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Post by phil on Jul 8, 2006 19:59:34 GMT -5
Breaks in any shape or form
are so much overestimated ...
Who needs them ... Really !!
IMO .. .
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Post by ScottsyII on Jul 11, 2006 16:54:44 GMT -5
Just asked my btoher who has been rear ended three times, writing off three separate cars.... hahahahahaha.... perhaps people don't rate brakes nearly as highly as they should!
:-) :-) :-)
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Post by Paul on Aug 21, 2006 14:48:41 GMT -5
I have a Jeep Cherokee 4x4 (1999). Sometime when driving highway speeds, like 35mph+ and hit any sort of bump - pot hole, uneven pavement, etc... - the front end of the vehicle shakes violently, as does the steering wheel. This has happened twice, and scared the ever living beejeebers out of me. When I slow down to under 20mph, the shaking stops and the Jeep drives fine. Does anyone know the cause for this? I'm guessing it has something to do w/ suspension and/or wheel alignment.
Thanks.
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Post by phil on Aug 21, 2006 14:56:33 GMT -5
Sometime when driving highway speeds, like 35mph+
"Highway speed of 35 mph ..."
35 mph ... ??
Where the hell do you live ...
Amish country ??
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Post by phil on Aug 21, 2006 14:57:28 GMT -5
Trash the Jeep and go buy yourself a horse ... ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Paul on Aug 21, 2006 15:06:17 GMT -5
Sometime when driving highway speeds, like 35mph+ "Highway speed of 35 mph ..." 35 mph ... ?? Where the hell do you live ... Amish country ?? Well, if I hit a bump going 35mph it will shake -- the other day I was going 75mph and nearly had a heart attack when it started shaking. |
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Post by strat-0 on Aug 21, 2006 15:40:01 GMT -5
Wheel alignment, no; suspension, yes, Paul. Your Cherokee has a track bar on the front suspension that uses a bushing or ball joint to connect some components. It's something like a drag link that maintains the suspension geometry. It's a little hard to describe briefly, but the bushing or ball joint is probably bad (very bad). That front end is very stout, but they do sometimes need some attention. The looseness can be fixed pretty easily, but an alignment won't do it (you may have to have the alignment checked after the part is replaced).
I guess about $150 or so at an independent shop or tire store. You might want to get it looked at soon, since besides the scary shaking, it's scrubbing up your tires fast. You can usually see the looseness in the linkage if you have an assistant move the steering wheel back and forth (engine running in park) while you look under it.
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Post by Fuzznuts on Aug 21, 2006 15:57:21 GMT -5
I was thinking ball joint.
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Post by strat-0 on Aug 21, 2006 20:02:13 GMT -5
Yeah, on a rear-wheel-drive vehicle with an upper / lower control arm front suspension, that symptom is nearly always caused by a bad upper control arm bushing (rubber is completely missing). I've replaced hundreds of them. With the 4x4 Cherokee having something more like a "straight" axle in front, it's the same principle, but it would likely be in the steering linkage. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to find it. Any competent technician, or even a tire changer who has just been shown how to properly check a front end, should be able to get this one with no trouble. It will be major slop somewhere. You ought to get it fixed, first chance you get, Paul.
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Post by Paul on Aug 22, 2006 7:38:18 GMT -5
The car guy just called -- it's the steering dampner and some sort of rod that's gonna be replaced. It's gonna cost a pretty penny too, and I'm not too happy about that.
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 14, 2006 20:48:12 GMT -5
I slammed the Sleeper![/b] Yep, I put four Eibach lowering springs on it, and what a difference in the handling (and looks)! I didn't go crazy or anything - just an inch or so lower than stock.
I put the rears on last night, but I had a shop install the fronts -- I've replaced enough front springs to know that you need a hoist and a tall service jack to do them!
I've been beefing up the suspension for a few years. I've put a heavier front sway bar on, Bilstien shocks, slightly wider alloy wheels with lower profile tires, and new springs, but I was never happy with the handling. The rear end I put in this year also added a fat rear sway bar, but the springs were the problem - because I had some stiffer cargo coils put on it a few years back, and they raised the thing up like a damn stump-jumper! I wanted stiff, not high! That's not good - you don't want to raise your center of gravity.
These springs did it. She handles like she's on rails now! Oh, yeah, it's fun! Looks better, too. Pics when my new camera arrives.
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Post by Kensterberg on Sept 14, 2006 21:45:34 GMT -5
VERY COOL STRAT! Can't wait to see pics.
BTW, one of the lawyers I share space with bought a Chrysler 300 SRT8 a month or so back. You would absolutely love that car. Goes like a bat out of hell, but doesn't look much different from the regular 300 sedan.
And in further news, I sold my Bimmer last week. Needed to free up some cash flow, and I've decided I really want an older car that I can fart around with. Currently looking at Porsches in the $5,000 - $12,000 or so range. Not in any hurry to buy one -- I'm gonna enjoy figuring out exactly what I want. For that money I can get anything from a pristine 914 or 944 (even a 944 Turbo, which is a badass car) to one of the less desirable 911s. I want something that's in good enough shape that I can drive it right away, but that would be amenable to some tuning down the road.
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Post by RocDoc on Sept 14, 2006 22:56:15 GMT -5
The Bay-Em-Vay is gone?
I effing KNEW there had been a rent in the fabric of the universe!
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Post by samplestiltskin on Sept 15, 2006 11:09:22 GMT -5
Ah, damn.... I want a bat-out-of-hell car. I have a little Chevy Nova hatchback named Iggy who I am very fond of, but who needs his carburetor rebuilt pretty bad, and who dies in city traffic six times a day. Man I love my car but MAN would I love for once to have a little speed demon contraption.
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Post by strat-0 on Sept 16, 2006 0:42:57 GMT -5
It's working for me.    Note how the speedometer indicates that that 80mph is the maximum. Heh, heh... I also turned the shift light on the tach down low, so it would come on at 1500 rpm, just for your benefit, friends! |
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