zj shakes after hitting a bump at 50mph+

Jeepjunky87

Jeepjunky87

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Location
N. Raleigh
ok so its a 95 limited zj
2'' spring spacers
2'' wheel spacers
it started a while back hit a bump doing 50+ and it shakes. bad. slow down to 30 it smooths out til i hit a bump
this is what ive done in hopes of fixing it:
2 new cv axles
SHAKES
2 different sets of used wheels and tires (225 and 255)
SHAKES
shake down test, came back and said everything was tight, (also said he drove it on the highway up to 70 with no problems) only advice he had was to get alignment
SHAKES
got alignment and 255 tires RE-balanced (at a different shop)
SHAKES
i got under it today and shook the front drive shaft to see if it had play in it but i couldnt feel any... im at a loss and dont feel like putting any more money into it without a better idea of whats going on. does anyone have any thoughts??
 
I think we actually have a legit case of death wobble. Since you have tried tires and alignment (hopefully the alignment tech would have told you about worn TRE's) I would start by checking the track bar and it's mounting points.
 
the "shake down test" was suppose to tell me if it was ball joints, tierods, track bar ends, control arm bushings, etc. any loose/ warn out front steering or suspension parts would have shown themselves during the test. or was i led astray? when i put the cv axles in it all seemed tight and right but i took it to the shop for the test to see if i was missing something. track bar seemed tight and no loose mounting bolts...thnks for the reply!
 
Jeepjunky87 said:
...track bar seemed tight and no loose mounting bolts...
Click to expand...

It's pretty common for the mounting holes to become worn and allow some slop. The bolts will still feel tight.
 
Remove the track bar completely and check where it bolts to the axle. The bolt hole is notorious for "wallering" out, for lack of a better term, and causing some serious death wobble. My XJ couldnt get past 35 without wobbling so bad I had to comepletely stop for it to go away. Thought the axle was going to come out from under the truck!
 
Thanks guys! So I guess I shouldn't put faith in The 'shake down test' preformed by the shop I took it to? I would think they would have checked for that... I'm going to assume testing the track bar for play happens with the jeep on the ground not on a lift? And without the engine running? Is the bolt hole on the trac bar or axle?
 
Ok. I dropped the tire pressue to 28 ish and that helped a little. Kevin's off road had a lot of good info. Hey buddy what I do if the hole is wallered out?
 
I might even consider taking it to another alignment shop. Have seen a jeep go through multiple alignments, axle swaps, track bar re-drilling, steering arm replacement, steering box replacement, and it ended up being that the toe was mis-adjusted at the alignment shop.
 
The lower track bar bolt hole is worn out so I'm going to reinforce with a plate and put a new bushing in. I will update after repairs.
 
UPDATE for those looking at this thread with the same issue. I fixed the DW by replacing all tie rod ends and drag link. I did not end up messing with the track bar mounting hole plate that I mentioned in my last post.
 
Good to hear, DW is a real PITA
 
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