Zj dana 30 death wobble. Pleas help!

[98zjstroker]

So I have a nasty death wobble in my 98zj after I hit a bump. I went through and checked everything. A lot of stuff is brand new. Track bar, tie rod, and drag link are brand new. Just replaced the upper control arm bushings in the front axle.

When checking my control arms I found that the passenger upper control arm bushing itself slides back and forth. Is that normal to be able to do that? Both uppers move around a bit at the axle.

Videos of it can be seen here:

front uper control arms 1st passenger side, second drivers

youtube.com

passenger upper control arm bushing

youtube.com

The lowers have less play, what I think would be normal but the driver's side lower at the axle looks like there is a gap in between the control arm and the bracket. Could the bracket itself be bent further apart and if so how would I fix that?

I dont have a steering stabilizer on it now but will be installed once it comes in. The toe is set where it is supose to be but I am sure the caster is off a bit. I know that the caster being off can throw it into a death wobble. But I dont want to drive it to a alignment shop the way it is. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[98zjstroker]

Here is a pic of the driver's side lower with the gap. Best I could do. I also thing the track bar and drag link look pretty parallel.

 

[skyhighZJ]

So I have a nasty death wobble in my 98zj after I hit a bump. I went through and checked everything. A lot of stuff is brand new. Track bar, tie rod, and drag link are brand new. Just replaced the upper control arm bushings in the front axle.

When checking my control arms I found that the passenger upper control arm bushing itself slides back and forth. Is that normal to be able to do that? Both uppers move around a bit at the axle.

Videos of it can be seen here:

front uper control arms 1st passenger side, second drivers

youtube.com

passenger upper control arm bushing

youtube.com

The lowers have less play, what I think would be normal but the driver's side lower at the axle looks like there is a gap in between the control arm and the bracket. Could the bracket itself be bent further apart and if so how would I fix that?

I dont have a steering stabilizer on it now but will be installed once it comes in. The toe is set where it is supose to be but I am sure the caster is off a bit. I know that the caster being off can throw it into a death wobble. But I dont want to drive it to an alignment shop the way it is. Any help would be appreciated.

Yeah, that’s bad. They should be TIGHT. I little movement in the rubber itself to absorb shock. Track bar and drag link have good geometry. Lowers should not have space.

 

[shawn]

Check the track bar bolts

 

[98zjstroker]

Check the track bar bolts

I went through the track bar bolts already. The top part of the track bar had some movement in it before I tightened it down. Now its solid.

 

[98zjstroker]

Yeah, that’s bad. They should be TIGHT. I little movement in the rubber itself to absorb shock. Track bar and drag link have good geometry. Lowers should not have space.

So do you think it could be a bad new bushing? As for the lower could the bracket be bent and is there a way to bend it back without compromising its strength?

 

[skyhighZJ]

Make sure the bushing is the correct one. There is a difference between a control arm bushing and the axle side bushing. As for the other issue just tighten the hell out of it and clamp it down with the bolts/nuts.