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Ok, is this Normal???

JeepAustinWeird

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I hope I have now posted this is the right forum area

I noticed a scuff on my front driver's bumper making me think someone has probably backed into me.....so I starting looking around pretty thoroughly inside the bumper, frame, and under the Jeep and didn't notice anything bent or out or whack on the bumper, front lights (including light bars, and fog lights), and inside (thank the Lord), but did notice some narrow gapping between my front springs and what I (in my novice knowledge) think is the attachment point of my sway bar. The gapping is much narrower on the drivers side which is the side that the bumper has scuffs. I even measure the opening gap between my bumper and grill and it was even all the way across.
I have the Mopar lift (2" with Fox Shocks) and have 35" tires...so for others out there with similar or same, can you check your set up in comparison with my pics and please let me know if what I have is "normal". I am hoping it has been this way since the lift was put on (at delivery of vehicle), but I drove around today doing a lot of turning and up and down incline and never heard any sounds of one piece contacting the other. At one point I put each front tire up on a rock to check with flexing of the frame if it would contact each other and it didn't. I've posted pics of just Driver wheel b/c it seems with the driver wheel up it narrowed the gap more than with passenger wheel up on the rock. I guess I'm also looking for a little reassurance that if the connection were pushed back towards the spring, the two components will still never contact with frame and wheel articulation both with and without sway bar disconnect. In other words I'm hoping that the way things sit it is normal, but more importantly, if not, there will not be a situation that this will affect drivability on and off road of my Jeep. I even stood on my step bar bounced my Jeep up and down and didn't look like the gap narrowed by much.. I feel like I am being overly anal about this but since my Jeep is my Baby, I want to make sure it's in tip top shape. Thank in advance for reading and helping with advice and info.

Front Bumper
front-bumper-jpg.jpg



Driver's side (parked on flat ground)
drivers-side-jpg.jpg



Passenger Side (parked on flat ground)
passenger-side-jpg.jpg



Up on a rock
flex-front-jpg.jpg


flex-side-jpg.jpg



Gapping on Drivers side with wheel up
drivers-side-up-on-rock-jpg.jpg
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JeepAustinWeird

JeepAustinWeird

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I even drove to the dealer and looked on the lot for comparison... the best I could find was a JL with a 4 inch lift and 38" tires. The gap between the spring was more than I see on mine and the sway bar even tilted more upward from front to back, where as mine seems pretty level (in my last pic above). This is prob due to the 4" vs 2" lift, I'm guessing.

other-jeep-jpg.jpg
 

Arterius2

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@JeepAustinWeird any dent on that bumper where the scuff mark is? Looks like you are alright, if someone backed into you with enough force to cause frame damage, for sure you will be able to tell.

From your photos I can’t really see anything regarding this “gaping”.
 

redsyphon

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If you mean between the boot of the sway bar link and the sway bar, then that spacing is normal. It's effectively a solid connection through the swaybar link.
 

BlackGenesis

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Your springs bow oposite directions, hence the difference in gap between spring and the sway bar.
 

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Roky

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I hope I have now posted this is the right forum area

I noticed a scuff on my front driver's bumper making me think someone has probably backed into me.....so I starting looking around pretty thoroughly inside the bumper, frame, and under the Jeep and didn't notice anything bent or out or whack on the bumper, front lights (including light bars, and fog lights), and inside (thank the Lord), but did notice some narrow gapping between my front springs and what I (in my novice knowledge) think is the attachment point of my sway bar. The gapping is much narrower on the drivers side which is the side that the bumper has scuffs. I even measure the opening gap between my bumper and grill and it was even all the way across.
I have the Mopar lift (2" with Fox Shocks) and have 35" tires...so for others out there with similar or same, can you check your set up in comparison with my pics and please let me know if what I have is "normal". I am hoping it has been this way since the lift was put on (at delivery of vehicle), but I drove around today doing a lot of turning and up and down incline and never heard any sounds of one piece contacting the other. At one point I put each front tire up on a rock to check with flexing of the frame if it would contact each other and it didn't. I've posted pics of just Driver wheel b/c it seems with the driver wheel up it narrowed the gap more than with passenger wheel up on the rock. I guess I'm also looking for a little reassurance that if the connection were pushed back towards the spring, the two components will still never contact with frame and wheel articulation both with and without sway bar disconnect. In other words I'm hoping that the way things sit it is normal, but more importantly, if not, there will not be a situation that this will affect drivability on and off road of my Jeep. I even stood on my step bar bounced my Jeep up and down and didn't look like the gap narrowed by much.. I feel like I am being overly anal about this but since my Jeep is my Baby, I want to make sure it's in tip top shape. Thank in advance for reading and helping with advice and info.

Front Bumper
front-bumper-jpg.jpg



Driver's side (parked on flat ground)
drivers-side-jpg.jpg



Passenger Side (parked on flat ground)
passenger-side-jpg.jpg



Up on a rock
flex-front-jpg.jpg


flex-side-jpg.jpg



Gapping on Drivers side with wheel up
drivers-side-up-on-rock-jpg.jpg
It looks like you got more than 2” of lift and that’s why things aren’t squared up. You can leave it as is and won’t have any problem as long as you don’t get into full articulations
 

DWaX

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Your springs bow oposite directions, hence the difference in gap between spring and the sway bar.
Yeah, definitely the difference.
I'd verify that the springs are clocked properly in the perch. One appears to have rotated out of position.

WaX
 
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JeepAustinWeird

JeepAustinWeird

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@JeepAustinWeird any dent on that bumper where the scuff mark is? Looks like you are alright, if someone backed into you with enough force to cause frame damage, for sure you will be able to tell.

From your photos I can’t really see anything regarding this “gaping”.
No no denting. Looks just to be scuffing of the plastic bumper part that sticks out and in cases the fog light. Look like there were a few scratches on the under surface of the steel bumper part with a little bit of red paint markings. Whatever caused it was definitely low impact or a grays. I did not notice or see any sort of denting or displacement of any part of the external bumper. Thanks for the reply.
 
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JeepAustinWeird

JeepAustinWeird

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If you mean between the boot of the sway bar link and the sway bar, then that spacing is normal. It's effectively a solid connection through the swaybar link.
The circled area is the space gap I’m referring to and questioning.
Drivers side
Jeep Wrangler JL Ok, is this Normal??? 2E913C65-4EBB-4029-AA56-6C212ACF6A51

Passenger side.
Jeep Wrangler JL Ok, is this Normal??? D0C9F969-7C46-4CF4-9F9F-82718976FBA8
Thank you.
 
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JeepAustinWeird

JeepAustinWeird

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Yeah, definitely the difference.
I'd verify that the springs are clocked properly in the perch. One appears to have rotated out of position.

WaX
I’ll definitely double check that. I’m going to go by the dealer and have them look at this issue that I’m having for confirmation. I will also have them look at the springs and double check the alignment of them given that they installed them. Some of the bowing appearance may be due to the angle that I took the picture. I’ll have to do a visual inspection to see if I notice that in person, because it definitely looks that way in the pictures.
Thank you for the reply. It’s nice having so many knowledgeable and helpful people on the forum.
 

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DWaX

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The circled area is the space gap I’m referring to and questioning.
Drivers side
Jeep Wrangler JL Ok, is this Normal??? D0C9F969-7C46-4CF4-9F9F-82718976FBA8

Passenger side.
Jeep Wrangler JL Ok, is this Normal??? D0C9F969-7C46-4CF4-9F9F-82718976FBA8
Thank you.
Like has been previously mentioned, one of your springs appear to have unseated from the proper position and is bowing into the arm.

Should be a very easy fix.
 

DWaX

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It might just be a bad angle but those sway bar end links look short, as if they left on the OEM, and didn't replace with new that should be 2 inches longer... Looks like they are already near max extension on flat ground. But again that just might be the angle.
 

Roky

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The circled area is the space gap I’m referring to and questioning.
Drivers side
2E913C65-4EBB-4029-AA56-6C212ACF6A51.jpeg

Passenger side.
D0C9F969-7C46-4CF4-9F9F-82718976FBA8.jpeg
Thank you.
@JeepAustinWeird , Wax is correct about the sway links, and if springs are indexed correctly, I’m 99 percent sure your problem is that you got more than 2” of lift and your axle is shifted to the drivers side, probably 1/2 to 3/4”. I can see it by looking at your sway end links. You see how the passengers side favors the outside of the spring, and the drivers side favors the inside of the spring. This will cause springs to bow even front to back in some cases.
Maybe this will help me make more sense, lol. This is more extreme cases....


https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/posts/1454124/
 

aldo98229

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I got the Mopar lift installed by the dealer last December. I ended getting 4 inches of lift in the front, and 3 inches in the rear. That was too much lift for the OE trackbar to handle. My front axle was 1 inch off towards the driver side.

I ordered a YETI adjustable track bar and had my local shop install it and do a front alignment. That took care of it.

Also, your springs seem to be bowing a little. Depending when you got your Mopar lift: the first batch was known for bowing springs. FCA corrected it in subsequent versions by redesigning the adapter where the springs sit. If the dealer installed one of the first lifts, I’d talk to them about it.

Here’s a thread on Mopar lift issues. This guy’s springs bow a lot more than yours: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/mopar-lift-spring-bow.35160/

Good luck.
 
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JeepAustinWeird

JeepAustinWeird

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I got the Mopar lift installed by the dealer last December. I ended getting 4 inches of lift in the front, and 3 inches in the rear. That was too much lift for the OE trackbar to handle. My front axle was 1 inch off towards the driver side.

I ordered a YETI adjustable track bar and had my local shop install it and do a front alignment. That took care of it.

Also, your springs seem to be bowing a little. Depending when you got your Mopar lift: the first batch was known for bowing springs. FCA corrected it in subsequent versions by redesigning the adapter where the springs sit. If the dealer installed one of the first lifts, I’d talk to them about it.

Here’s a thread on Mopar lift issues. This guy’s springs bow a lot more than yours: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/mopar-lift-spring-bow.35160/

Good luck.
Wow!!! Thank you for that link. Man the bowing on that guys springs is horrendous. I bought my Jeep 10/2018 so probably did fall in one of the earlier stages or batch of Mopar lifts for the JL. Since the dealer installed it they should back it.
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