Yet another XJ death wobble thread

GotWood

GotWood

Sayer of Fact
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Location
Maiden, NC
Background:. Lifted 3" 96 XJ. 171k, junk tires, questionable shocks, blown steering stabilizer, new Rough Country adjustable track bar. That's it.

Rather than rebuild all of the suspension bushings I'm considering going long arm. I don't plan on going any higher and this will spend 97%of the time on the street. I'll be buying a new set of 31/12.50/15 A/T tires and mounting them on a set of 15x10 soft 8's in the coming days.

Is it worth the trouble and expense or should I just rebuild what I have?
 
Probably not, but you could look on eBay or Amazon and probably pick up a whole new short arm lift kit cheaper then replacing it piece by piece

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I have a used but good steering stabilizer if you want it.
 
Double tap on your track bar holes make sure they aren't oblonged, track bar issues are probably 80-90% of the reason people have death wobble. What I normally do when diagnosing death wobble is ditch the steering stabilizer since it just dampens the death wobble, and from there i have a minion steer from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock back and forth and I feel for clunks.


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iwaxmyjimmy said:
Double tap on your track bar holes make sure they aren't oblonged, track bar issues are probably 80-90% of the reason people have death wobble. What I normally do when diagnosing death wobble is ditch the steering stabilizer since it just dampens the death wobble, and from there i have a minion steer from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock back and forth and I feel for clunks.


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The new track bar is a heim joint on top and a larger bolt and bushing at the axel. Both were redrilled to accept the new parts. There is a good bit of play in the upper control arm bushings that's why I'm considering building in a long arm system if it will drive well on the road.
 
GotWood said:
The new track bar is a heim joint on top and a larger bolt and bushing at the axel. Both were redrilled to accept the new parts. There is a good bit of play in the upper control arm bushings that's why I'm considering building in a long arm system if it will drive well on the road.
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You get the caster angle setup right it should drive perfectly fine. Doing like a 3 link or that radius arm thing?

Edit: just reread everything. Have you tried just swapping tires front to back to see if that helps? I had a near 1/4 tread set of MTR/k that I just threw the fuck away Bc I rotated the tires and got death wobble lol
 
iwaxmyjimmy said:
You get the caster angle setup right it should drive perfectly fine. Doing like a 3 link or that radius arm thing?

Edit: just reread everything. Have you tried just swapping tires front to back to see if that helps? I had a near 1/4 tread set of MTR/k that I just threw the fuck away Bc I rotated the tires and got death wobble lol
Click to expand...
The tires are beyond bad, going to replace them next week with a brand new pair shoes. 31/12.50/15 on 10"wheels.
 
When I reamed out my pitman arm for a 1 ton draglink end, I guess my drill isn't the most true thing out there. Needless to say I got some chatter when reaming it and there is maybe 1/16" of play, so now I've just got to put an insert on it. I get a wobble from 38-41 mph it's annoying Bc it's not death wobble but I know if I hit a bump just right it might go full blown death wobble


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Not really an answer for the DW issue but FWIW I have had 2 XJ's and 3 ZJ's on long arms at varying ride heights and tire sizes. All of them had double shear track bars. And all of them had some form or another of upgraded steering components. XJ steering is flimsy to say the least. Add in oversize tires and the slightest worn out parts create symptoms that are hugely exaggerated equaling DW. Never had a single problem with street ability on long arms. The ride is incredibly better than short arms too.
 
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