The following was borrowed from Jerry C at RubiconOwnersForum, Though there are Refferances to Rubicons, this applies to all TJs
Jeep Suspension 101
Chapter 2
Front End Nomenclature or 'Holy Linkage Batman!'
Driver's Side
See Figure 1 below. This is a shot of the driver's side of the front end of my Rubi the last day it looked stock. The front track bar is partially obscured in this view. Note the frame end just below the Pitman arm. The steering box shaft turns the Pitman Arm, which is connected to the drag link. The drag link continues out of view to the lower ball joint on the passenger side steering knuckle. A steering stabilizer or steering dampener is connected from the drag link to a bracket welded to the axle on the passenger's side. The steering stabilizer helps dampen side to side feedback from the tires to the steering box, and then to the steering wheel. A defective steering dampener will contribute to shimmy, or in extreme cases, the dreaded Death Wobble (DW). We will address DW later. The drag link is connected to the tie rod out of view to the left. The tie rod completes the steering connection to the driver's side steering knuckle. The steering stop is located in the black circle labelled Here - inside black circle
Figure 1
Figure 2 is a view of the driver's side with the coil spring and shock removed when Air Rubi was undergoing its original suspension modifications. Note on this side the front upper control arm mount is mounted on the top of the pumpkin. The lower control arm in this view is a JKS adjustable unit. Very manly. The frame end of the track bar is clearly visible. This track bar is a JKS adjustable track bar which utilizes a Johnny Joint instead of a tie rod end. It's even manlier than the JKS LCAs. These items were replaced during the installation of my RE long arm kit. Immediately to the left of the track bar is the Pitman arm and the tie rod end on the drag link.
Figure 2
I had to put in a plug for Air Rubi and its AiROCK suspension in Figure 3. If you Jeep looks like this, you have a great suspension. If you have a conventional suspension, you have a coil spring instead of the air spring. That's a Bilstein 5100 series shock absorber with internal bumpstop. Actually, this is the only view I had of the sway bar, although it is disconnected and tucked up in this view. Normally the disconnect end is placed over the small tube and secured with the retaining pin clip that's in the tube.
Figure 3.
There is a small jack stand under the axle in this shot. The limiting factor in axle drop here was the brake line. Rubicon Express extended brake lines were installed after this photo was taken.
Passenger's Side
Figure 4 below illustrates the passenger's side of the front end, in the stock configuration. Note the track bar is behind the drag link and the tie rod. The track bar is bolted to the same welded bracket as the steering stabilizer. Also shown is the bumpstop located within the coil spring and the passenger side sway bar disconnect. The sway bar is out of view in this photo. The lower and upper control arm brackets can be seen clearly in this view.
Figure 4
That concludes Chapter 2. The basics are over. Next chapter we'll get to the good stuff and start to discuss the do's and don'ts of lifting a TJ.
