Vibration

[ChrisCollege]

My wife has started to complain about the ride on our 88GW being to bumpy. I know old jeeps are not going to ride as smooth as when they were new. Does any one know what the primary causes of vibration transfer to the cab is? Should I start with replacing the rubber body mounts. Could it be the shocks? I don't think it would be the springs because as they sag they would produce more roll not jerks. Could it be the rubber spring eye bushings. Any thoughts to save my wife high opinion of the Wag. Thanks for the help.

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88 GW
93 YJ

[bignblue]

What kind of vibe is it? Could be anything from unbalanced or warped/bent wheels to bad u-joints to bad alignment. At what speed does it make itself felt? Under what driving conditions? Any noises accompanying the vibration?

[ChrisCollege]

Thanks for the reply. It is actually the bumps in the road that are being transmitted up into the Cab. When we are on flat smoth pathment the wag rides great. If you drive it on slightly bumpy roads you feel every little bump. It is almost as rough a ride as my 93YJ with a suspension lift and 33s.

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88 GW
93 YJ

[bignblue]

Are the bumps transmitted through the steering wheel or seats? I know it's a silly question, but it helps to narrow the problem down. Sounds like a suspension issue if you aren't hearing a bunch of squeaks from bad body mounts. Plus, if it IS the body mounts you're gonna have a h*ll of a time replacing them!

[ChrisCollege]

The jolts and bumps seem to come into the cab from all over the body. The driver door even seems to bounce a little seperate from the rest of the cab. It is a general transmition of say a pot hole that the wheel hits that moves all the way through the cab. I think it is just the 147K of wear and tear on the Wag. I guess my question is what is wearing and what should I replace to isolate road bumps.

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88 GW
93 YJ

[BIGBADREDRIG]

Hi I had the same problem for many months and I tought it was the road to It would shake at low speed ex-town driving and at high speed ex-freeway it would not. I found out later that it was the double c-joint that comes out of your front drive line to the front axle. Reach under there and grab the thing give it a good shake if it moves your drive shaft is gone.

[ChrisCollege]

Thanks for the call on the double c joint but it is not speed specific nor is it a constant shutter. It is really just the transmition of the normal road bumps up into the cab at any speed. When I hit a pot hole, the vibration from the pot hole comes all the way up from the wheel into the cab and shakes everything. My quess is that all the rubber mounts that attempt to isolate the suspension from the cab have worn. I was thinking that their are rubber (1) body mounts, (2) spring eye bushings, (3) sway bar busings, (4)engin mounts etc. I was hopeing that some one in the forum could tell me which ones do most of the work to isolate road vibration. I guess I should really be replacing them all after 13 years but that a lot of work and was hopeing someone knew which ones contributed the most to ride quality.

Thanks for the help in advance

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88 GW
93 YJ

[Brazzy]

The symptoms you describe sound familiar like the ones I experienced in an old ramcharger. Do you feel the vibes worse on turns when hitting a bump? If so then check the trac bar. This is a problem on a lot of trucks thats overlooked. If it is bad, good luch finding a bushing replacement. I can't.

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Brazzy
Formerly abused 87 G.W. 175k
TOW,PKG,727,229,360
2.5" Rancho softride AAL
The Chariot

[tucsonrick]

could it be as simple as shocks?
tucsonrick
'69 Wag (mostly stock)

[Cecil14]

My trucks does the same thing, just rides really rough. I haven't done it yet, but personally I would replace the shocks first, then look toward the body mounts, then possibly the springs. They sag more when worn and to me that would mean they don't have as much "spring" in them to absorb all the bumps from the road. Hope this helps.


Thanks

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1983 J-10/258I6/T-176/NP208/Factory Brush Guard

[Michael F]

I would try the shocks too. Heavy duty ones may be installed on the Jeep if they look newer.

You could unhook them and go for a short ride and see if it helps (a very short ride). If it does you need to install a cheaper set of shocks.

I have monro sensatrack shocks on my chevy 1/2ton and they can be a little stiff.

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81 Cherokee Laredo WT
56,000 orig. miles (not the engine I6 to V8 conv.)
360/727/208/3.31w/tracklock/35x12.5 ProCompMT/double diaphragm brake booster
4" BDS lift/TrailMaster SSV shocks
79 Cherokee Chief WT (snow plow)
360/400/QTw/LR/3.54/31x10.5