SteveC
11-03-11, 10:05 AM
Well, I have had my WJ for nearly 8 years and while there have been some quirky things that needed ironing out, I have never experienced what happened the other day.
This week my wife and I did a 5 night stay to Port Macquarie from Sydney for some R&R. On one of the outings I hit a rough bit of dirt and the car shook like a mad man.
It was very frightening as I slowly managed to pull off the road just.
I has a look around and saw nothing obvious so continued albiet at a slow pace.
On return to our holiday place, I checked everything that I could (a bit hard on a foreign driveway) and tightened every thing up that I could, including wheels and tyre pressure etc etc, I even ordered a new damper by express, in case it was that that was causing it.
Only thing is that it happened again on the next day , doing just 80k, once again we pulled off the road and continued ever so slowly after our hearts slowed down.
I eventually found a alignment place in port macquarie who put it up on the hoist and who seemed fairly familiar with Jeeps and even showed me the invoice of just a few weeks ago of another WJ that had the same problem AND had travelled almost the exact KLm (138500). Weird that!
He suggested after bit of checking around that I need 4 x tie rods and that my ball joints were stuffed. He showed me the movement in all except one, which was OK
As it was our last day I thought it better we get back to Sydney to do the repairs.
Luckily the Hwy road is smooth all the way and there was only the occasional feeling of unrest. Mind you we travelled all the way at no more than 90k, which began at 3am (Yes. I said 3am! so I could travel slower with less traffic.
We finally got home at 8am and now this begs the question - Where can I get these ball joints and tie rods with out paying the extreme Jeep prices and where can I get it done near home in Sydney?
If you guys have any experience with this very scary situation or have any ideas, please let me know.
I would be curious in knowing if other Jeeps like the JK or TJ have every had this problem
ps AND to add salt to the wound, while we were there I had to get the rear brakes done, cause they were screeching liek crazy were stuffed too,
Thanks
Steve
This week my wife and I did a 5 night stay to Port Macquarie from Sydney for some R&R. On one of the outings I hit a rough bit of dirt and the car shook like a mad man.
It was very frightening as I slowly managed to pull off the road just.
I has a look around and saw nothing obvious so continued albiet at a slow pace.
On return to our holiday place, I checked everything that I could (a bit hard on a foreign driveway) and tightened every thing up that I could, including wheels and tyre pressure etc etc, I even ordered a new damper by express, in case it was that that was causing it.
Only thing is that it happened again on the next day , doing just 80k, once again we pulled off the road and continued ever so slowly after our hearts slowed down.
I eventually found a alignment place in port macquarie who put it up on the hoist and who seemed fairly familiar with Jeeps and even showed me the invoice of just a few weeks ago of another WJ that had the same problem AND had travelled almost the exact KLm (138500). Weird that!
He suggested after bit of checking around that I need 4 x tie rods and that my ball joints were stuffed. He showed me the movement in all except one, which was OK
As it was our last day I thought it better we get back to Sydney to do the repairs.
Luckily the Hwy road is smooth all the way and there was only the occasional feeling of unrest. Mind you we travelled all the way at no more than 90k, which began at 3am (Yes. I said 3am! so I could travel slower with less traffic.
We finally got home at 8am and now this begs the question - Where can I get these ball joints and tie rods with out paying the extreme Jeep prices and where can I get it done near home in Sydney?
If you guys have any experience with this very scary situation or have any ideas, please let me know.
I would be curious in knowing if other Jeeps like the JK or TJ have every had this problem
ps AND to add salt to the wound, while we were there I had to get the rear brakes done, cause they were screeching liek crazy were stuffed too,
Thanks
Steve