xj DEATH WOBBEL

ABES-XJ

ABES-XJ

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Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Location
morganton nc
i just got a 98 xj wit a 5.5 inch skyjacker lift? ( thats what i was told ) any way it has 32 11.50 on 15x8 wheels. well about 45 or 50 it starts shaking i think its in the front end. the wheel shakes hard too. but after 50 or 55 it stops. and it also doesnt do it every time. what do i need to check? could it be a tire maybe??
 
does it have a track bar drop? if not that will do it every time, also check balljoints wheelbearings and tire balance.
 
More than likely its the track bar. Have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth and see if the ends of the track bar don't have a lot of play. While your under there check all the tie rod ends and wheel bearings too there also a common wear item that can cause this but my guess would be the track bar.
 
ive had that problem twice on my tj. once it was the trackbar. second time it took forever to find but a wheel was bent/warped
 
wow, I just typed a big post about my experience with wobbles and unbalanced tires. For less than $40, it wouldn't hurt to get yours checked out.

I had another case of DW's in the same XJ, I changed about everything under the front end (steering stab., turned rotors, brakes, unit bearing hubs, dropped pitman arm, different used aftermarket trackbar, HD tie rod, a few alignments). It wasnt until I changed out one set of HD aftermarket LCA's for another set (same length) til they went away. The old bushings seemed tight, but the LCA swap fixed it for mine.
 
I agree with Renegade, being that it smooths out at a certain speed the balancing is a great place to start. I run a tire shop and if you came in with those symptoms that's what I would recommend first. Least expensive route and it takes that out of the equation...
 
i just bought one and its not lifted bone stock it done that i took it to my buddys shop and all the tires was out of balance might wonna try that first its tha cheapest and easiest might just be a tire out of balance if its not that its prob ur steering stabilizer its around 70 bucks to replace hope this helps you out man and good luck w/ that hope your prob gets fixed it suxs i kno
 
jyaks said:
get a drop pitman
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Absolutely do not waste money on a drop pittman or a steering stabilizer.

Jack the frame up and support it with blocks or jackstands. Droop the suspension. Get under and systematically check every link from the drag link to the trackbar (check the trackbar bracket at the frame too) for looseness. Kinda hard to check control arms this way but give it a shot. If the LCAs are flex joints, grab a spanner and make sure they're tight. Check wheel bearings and ball joints by looking for slop at the wheels.

This sounds complicated, but shouldn't take more than 20 mins and will familiarize you with the ways your front axle is located and controlled as it goes through susp travel. Grab a tape measure and check alignment. If all is well it is most likely balance and you can go get the situation taken care of for $20-40. If you find crazy slop in one of the links or loose bolts at the frame side track bar bracket then you'll probably have your culprit. Rob is right, steep CA angles can definitely cause it, especially after impact (potholes, etc). Since its a set speed and goes away I'd guess its tire balance but the list above is an easy way to get to know your vehicle and check for problems.
 
Archdukeferdinand said:
Absolutely do not waste money on a drop pittman or a steering stabilizer.
Jack the frame up and support it with blocks or jackstands. Droop the suspension. Get under and systematically check every link from the drag link to the trackbar (check the trackbar bracket at the frame too) for looseness. Kinda hard to check control arms this way but give it a shot. If the LCAs are flex joints, grab a spanner and make sure they're tight. Check wheel bearings and ball joints by looking for slop at the wheels.
This sounds complicated, but shouldn't take more than 20 mins and will familiarize you with the ways your front axle is located and controlled as it goes through susp travel. Grab a tape measure and check alignment. If all is well it is most likely balance and you can go get the situation taken care of for $20-40. If you find crazy slop in one of the links or loose bolts at the frame side track bar bracket then you'll probably have your culprit. Rob is right, steep CA angles can definitely cause it, especially after impact (potholes, etc). Since its a set speed and goes away I'd guess its tire balance but the list above is an easy way to get to know your vehicle and check for problems.
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I agree this is what you should do if it were a death wobble, But seeing that it is at a set speed and happins every time, Its a tire out of balance. Get the tires balanced then if you still have an issue then do what he said.

Death Wobbles start at odd times, most of the time after a bump in the road. If its a death wobble it will almost yank the wheel from your hands and scare the crap out of you. Mine scared the crap out of people in cars around me.

 
An opposing view, I suppose...
IN MY EXPERIENCE tire balance is constant and progressive.
Can be felt a little at low speeds and increases with speed.

One interesting thing to check (besides everything mentioned here) is this speed at the bottom or top of a gear?

If its a cruising issue and goes away under load could be a u joint...
 
Im seeing the words "death wobble" being thrown around everywhere lately and its because the meaning has been lost. Death wobble is very violent, most of the time the vehicle becomes out of control and wont stop shaking violently unless you stop. The wobble you describe is cause by the tires being unbalanced and when they hit a certain resonence range (certain rpms) is when they start to cause the vibration or "wobble" in your wheel. It could even be a bent rim thats causing the problem. Ive taken my tires to some places and they say that they have balanced them and they were just as bad as before. Take them somewhere else and they say they were way out of balance. Take your tires to a good shop and watch them balance them so they dont bs you. You can also try and rotate your tires. Sometimes putting the worst one of the bunch in the back and the best two up front will cure the problem. If you leave the tires unbalanced......eventually you will have DW, and its not going to be like "hey guys I got a wobble in my front end" it will be more like " HOLY S*** HOLD ONTO YOUR A**"...just a few thoughts on the subject
 
burrellsjeep said:
seeing that it is at a set speed and happins every time, Its a tire out of balance. Get the tires balanced then if you still have an issue then do what he said.
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I think if you have a modified vehicle that drives on the road its a good idea to be checking your suspension/steering out regularly, even if you don't have vibes. Especially if you have had issues with wobble though (mini or full on DW) because all that shaking could easily work things loose (specifically frame side TB bracket with XJs - I welded mine on after it happened several times). Sounds like its probably tire balance to me, but I've seen out of balance tires + sloppy links make for DW. Why not take 15 mins to be sure?
As skyhi said, could be a u-joint too. As he also mentions, when tires are out of balance you can usually notice minor shaking at all speeds above parking lot. If you've got other sloppy stuff or it just hits the sweet spot in RPMs, you can get the "wheel jerked out of your hands, vehicle has become self aware and is trying to kill you and the public at large" feeling that comes with true DW.
I won't pretend to know what the OP's problem is, I've seen lots of causes for it and am no longer surprised at them. Just making some suggestions based on my experience with XJs...
 
Archdukeferdinand said:
I think if you have a modified vehicle that drives on the road its a good idea to be checking your suspension/steering out regularly, even if you don't have vibes. Especially if you have had issues with wobble though (mini or full on DW) because all that shaking could easily work things loose (specifically frame side TB bracket with XJs - I welded mine on after it happened several times). Sounds like its probably tire balance to me, but I've seen out of balance tires + sloppy links make for DW. Why not take 15 mins to be sure?
As skyhi said, could be a u-joint too. As he also mentions, when tires are out of balance you can usually notice minor shaking at all speeds above parking lot. If you've got other sloppy stuff or it just hits the sweet spot in RPMs, you can get the "wheel jerked out of your hands, vehicle has become self aware and is trying to kill you and the public at large" feeling that comes with true DW.
I won't pretend to know what the OP's problem is, I've seen lots of causes for it and am no longer surprised at them. Just making some suggestions based on my experience with XJs...
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Unfair to you is the fact that we wheel together and are local in the same city and I have laid eyes on said jeep. And that the jeep has been checked for slop and seems to be one of the tighter ones. At this point tire balance is the next step.
 
burrellsjeep said:
Unfair to you is the fact that we wheel together and are local in the same city and I have laid eyes on said jeep. And that the jeep has been checked for slop and seems to be one of the tighter ones. At this point tire balance is the next step.
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10-4, sounds like its good he's got someone experienced with the DW to help out.
 
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