xj lift ?

bad71chevy

Active Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Location
Kannapolis, NC
i have a 89 xj that i just put a 3" lift on along with new shocks and new steering stabilizer. It has the death wobble when i hit a bump just right. Do i need to move my track bar since its only a 3" lift?
 
bad71chevy said:
i have a 89 xj that i just put a 3" lift on along with new shocks and new steering stabilizer. It has the death wobble when i hit a bump just right. Do i need to move my track bar since its only a 3" lift?
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id get an adjustable track bar from rough country an it should stop i tried the drillin an movin mine over an it didnt work
 
Have you put bigger tires on it. That may sound like a dumb question but a bigger tire can make a problem show up that wasn't there with a smaller one. If you are still running the same tires then its in the lift some where's but if not check everything from TREs to BJs.
 
I'm running the same tires that I was before the lift and it drove fine before I lifted it. They are 31s. I didn't know if you could keep the original track bar or have to change it with only 3"s of lift. I had a xj with skyjacker 8" kit but it came with everything including adjustable track bar.
 
I checked tre's and bj's and wheel bearings but everything is good. I'm guessing I need to buy an adjustable track bar and try that. I know the alignment is probably way off because I just lifted it but do y'all think that could cause it?
 
Well you could try drilling a hole and just move the track bar. The alignment really could be the root of your problem. I would go have that done frist then drill the second hole and move the track bar before shelling out money for an adjustable one
 
yea i think im going to get the alignment first like you said. if that doesnt work then how far over from the existing hole should the new hole be? Just guess or is there a good measurement?
 
you didn't change the CA's? I guess that doesnt matter...I had DW's pop up simply adding a 1" spacer. My bushings must have been worn, but didnt show up as DW til the spacers were added. Changed to differnet LCA's, same length, DW's disappeared.
 
no i didnt change the CA's. I think they are good. The last jeep i had had bad bushings in the LCA's but these seem to be pretty tight
 
If your front axle is still centered up then I wouldn't worry about the adj. track bar. Make sure nothing looks like it is in a bind.

x2 on checking the CA bushings. Then alignment, tire balance, and tighten everything up again. Go from there. Good luck.
 
I dunno how to check CA bushings, I thought mine looked good and tight. They were poly bushings, I ran a screwdriver thru the sleeve and couldnt get any movement. Since they looked "good", I changed everythign else out one by one, didnt get rid of the DW til the LCA swap.
 
i just went through the same issue on my xj drilling the hol an moving it over didnt help me it had death wobble to where i couldnt go over 30 id get the roughcountry adjustable track bar its not that bad mine over nighted was only $130 i also run 31s an havent had mine aligned yet
 
Im having the same trouble with a similar setup. Bought an XJ last month and it started the wobble last week. It has a 3" rough country lift (coils and leafs) on 31s. The wobble occurs up front, around 45mph. Doesnt happen all the time but it seems to occur after about 20 minutes on the road.

The PO said he lifted it a few years ago and never had any wobble out of the front. I can see some wear on the tie rod ends and bushings... but nothing is loose or binding. Ball joints look good. I dont think they've been greased in a while, but they're not worn out from what I can tell.

I dont have the know-how or the time to diagnose/fix it myself. Im hoping to find a shop that will freshen up the front ent for me (new rod ends, bushings, ball joints, track bar etc...) and hope they get everything worked out.
 
The location of stuff (track bar) will not cause death wobble. A 3" lift will not cause death wobble, although with the added stress to components it may accentuate it, or cause it to get worse. A bad steering stabilizer will not cause DW.

What causes DW is lose or worn components. CA bushings, TR and drag link ends, ball joints, unit bearings, unbalanced tires.

People buy new parts and say, "well a new track bar fixed it", no what actually fixed it was the new ends.

Realisitically DW is when the wheel starts to shake uncontrollably after hitting a bump or some such thing to the point where you need to slow down alot or stop completely. Anything else is just a shimmy that will eventually lead to DW.

The way to find your worn components is start the vehicle. Put somebody in the driver seat. Have them saw the wheel back and forth. Get under the front end and look for play in parts. Spend some time. 2 minutes isn't gonna cut it. See what isn't moving when the rest of the parts are. Etc. I also will touch and grab stuff while under there, just watch for pinch points. This could easily take 30 minutes so get a comfortable creeper.
 
check alignment, TRE's, control arm bushings, wheel bearings, ball joints.. it's probably the alignment or TRE's though. I have an 88, which had DW and replaced TRE's and aligned it and its about 100% better...
 
hadfield4wd said:
The location of stuff (track bar) will not cause death wobble. A 3" lift will not cause death wobble, although with the added stress to components it may accentuate it, or cause it to get worse. A bad steering stabilizer will not cause DW.
What causes DW is lose or worn components. CA bushings, TR and drag link ends, ball joints, unit bearings, unbalanced tires.
People buy new parts and say, "well a new track bar fixed it", no what actually fixed it was the new ends.
Realisitically DW is when the wheel starts to shake uncontrollably after hitting a bump or some such thing to the point where you need to slow down alot or stop completely. Anything else is just a shimmy that will eventually lead to DW.
The way to find your worn components is start the vehicle. Put somebody in the driver seat. Have them saw the wheel back and forth. Get under the front end and look for play in parts. Spend some time. 2 minutes isn't gonna cut it. See what isn't moving when the rest of the parts are. Etc. I also will touch and grab stuff while under there, just watch for pinch points. This could easily take 30 minutes so get a comfortable creeper.
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no i replaced my track bar with a stock one to begin with after the lift an it still had the death wobble it took putting an adjustable one on to get rid of it an i dont think the alignments gonna have anything to do with it cuz mine drives perfectly fine with no alignment
 
well as funny as it may sound i bought some 33's and 10" wide rims and now it drives perfect. The thing that i dont get is the wheels and tires i took off were doing fine before i lifted it.
 
87xjcherokee said:
no i replaced my track bar with a stock one to begin with after the lift an it still had the death wobble it took putting an adjustable one on to get rid of it an i dont think the alignments gonna have anything to do with it cuz mine drives perfectly fine with no alignment
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I guarantee you a piece of metal will not cause DW. It'll be the ends in that piece of metal.:shaking:
 
hadfield4wd said:
I guarantee you a piece of metal will not cause DW. It'll be the ends in that piece of metal.:shaking:
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i know it jus took the pressure from the adjustable one to fix my problems that by gettin a new stock track bar and drilling the hole an moving it over did not help it that even though it had new ends it still didnt help
 
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