Cheap Jeep: too much wobble.

steeletrib

steeletrib

Beach Bum
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Location
Apex/Garner, NC
Have some questions before i go out and buy some stuff that might or might not work out.

I have a 98 Cherokee with 4in lift. yes its cheap but i have 4in home made pucks up front; stock control arms; 2.5in add a leaf from a fullsize pickup that lifted the rear 4in; it has the worst death wobble at 45 and 70 but still shakes 45 n up. also no sway bars front or rear. play toy but i dont have a trailer.

what would be the best setup to make it ride best at 6 inches. im getting coils for the front and shackles in the rear but the rest of the suspension needs to work with it so it rides better.

any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
dropped pitman arm for sure-a zj arm or aftermarket arm should work, look at your track bar angle as well, it should be really close to the same angle as the tie rod coming off the pitman arm. for on-road use, put your front swaybar back on and make or buy some disconnects, it won't fix a death wobble, but turns aren't nearly as scary. to go higher, check out your front end caster angle, you may need to look into longer lower control arms.
 
x2 with all these ideas! def caster problem with your mods! roll that caster back and do a hd stabilizer and check track bar ends!!
 
Couple of things here. First, you might not need the drop pitman, especially if you get an adjustable track bar with a replacement bracket. Its about the end result, not throwing parts at it.

You want the line of the drag link (from where it attaches to the pitman, to the knuckle) to be as close to parallel as possible with the line of the track bar (most track bars have a bend, what you want to "eyeball" is the line from the frame mounting pivot point to the axle bolt). Some people get a track bar with a replacement frame bracket that drops the top point down, which is what I did. Some people weld a new axle side mount for the track bar that raises the bottom point up. Some people get a drop pitman.

Drop pitman is cheap and quick, but a new adjustable track bar will be better for centering the axle, and add some strength. You'll just about have to have one if you go to 6". If you are gonna do this anyway, then do your mods before you start trying to diagnose the wobble. Be prepared to spend more $ though.

Read up on death wobble:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=920176
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/diagnose-your-death-wobble-55021/

These XJs are real prone to wobble. I've gotten bad wobble just from losing a balancing weight on one rim. The short version is, check ALL your bushings, ends, and joints. Fix anything that is even slightly loose. Balance the tires, and get an alignment.

As far as the actual suspension & lift, for 6" you def have to get longer control arms. You probably need them now! I recommend Iron Man. Shackles and new front springs will be fine, but ditch the spacers. If you ever intend for this to be on the highway, like flatblack said put the front sway back an make some discos.

Welcome into the rabbit hole, hope you like the ride!
 
Steele to for it to ride worth a damn at 6" you really need some 6.5" coils or maybe 4.5" with spacers, your control arm angles will be crazy steep though, control arm drop brackets would help a lot as far as ride goes. You want your control arms to be as close to horizonal as possible.
 
99Classic said:
Steele to for it to ride worth a damn at 6" you really need some 6.5" coils or maybe 4.5" with spacers, your control arm angles will be crazy steep though, control arm drop brackets would help a lot as far as ride goes. You want your control arms to be as close to horizonal as possible.
Click to expand...

got 3in coils with 2in pucks. still got the add a leaf in the rear. got lower control arms looking for uppers. building a bumper now. ill have pics up soon of that. jeeps not too bad right now. little bast-rd still shakes though. i need to just go ahead and do a tc drop and get a track bar and pitman arm.
 
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