke with RE on this and they suggested to replace the upper control arm bushings in the axle and replace the factory bolts with a set that are the same size as their holes in the control arms( grade eight of corse).
I did so and no more unexplaned noises from uppers. It was a definate pop that transmitted through the drivers floor board. This may be what your hearing too, Chevelle. I found a set of poly bushings on Craigslist, new still in the package. I think they are around $100.00 new.




Yeah I used the factory hardware on the control arms.  Rustys "claims" they use factory rubber bushings.  I'm not seeing any play in these areas , and the control arms have been on the Jeep for about 4 years. 

The noise I'm hearing now is relatively new, maybe heard it the first time last summer.  I have no issues with it in "normal" driving, just when I enter a parking lot that has a fairly steep entry, or a fairly deep dip in a parking lot.  Again, only on the drivers side.

I was going to try the tape thing Adam suggested but I can see in the dirt on the shock's shaft there is about 2" of dirt left on the shaft.  I don't know if the shock could still be bottoming out or not.  The shocks were for a 3-4" lift, and I'm running 4" now.  Can a shock bottom out without hitting the little flange on top that is for a shock boot?

 



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Well I found the cause of my problem.... finally! It appears that the coil spacer is "going bad". Apparently it is become smashed on the side toward the frame. It dosen't look bad to just look at it, but it is canted slightly towards the frame. It is allowing the coil spring to hit the frame on full compression. I finally can see a place on the frame where it has rubbed the paint off.

So I guess a new set of spacers are in order. I'd like to do away with the spacer altogether but a 3" spring with a 1 3/4" spacer can't just be replaced with a new set of 4.5" coils. The Jeep is down slightly in the front ever since I mounted the winch up, and I don't want anymore rake than I have now. It actually could stand to come up 1/2" to 3/4" to level it out.

Maybe a 4.5 coils and a 3/4" spacer..... How much lift is actually got with a 4.5" coil?confuse

-- Edited by firehawk on Monday 7th of June 2010 09:07:09 PM

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firehawk wrote:
How much lift is actually got with a 4.5" coil?
Depends on the manufacture and the spring rate; not to mention the weight of bumpers and winches.

 



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LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW wrote:

firehawk wrote:
How much lift is actually got with a 4.5" coil?
Depends on the manufacture and the spring rate; not to mention the weight of bumpers and winches.

 




More than likely I'd go with RE coils.  The bumper is a Warrior... minus the grille guard, a Detours backbone, and the winch.  I believe the winch was about 90#, maybe not that much, don't really remember.

 



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From my experience dealing with RE coils is that they sit a bit higher than advertised. Also the 3.5" and 4.5" coils are drasticly different coil spring rates; so factor that in.

THIS LIST may help you decide what set of coils to go with as it shows coil spring rates for several XJ coils from various manufactures.

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