Practically Classics Forum

Of course, sometimes even well maintained U-Joints are subjected to more than they can stand...



These are the result of a slight mishap from Off-roading my YJ at Kirton.


And before that at Bures.




I've since upgraded to XJ half shafts (larger, stronger U-Joints).

I got round to replacing all the front suspension bushes last week - and it's made quite an improvement to the handling and steering (the old ones were well and truly shot). Each side of the axle has an upper arm and a lower one and with each having two bushes, that makes 8 to change. I also fitted new anti-roll bar drop links at the same time - it was not worth leaving them for another day (they were knackered, too). Removal and refitting involved undoing the bolts and beating the crap out of the old bushes with a big hammer and a chisel and then beating the crap back in

Here are some of the old ones:




These are the shiny new ones in place.




I also fitted some camber adjusting wedges to the rear axle (to straighten out the angle of the propshaft universal joints and reduce judder). I forgot to take photos but the modification has made it smoother to drive.

On Christmas Day afternoon I fitted a remote control central locking system bought from Amazon for about $18. It was dead easy to fit and uses the existing central locking system motors. It was so good, I'm going to fit one to my Grand Cherokee and Phillippa's Rover (when we're next back in the UK).

Next up - cracked exhaust manifold, blown downpipe gasket and (it seems) a front wheelbearing

My crankshaft rear oil seal failed out in the desert the other day now sorted thanks to a local garage - along with the (overdue) oil and filter change plus a new sump gasket (also overdue) thanks to the long-standing leaks.

I finally pulled the pictures of my rear spring bushes off my camera - you can see why the handling was a bit suspect:




Some "action" shots:

admittedly I know very little about jeeps but do you have leaf springs on the back and coils on the font?

TerryG wrote:admittedly I know very little about jeeps but do you have leaf springs on the back and coils on the font?

The XJ Cherokee does (as does the TJ Wrangler of 1997-2006) - the Nissan Xterra has the same setup. Later Jeeps are coils all round (my 1996 Grand Cherokee for example)

Richard Moss wrote:

TerryG wrote:admittedly I know very little about jeeps but do you have leaf springs on the back and coils on the font?

The XJ Cherokee does (as does the TJ Wrangler of 1997-2006) - the Nissan Xterra has the same setup. Later Jeeps are coils all round (my 1996 Grand Cherokee for example)

Er, you may want to check your facts on the TJ Wrangler suspension...

UKJeeper wrote:

Richard Moss wrote:

TerryG wrote:admittedly I know very little about jeeps but do you have leaf springs on the back and coils on the font?

The XJ Cherokee does (as does the TJ Wrangler of 1997-2006) - the Nissan Xterra has the same setup. Later Jeeps are coils all round (my 1996 Grand Cherokee for example)

Er, you may want to check your facts on the TJ Wrangler suspension...

Yep - I stand corrected. I'm right on the Xterra though