FAQ Unibody Jeep front end sag/alignment fixes

[taz11]

Here is a link to the old FAQ until it finds it's way over here. http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com/foru ... IC_ID=1144

There are lots of ideas in this thread.


I'd like to add one....... This one is fairly simple and takes about 15 minutes. It can be done without taking the jeep apart. The drawback is that it requres a welder.

The main cause of sag is the wearing of the steel bar under the front module. There is also lots of flex in the plastic. It leads to sag and excessive toe out that trashes tires and boggs down the jeep.

I have pics of two modules I just did. These where off the jeep but I have done this on several assembled jeeps. You just have to be cautious and shield the body from falling slag. I use some roof flashing to direct the slag away fro the body. If you are doing an assembled jeep, Prop it up on it's side on a board or something smooth so you don't scratch it.

Here are two lifted modules off an Enforcer and a Beach Ranger. You can see the obvious issue here. :roll:

Start by making a cut across the main tie bar with a cut off tool or grinder. This will take about an 1/8 inch slice out of the bar. In severe cases you may need to do this twice (do one at a time so you don't "over do")

Take the wheels or axles and force them forward and towards the bottom as you hold the 2 sections together. Pushing the wheels will cause enough preload to hold the cross bar together while you tack weld it. Then run a quick bead on it. REMEMBER TO SHIELD THE PLASTIC! You don't want to melt the plastic!

Here are some finished shots of the two I did. They both required 2 cuts

Don't be alarmed by a little extra positive camber. The plastic flex mentioned earlier will suck up most of it.

While I'm at it, I usually take two hammers to the tierod rivets. This is tricky while assembled. Take one hammer and place it ontop of the rivet where the tie rod attaches to the steering knuckle. Smack the bottom of the rivet with the second hammer (use both hammers or you will break the knuckle). This expands the rivet alittle more and takes alot of slop out of the tierod ends....for a while anyway.
EDIT....I have since found that squeezing the rivets with a pair of vice grips works well also.

This also works well on Silverados

[Mizzou Fan 85]

is there a way to do this without a welder... :?

[taz11]

Get some flat stock from a hardware store and drill the holes closer together. You can also cut the bar and bolt in a 1/4-20 turnbuckle and make it adjustable :D .

[dasilva100]

Following Taz's idea I did the "adjustable" version. A welder is not necesary but you will need a die set. This has been done on a non-lifted unibody jeep with steel shaft.
Total investment: $1.29 for a 3/8 joint from Home Depot and around 20 minutes of work.

[Never enough]

OK so this was Taz's idea but I thought I would show my results. This was very easy and only cost under $3.

I do not have before pictures as I thought I would replace the entire bar with flat stock steel again. The wheels were out pretty bad.

I removed everything from the front end and then I cut 5" out of bar.
This bar already had 2- 5/16 holes in it so I used one of them to bolt the eyelet to. The other was to far apart to use.

I drilled a hole in the other side of the bar and connected the other eyelet.

While I had it apart I crushed the rivets down to tighten up the knuckles. I have tried using a channel lock like I have seen others use but it never really tightens a lot. So this time I put the rivet on my anvil and gave it a good whack with a hammer. It tightened it up a lot.

Before I tightened it and you can see how much slack there is. I am holding the knuckle straight and the bar is drooping

After, you can see how the bar is fairly straight now.

Installed. I was worried about not being able to turn the turnbuckle but the head of the bolt rests up against the module and gives enough clearance to turn it. Next time I will center the turnbuckle under the module.

Much better and I can make adjustments later on if it wears more.

everything was from lowes except the left hand threaded nuts. They came from Taz who got them from fastenal. Thanks again taz

Turnbuckle $1.93
2- 5/16x18 Lock nuts $0.22
2- 5/16x 3/4 bolts $0.30
1- 1/4x 20 nut $0.06
1- 1/4x 20 left handed jam nut $0.35 from fastenal part number 36902

I bought washers also but they didn't leave enough of the bolt sticking out of the nuts. I didn't want to use longer bolts or have anything sharp under the truck due to kids running each other over. Everything was filed down smooth.

[FatherOfFour]

What up, team. Been awhile since my last post. Getting ready for Baby Girl to join us :)

Been meaning to fix Parker's saggy Jeep front end. He opened the Jeep this last Christmas. We built it, took it outside, he ran into a high curb and the wheels started to sag and toe-out immediately. With additional collisions, it has gotten much worse over time.

Many props to the gentlemen who gave us the current sag fixes, found here viewtopic.php?f=44&t=2021, as I got my inspiration from them.

My fix works similar to all the rest, except I am pulling together the lower part of the rack system/spindle rods, rather than the upper tie bar. The other main difference is speed of install ;)

With a few pieces of hardware and two drill holes, you can have this installed in 10 minutes...

About $8 in Home Depot hardware. I used 3/16" galv steel braided cable with clamp sets and 7/32" turnbuckle.

Drilled a 1/4" hole right through the spindle hub as far down and as close to the rod as possible.

Attached clamp on one side.

Looped cable through the drilled holes.

Attached the other clamp through the turnbuckle.

And tightened.

A little over-tightened as wheel camber is now positive. Wheels settled flat with Parker's weight.

Car drives much better on both street and grass now that it isn't "dragging" one wheel that's way out of alignment. Wheels are much quieter now too :)

Cut off the excess braided cable and shrink-tubed the sharp ends and let the kids play :)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFjYiqOx ... p_xUMfXW1g[/video]

[FatherOfFour]

90 day follow up.

After driving for a couple weeks, the cables worked into their final resting places and the front end started to sag. This is expected. So I just up-ended the Jeep, used some Allen wrenches to keep the cables straight, and tightened the turnbuckle a couple rounds. Everything cinched right up and Parker is driving straight again. :)

A couple months down the road and it is driving fine... I will be doing this fix to our other Jeep, too. :P

Sagging

Sagging

Tightened