Rear end movement

Jeepin

Jeepin

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Joined
Feb 25, 2017
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3
Location
Charlotte Hall, MD, United States
I have a 97 Wrangler wih a 3" suspention lift and a 2" body lift. Rear of jeep seems to move around alot on uneven roads. Rear trac bar is still bolted in factory position. Im thinking trac bar needs to be lowered with a bracket to be more horizonal to stabilize the rear end. Can anyone advise me if this wil help to getrid of issues im having?
 
@Jeepin, I turned this into a thread for you instead of a PM. That way everyone can chime in, and others (who might have the same problem in the future) can find it easier.

You should have an adjustable track bar, or a track bar relocation bracket. Lowering the track bar isn't necessary and has nothing to do with this.

My thought is you probably have worn suspension / drivetrain components in the rear such as control arm bushings. Get under there and look at the control arm bushings, track bar bushings, and anything else, to see how they look. If you post a picture, we'll gladly tell you if they're good or not. I would also check out the bolts under there (i.e. track bar bolts) to see if they are torqued to spec.
 
With the hight the jeep has been raised it has the trac bar at such an upward angle it does not appear it would keep the rear end from moving back and forth. Is this supposed to be the fuction of the trac bar?
 
Chris said:
You should have an adjustable track bar, or a track bar relocation bracket. Lowering the track bar isn't necessary and has nothing to do with this.

My thought is you probably have worn suspension / drivetrain components in the rear such as control arm bushings. Get under there and look at the control arm bushings, track bar bushings, and anything else, to see how they look. If you post a picture, we'll gladly tell you if they're good or not. I would also check out the bolts under there (i.e. track bar bolts) to see if they are torqued to spec.
Click to expand...
Do what Chris recommended and let us know what you see. Also, check the swaybar links and bolts while you're under there.

Also, it's not at too extreme of an angle with a 3" lift, I promise. Any "tail wagging the dog" type of feeling is more likely to be from worn bushing in the tackbar itself, or in the rear control arms as Chris said. It would work better if it were more horizontal, but to do that, you'd want to raise the axle side/low end, NOT by lowering the frame side/higher end, which would make your suspension geometry worse. The best way to raise the axle end is with a relocation bracket.
 
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I started with the track bars, tie rod w/ends, and drag link and that helped a little (original - 16 years old). But I found that all my control arm bushings needed to be replaced. I pressed in new Moog bushings but some choose to just replace the whole control arms. As I did them all at separate times, I could measure the effect they had on the wiggle. It was mostly the uppers on both ends that made the biggest difference getting rid of the wiggle.
 
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