The suspension is designed for another time and another purpose. It's one of the very last on the road that is good off-road as well on more extreme terrain. Sadly they cut corners on other things (CDL, weak diffs, etc) that make it really shine. It's not a good on-road design, that's why you only see live axle in the rear of vehicles these days, IFS just works better unless you're off-road and I'm not talking about light off-road like dirt.

The bushings do wear, and the suspension needs to be setup right and there are fewer and fewer people who're able to do that these days. Personally I'm going the route of putting in Rovertracks HD steering components and will replace all the bushings in the process. Because I do a lot of on-road driving as well (great distances) as well as moderate off-roading (class 5/6 so far) I'll get the steering re-aligned and bushings lubed or replaced every 2 years or less to keep things as close to in-spec as possible. Lots of small movements add up into big ones that cause those wobbles and vaguenesses you get.

In the end the more you modify things the more interesting solutions you need... lift enough and you're having to move spring seats to correct pinion angle etc, all these things tie together and affect ride... as it wears it wears slowly so you don't notice if you drive regularly, jump from another vehicle into a used Disco an you do notice but you don't know what 'normal' is, it's a really hard subjective game to keep up with.

In the end a 1997 is going to be worn all over, and you need to find a local club, befriend one of the older guys who as a home shop and invest in beer and pizza. Someone who knows how it should be is your best asset, just any old mechanic isn't going to be a big help, particularly these days where swapping on a new exhaust is considered 'intense work'.

 

Thanks AJH,
I agree about the needs to befriend someone. Just new to the rover scene in jersey where I just moved. I have don tons of work on Jeeps. But like most rovers a lot diffrent. It is not lifted and has stock wheels and tire sizes. It could prolly use an alighnment and balance and rotation and I am sure a steering dampner (It has never been replaced as long as I have owned it.) Which also leads me to believe the univerals in the the front Diff prolly need replacing too. I know I might want to check the tie rods and such as well. How often do you need to replace shocks? And could this cause this? And does anyone have a advice on a good brand that wont break the bank and will be good off road & snow while still having a good on road ride .
Thanks
E