Take-off shudder in 94 wrangler

I have a 94 Wrangler with 4.0 6 cylinder and 5 speed. It shudders when I take off from stop in 1st and 2nd gears. Then goes away. Dealer says most Wranglers do this to some degree. I find that hard to believe...can anybody help?

Might be your clutch; how many miles?

Don't think it is the clutch..feel it in the seat from the rear like a loose muffler hanger or something.. I know what clutch shudder feels like. Thanks though!

I find it hard to believe the dealer said that. The next thing I'd check would be the universal joints. Have yours ever been replaced?

-edit- misspoke; didn't mean hard to believe, but rather that I wouldn't believe the dealer either.

I had this problem in my 1995. Do you have a lift kit? My rear u-joint retainer was loose. I finally boke the u-joint and destroyed my muffler coming off pikes peak. Make sure your jeep is in neutral when checking u-joints ( tranny and t-case).

Actually it is fairly common. It is from the change in universal joint angles during acceleration. Assuming the mounts, u-joints etc. are all in good condition

i have a similar thing going on w/ my 97 jeep wrangler.

only happens when i start from a complete stop.
the noise seems like it travels along the underside of the jeep along the passenger side... where the exhaust travels.

i've gone under my jeep several times to check, everything is very tight. my catalytic converter and muffler are new.

i did just get a lift installed.. a 3" kit.

this noise drives me crazy... anyone know what it could be??? it's a muffled shudder noise. not a tin like rattle.. like metal.. more of a shudder.

i thought it was the exhaust but am pretty sure it's not after seeing how tight everything is. I even gently hit the exhaust in several places with a rubber mallet to see if i could simulate the sound.. no luck...

Hello Er1c. I also have a 97 and it developed the same sorta rattle or vibration type noise. I traced it to rocks collecting in the gas tank protector. on the Passenger side the metal wraps around the tank to protect it from the exhaust pipe. There is a pocket up there that seems to like to collect the small rocks. Some fall out but some get wedged between the tank and metal. I think they don't make to much noise until the motor or trans get to a certain vibration level which runs down the frame and then VRAP! you hear it. I noticed it when i first took off from a stop and when changing from 2 to 3rd gear. Quick fix by removing protector and dumping the rocks out. I know this helped mine so I hope this works for you. Panoman from the description I'm not sure its the same shudder as Er1c but I hope this helps one or both.

thanks for the reply... i'll check this out tonight (when I get off work).

I do use my jeep quite a bit for off-roading so rocks in there wouldn't surprise me.

Originally i thought it was the exahaust heat shield vibrating, but it doesn't seem like it. I'll check that pocket/gap... hopefully that is the issue, that would be an easy fix!! :)

I forgot about the rocks in the skid plates. :D

OK, I went under the jeep, and while I was looking in the area where the rocks collected on your jeep I saw that the rear edge of my muffler was about 3mm from touching my jeep. I am not sure what the part is called, its a piece of metal that extends from the frame of the jeep towards the rear lower area of the shocks. my muffler was very close to touching this.

I put a piece of heat resistant welding cloth in this small space where the muffler was close to touching the metal that extended from the frame.

sure enough this solved the problem. this was the sourrce of the rattle noise that had been bothering me for the past month or so!!!

so, now I've got to anchor my muffler so it's not so close to this other piece of metal!!

I think this forum and "Shakes when started and 1st gear" are the similar. I posted the following:

I've also got a 97 with the same problem and have replaced the cat prior to this rattle and shake. It also rattles when I hit a bump. I've replaced the front shocks and am now starting to suspicion the motor mounts or transmission mount.

yep, in my case it seems to be the muffler hitting the underside of my jeep... an inexpensive fix..

My 97 high-mileage 4 cylinder developed this rattle after replacing the cat and muffler. I took it back to the shop after I found the front hanger broken. They fixed that and the rattle soon came back.

I thought my motor mounts or tranny mount was bad. But after looking it over again, I discovered that the front and rear muffler hangers were not holding the muffler high enough so it would bang on the tranny skid plate. Replaced the rear hanger and tweaked the front one..... No more rattle! Boy, do I like driving my Jeep once again!

Funny how a small adjustment can make a big difference.....

that is the exact issue i have w/ my 97'... exactly!!