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Lowcountryearl

Lowcountryearl

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
129
Location
Charleston SC
Bought a 1998 with 170,000 just to have something to tinker with. PO's took pretty good care of it but I don't have a clue what has been done to the jeep. I have already tackled quite a few project with good success but when it comes to suspension work I'm not so good at it. It drives OK, hit a bump and it tends to wobble just a bit. It has 18 inch tires so I will play with tire pressures a bit. I would like to keep the jeep stock, it was hard finding a 20+ year old jeep that has not been heavily modified. Would you recommend just starting from scratch and maybe change out the steering damper and shocks first? If so, recommended products?
 
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Rancho shocks are highly regarded here, specifically the 5000x I believe, looks to me like you have a little lift, maybe 2 or3 inches? When you say 18 inch tires I assume you mean the rims? They seem larger then stock. Stock was 15 or 16 I think. And stock tire height I believe is 29” but don’t quote me on that. You might be out of alignment, or any of another things, is this death wobble or the traditional “ I’m a Jeep and I really want that lane Not this one“ wobble?
 
Yes 18 inch rims, I don't see anything underneath that would indicate a lift. Just had a professional alignment with printout that looks good. I suspect the tires might be over inflated, I'll check when I get home. It's more like a bump wobble, kinda sways after a bump. Also when braking a little hard the front dips a little more than I would expect. It's been 18 years since I owned a jeep, had a couple of CJ's but forgot most of what I picked up years ago, probably thank the VA for that. On that note I will say I am a disabled vet that cannot do the heavy suspension work, I will have to pay someone so wanted to choose wisely what I am going to have done first.
 
If it has springs swapped you might not notice the lift, there is a way to check for that, but I think it involves removing the springs and measuring them uncompreseed, so probably more than you want to do.

Tires could very well be high, I run about 26PSI, but Im on 31 R15’s. I will say that my nose dips pretty good whem I stop, maybe 20 degrees of level.? Not really sure how to measure. And I just did a hwy run so I know what you mean With the sway. See if you can find a Jeep club around you maybe one of them could drive it and tell you, hard to tell over the net.
 
Lowcountryearl said:
Bought a 1998 with 170,000 just to have something to tinker with. PO's took pretty good care of it but I don't have a clue what has been done to the jeep. I have already tackled quite a few project with good success but when it comes to suspension work I'm not so good at it. It drives OK, hit a bump and it tends to wobble just a bit. It has 18 inch tires so I will play with tire pressures a bit. I would like to keep the jeep stock, it was hard finding a 20+ year old jeep that has not been heavily modified. Would you recommend just starting from scratch and maybe change out the steering damper and shocks first? If so, recommended products?
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if you have no history of maintenance on the Jeep start there, do ball joints, wheel hubs, steering bits (perfect time to upgrade to the ZJ steering). A steering stabilizer is just a band aid if other parts are bad. control arm bushings could also cause a vibration.
 
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Lowcountryearl said:
Yes 18 inch rims, I don't see anything underneath that would indicate a lift. Just had a professional alignment with printout that looks good. I suspect the tires might be over inflated, I'll check when I get home. It's more like a bump wobble, kinda sways after a bump. Also when braking a little hard the front dips a little more than I would expect. It's been 18 years since I owned a jeep, had a couple of CJ's but forgot most of what I picked up years ago, probably thank the VA for that. On that note I will say I am a disabled vet that cannot do the heavy suspension work, I will have to pay someone so wanted to choose wisely what I am going to have done first.
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Probably a good idea if you can sync up locally with someone familiar with the TJ. They could help you assess where your Jeep is. That said, at 170K, unless it's been done, it's time to replace the steering components. The best bang for the buck is the ZJ conversion mentioned. You can read up on it in the link below.

Also, it looks like someone installed 18" JK wheels. That's really to big of a wheel for the TJ. Stock TJs look and work well with a 15" wheel/tire. Plus they're much cheaper.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/zj-tie-rod-conversion.2373/
 
Also, it looks like someone installed 18" JK wheels.

That makes sense, didn't pick up on that. PO just put $840 worth of tires on the jeep so not sure what I would do with those, maybe CL.
 
1) Find out how much lift you have. To do this stock front is 12" including the spring and any kind of spacer, but not the coil spring isolator. Anything about 12" is the amount of lift you have in the front. In the rear, stock is 8", measure the same way. Anything above 8" is the amount of lift you have in the rear.

2) Sell the 18's and tires on CL or FB marketplace. Get some 15's and tires that are in a size appropriate to the amount of lift you have from step 1 above. Make sure the air pressure is correct for that size tire 31's 28-30, 33's 26-28.

3) Check your tie rod ends and trackbar, correct as needed. ZJ conversion is a good upgrade. Things probably need a refresh up there.

Try to plan out ahead of time what you want to do with the Jeep so you don't spend poorly on things you'll replace later.

Awesome find, great looking Jeep! I was born in Charleston, back during Vietnam.
 
It looks like the shocks from the bottom mount to the top mouth is about 19 and 1/2 in
The length of a coil spring is about 18 and 1/2 in

20200804_160508.jpg


20200804_160601.jpg
 
Nice TJ, always loved that color. Advice above it great, I'd also work on getting all the fluids changed out, so you know they are all done and good.

I grew up just north of you in Summerville and lived a few years in Mt Pleasant. Still get back to Charleston a lot to visit family. Beautiful city!
 
your Jeep is definitely lifted as the tire size you currently have is a 32" and it looks like you could fit a 33-35 comfortably, and have 6" of lift according to the measurement.
 
Could you tell anything by the pictures I sent.


Just want to say up front, really appreciate you guys trying to help me out. I've been reading on this forum for a quite a while, so many cool people. In these days and times it's just nice to be in a friendly atmosphere
 
Lowcountryearl said:
They are P275/65R18
Dueler HT, they literally have less than a hundred miles on them
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You might try selling them on the JK forum, 33’s are pretty small for them though. Those seem like a fairly street biased tire (can’t see real well though). Cragslist of FB is your best bet, then get some 15” rimsyou like and some 33’s I like a good MT but alot of people here prefer AT’s
 
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