1997 wrangler drifting
- Thread starter Goose
- Start date
You are not. I clicked quick thinking of that lowered willys with stretched 30x9x20’s on 20x10 8” offset wheels. Smoke pouring out of all four wheel wells, single hoop roll bar and an open face American flag helmet. Driver wearing classic KD shades and a smile from ear to ear!
ok ok. I think about mixing Jeeps and drifting wayyy too often
It's looking like you have stock control arms on a 4inch lift? I'd check caster angle as well. Do you feel the wheel go back and forth?
Goose , I’m in Huntsville basically, if you are close lets meet somewhere tomorrow or Saturday a.m. and see what is going on under there. Text me 256-990-4394.
Andy G
Andy G
Man that’s awesome! Good on you for helping out a stranger. While I’m still fairly new to jeeps, it is refreshing to see the community and how they treat each other.
My other “toy” is a ‘95 mustang. I love that car, but it’s so cheap it leads to some real asshats picking them up. The sn95 forums can be a pretty toxic place.
And I was totally expecting a TJ sliding around the streets!
The TJ was designed to do what Jeeps had never done- drive well.
I can bring mine to give you a baseline, @Hog , @John Cooper , @SamwiseGamJeep @Claybirdd have all driven it after it was resurrected. It could not be driven safely over 50 when I got it. This forum changed that.
Here is the deal- you have 2 straight axles, 4 big coil springs suspend the frame and body, shocks dampen that. Sway bars control roll front and rear. Sway bar links connect them to the frame.
You have 8 control arms...these control the movement of the axle the springs allow. They have bushings on each end. These factor in as well.
Track bars(panhard bars) control the axle left to right movement, and essentially keep them centered while every thing else does its’ job.
You have the pitman arm, the drag link, the tie rod and its’ ends then a stabilizer to dampen that ...plus you have front unit bearings that need to be good and 4 ball joints .
Basically, there is a lot going on under these, and you have 44 bushings counting the shock bushings that interface most of this to the chassis.
It doesn’t mean you have to drop a ton of cash...i’ve seen a 29.00 end and a tape measure do magic...but you have to start with sizing it all up and a steering dry test, diagnose then go from there.
Being a Mustang guy you will be familiar with a lot of the components.
We aren’t the average forum, we are all mostly lifetime Jeep and car lovers, and we know when something comes along that is good, you need to work to keep it good and help the other guy as well, so it comes back around.
We are also very model specific, so we know what works on these and what doesn’t. We aren’t guessing much.
All the best,
Andy
Im about to crash, yesterday’s oral surgery took a lot out of me, but feel free to text tomorrow, if I can help or point you the right way I sure will. It appears your front sway bar is gone and you have a dropped pitman arm...I bet it is a handful.
One of the best, simple, and to the point explanations I've ever seen!
i think until we know if he recently did something to it ( added a lift or whatever ) we are just throwing darts. goose , did this just start on it's own or did it start after a modification ? it's alot easier for ALL of us if we know we are looking for a worn part or trying to fix something that was self induced by adding something....
Thanks, I used to look under mine and stare like a dog looking at a ceiling fan...this forum has the best TJ knowledge available, it really pays to be on here if you own one...whether you wrench or hire it done....here you get solid information from experienced members that enable you to understand the equipment. It has been a real asset to me as an owner, plus I have met some really good people.
we can even help those that dont know which end of the bolt to put the nut on ! might take a few beers and some time but we try to get them through it !
I’ve gotten where I don’t even guess much....there is almost a 100 percent chance on every one I see something is loose, worn, bent, missing, or set up wrong ....and with all the chutes and ladders under these it can be half a dozen things at once....a worn control arm bracket, dropped pitman, improper toe, etc.
Its fun and good to try and help, but at the best I’m guessing or at least not seeing some things on threads like this.
I hope I get to see it in person. Sadly many of these have been modified to the point they have lost their good driving characteristics they were designed for.
Or track width due to wheel offset if there is any grooves in the road…
There is a lot going on that is hurting your drivability. No sway bar is not helping things. The problem with the drop pitman arm is it is obviously causing some bump steer issues. This is evident with the odd dual steering stabilizer, somebody was trying to cover up the bad steering characteristics of the drop pitman. Your wandering could be other things or a combination of the above issues. Either way they should be addressed at some point.
A little bit of body sway combined with a steering setup that is fighting against the suspension could cause some wandering issues. Think bump steer just very slowly induced.
A little bit of body sway combined with a steering setup that is fighting against the suspension could cause some wandering issues. Think bump steer just very slowly induced.
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