Rear end alignment? On our Jeep GC...

Our Jeep GC has all-wheel drive - which means it runs 80% power to the front and 20% power to the back under normal driving conditions. It shifts accordingly as necessary.

I am having tires put on today and the shop told me they may need to do a rear-end alignment. I have never heard of this and want to be sure it is legit. I did notice that the rear tires were not wearing evenly.

Is this common?

 

It's probably an IFS in the rear....so yeah a 4 wheel alignment is very possible to at least some extent.

 

As usual Chris is right about the transfer of power, as far as the alignment goes, I believe they are talking about a 4 wheel alignment. We do them at our shop. They cost a little more than a front end only alignment. I believe your Jeep has a solid rear axle, so I don't know how much adjustment there is, but on vehicles with independent rear suspension, I know the camber can be adjusted. I'll talk to my alignment guy when he gets in and ask him to explain it to me and I'll get back to you later.

 

Here's some info I found. About half way down the article it explains 4 wheel alignment.

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

 

Sorry for the delay. You are correct...the awd power favors the rear. At any rate, I do not like that system. It's terrible on mpg.

Anyway, this is a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee Lorado.

 

Ok. My alignment tech explained to me that there is no adjustment on a solid rear axle. They only do the four wheel alignment to check that everything is ok at the back, such as bent springs, axles, wheels, etc. Once that is checked out, he can align the front end accordingly. Hope this helps. I know I learned something new today.

edit. I forgot. He did say it's a good idea on vehicles with solid rear axles that ride on coil springs (which I believe your Jeep does) to get the 4 wheel alignment. They seem to have more rear tire wear issues than vehicles with leaf springs in his opinion.

 

I would be careful saying there is no adjustment- Cause I aligned the rear end on my Taco after installing my AALs.

It was because it wasn't bolted up straight- but it's still adjustable within a small range....even without anything being broken. It's not a simple nut or bolt adjustment like the front end...but it can be done

PS...Chris you win...

 

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. Maybe that's what he meant by checking it. He could make minor adjustments if something is out of whack. Either way, the OP should probably get the 4 wheel alignment. The extra cost will be worth the peice of mind IMO.

 

Damn...you guys know your stuff. I just got the call I was expecting. They needed to do a 4-wheel adjustment to line everything up correctly. They only charge $45 - which is the same as a front end alignment - so I didn't ask anything more.

I've never heard of Sigma Mirada SLX tires but I got all 4 installed for $615 (245/65/17's). They have a 640 wear rating and a 70K warranty. I think they are made by Yokohama. I'm happy.

Thanks again for the advice and information.


Here are the spec's on these tires:
http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop....s=Ordern&typ=R-177675&ranzahl=4&nichtweiter=1

Do they sound good for all-season highway use? We live in the wet and snowy north east. This Jeep never goes off pavement (on purpose anyway).

 

lol i was thinking your jeep was really a honda ridgline

80% to the fronts

nah the system isn't that bad...what engine do you have in it? the hemi? cause yeah...

 

No, we got the 3.7L v6. It also has the weak Quadra Trac 1 system. It sucks.

Quadra-Trac I (WK, XK)

Quadra-Trac I consists of the NV140 transfer case, a version of the NV245 transfer case lacking neutral and low-range modes.
Applications:

• Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK) 2005-
• Jeep Commander (XK) 2006–

Quadra-Drive II (WK, XK)

Quadra-Drive II consists of the New Venture Gear NV245 transfer case mated to front and rear electronic limited slip differential. It includes a Neutral mode and utilizes a 2.72 reduction gear ratio in low-range.
Applications:

• Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK) 2005–
• Jeep Commander (XK) 2006–

 

The wife has a 2001 GC and it's Solid front and back with the Quadra Trac II. I don't know about the new system but the one in hers is phenomenal. Her 4.7L doesn't eat too much more gas than my taco does.

 

My mother-in-law has a 99 Grand Cherokee 4.7L Limited (we used to own it). It has Quadra Drive. The system is AWESOME. It has what they call Viscous Couplings in diffs & the t-case that transfer power side to side AND front to back. It's pretty slick.

How's the brakes on the new Grands? They've had bookoo problems with warpage on the rotors. I'm waiting for the day when my mother-in-laws Grand kicks the bucket. It's got 80k miles on it and its a jeep. I have no faith in the thing. Thank God she only drives it less than 4K miles a year.

 

I missed the word "Grand" in there and thought you were waiting for your MIL to "kick the bucket" . FHWEW!!!

Anyway, yes the QT II system is great. It has 4wL and is much more capable off-road. The QTI is still a smart system and does transfer power immediately to any wheel(s) that needs it. But it only gets about 16mpg city / 21mpg pure highway. And worse...it is not capable off-road.

So I'm left with a 4wd system that is best kept on the road. And because it's a AWD system, I get shitty MPG's.

And no, it does not have solid axles.

I can go on and on with my gripes...
The seats stain with just water,
The key placement is terrible (I have shut the car off with my knee on I95 multiple times),
Its a very rough ride - and yet supposed to be kept on pavement,
We've had problems with the battery, ABS sensors, brakes, TPMS and wire harness.
Our OEM tires were bald at 25K miles
It's not very roomy inside,
And its not very comfortable.

Our Jeep is a color called "light khacki". It's apparently invisible to on-coming traffic and at intersections. Many have pulled out directly in front of us (2X resulting in an collision - 1 was pretty serious).

If it was not a 2006 with only 25K miles on it, we would sell the damn thing. We are planning to get a 4Runner or GMC Acadia.

This was our vehicle lineup (have since swapped the '04 for an '09):

 

So, you can definately relate to the JEEP thing.
Don't get me wrong...I loved my Wrangler. We beat the piss out of it and it didn't even blink.

Her Grand gets really piss poor gas mileage. I can't even comment how much but its probably around 15mpg. She does a lot of short trips and doesn't drive it very much.

But damn....her Grand was comfortable and had solid axles w/ coil sprung suspension. It's a 'floaty' ride. The one day I drove it home to do an oil change on it and I was going around the corner and the floatin feeling it has feels just like the truck feels like when the tires are letting loose.

If you're IFS & IRS - you definately need front & rear allignments.

Our Grand...aside from the rotors warping constantly, we've replaced a couple window motors, had the A/C system charged several times, It has the 'blend door' problem, replaced radiator (leaked where plastic meets the metal), the diff rumbles (needs yet another diff service early), and other things I can't even remember over the years. We maintain & fix it for my MIL - and like I said earlier..... I'm hoping it has a major problem (dies) so we can get her a RAV4 or a CRV. But then again...she can't really afford too much right now.

THe resale value of those things drop in HALF in only 3 years. Her GC is lucky to be worth $5,000 or less.