mjtjnj Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Full disclosure: This is for my 01 TJ, but I've found that this group is the most knowledgeable/helpful, by far (and a d30 is a d30). Now that folks are fully buttered up, I replaced both axles on my TJ, in regearing after swapping in a manual trans. I kept the front control arms attached to the frame, and connected the new axle to those first, then proceeded to tighten everything up, passenger side first. When it came time to button up the driver's side sway bar link, it was about 2-3 inches away from the mounting point on the axle. Lined up, but a 2-3 inch reach. Figuring I had done things in an improper order, or expecting that alignment (?) was going to be way out I finagled it together, by raising/lowering, loosening stuff, etc. Well, when I got it on the road, the sway bar shifted itself towards the passenger side, with the upper part of my link digging into the driver's side frame rail, even after having a 4-wheel alignment done. I was able to slide the bar over, and re-tighten the sway bar frame mounts, and it's more or less centered, but when I make a right turn, I'm getting a clunking sound out of the right front end, which I'm sure is the sway bar/link, somehow. Everything else is tight and good; I even replaced the unit bearings and axle shaft u-joints. Did I make a mistake in installation? Is the d30 bent? I hope it's not the latter, it looked true, both axle shafts looked good, and there are no leaks. I'm a little stumped, hoping it will be something simple. Any input would be appreciated! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 sounds like may be a track bar alignment issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjtjnj Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Zebvance: Yeah, that's what I've been reading, but it's at stock height with a stock trackbar. My Jeep is an 01, and the axle came out of an 05....I don't think there were any changes made (or from 84-05 for that matter!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 There was a lot of changes on the dana 30 from that time. From CAD housing d30 all the way to the pinion, axles and shafts. Tjs have a different housing than xj/mj. The TJ used a shorter pinion so that means that the center diff itself is not cast the same. So I would not put it out of the question that track bar mount locations were different. Esp because the Tj netted more lift than the mj, Also mounting locations for the track bar are no where near the same. Therefor track bars are going to be diffrent angles and longer/shorter. You might want to start with a tape measure and start comparing. A solution would be a adjustable trac bar. But here is the main question. What did the axles come out of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjtjnj Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 True, good points; I just figured the track bar mount would remain constant. The axles came out of a 2005 TJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 going from tj to tj with in 4 years of make its easy to assume that they should be the same. They probably are. but like I said I would start taking measurements to see what is not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I am having a hard time understanding exactly what the issue is. Can you snap a few pictures of the brackets from the front of the Jeep? The 05 to 01 should be a bolt in affair. But Jeeps are Jeeps and people like to modify parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjtjnj Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 I will take a couple shots when I get home. Basically, bolting in the d30 was cake except that the sway bar end links didn't line up at the axle. They did on the previous one -- all hardware is the same. When forced to line up on the install, the bar migrated towards the passenger side, and is making noise, even though I stopped it from contacting the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 loosen the sway bar mounts and pull it over to where it is lined up again? I to am having trouble picturing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjtjnj Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 the bar is shifting to the passenger side. I can loosen the mounts/bushings, pry with a pry bar to center, and re-tighten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 how are the wheels in the wheel wells? does the axle look centered looking back and forth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Did you make sure that the axle side bolts for the sway bar link are installed correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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