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Gosh darn death wobble

V

Vanquish

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Canada
K my 92 XJ has decided it wants to have a wobble.

It first started on the highway above 100 KMH.

I switched my tires around and its worse. So I know it's partially the balance of the wheels. It's also only triggered by a bump, it will never just wobble on its own. This isn't a slight wobble either, this feels like death. I have to come almost to a stop to get rid of it. My suspect would be a steering stabilizer. I know, there are many things that can contribute to death wobble but hear me out and give me your opinions please, before i start taking things apart.

At above 100KMH, when its not wobbling, you can feel an imbalance in the wheels, also the DW does not shake the steering wheel BTW.

My guess is that the poor balance of the tires is throwing the steering side to side because the stabilizer is shot. I've check ball joints, tie rod ends, steering box play.

So my assumption is that. Opinions please :)

(Don't give me that "search first" rubbish either, the search on this forum is pretty useless.)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: God damn death wobble.

Hasta

Have you checked the track bar? How about the track bar mount on the frame side? Mine had a case of DW at any speed above 15mph. The TB mount loosened up on the frame side. Went away after that.
 
Re: God damn death wobble.

I got the "death wobble" after installing a budget lift on my Heep. Sounded similiar. My all-knowing buddy suggest I rotate my tires. I told him I was 99% sure I put each tire back where it was and never had any problems before. Well, I was going a bit of a distance on a wheeling trip and the wobble kept happening. I was over half-way and it just became unbearable. So I stopped on the side of the road in the pouring rain and rotated my tires as a last resort. Well......It fixed it!! It was atleast 90-95% better anyway. Not sure if this will help you, but it's quick/cheap/easy enough, so I'd try that first.
 
Re: God damn death wobble.

Tire balance will trigger it but it's not the cause.
Loose front end components allow it to happen mostly it's the wheel bearings or Ball joints.

A new stablizer may help but again it's not the cause.
 
You have something loose or worn in your steering. Rotating tires will not fix it. Replacing the steering stabilizer will not fix it. Having the front end aligned will not fix it. It may stop the wobbling. Temporarily. But the above steps will never ever fix the death wobbles

Culprits to check- Ball joints. Tie rod and/or trackbar connectors. Steering box mounts. Track bar mount tower. Check the bushings on your control arms. Go through the entire steering piece by piece until you find what's worn, loose cracked or bent. Ignore the steering stabilizer. Replacing that will NOT fix the problem. If you cannot find anything that's worn, loose, cracked or bent, look again. It's there. The movement may so small you cannot see it at first, but I promise you it's there, so keep looking.

In all the 10 - 15 years I've been driving XJs on a daily basis everytime I had the Death Wobbles it's always been because something in the steering or the parts that locate the axle was loose, worn, cracked, bent or in the case of running large tires with stock steering, the tie rod was flexing. I guarantee it
 
Re: God damn death wobble.

I had terrible death wobble over a year ago. i got an alignment and a brand new stabilizer. to date ive never had another experience and i have neither swaybars on.

just to play devils advocate...
 
Damn death wobble.

ExTankerGuy said:
How about a little nicer title for the thread? :soapbox:
Click to expand...
X2
 
I have rotated my tires and it got worse, so I know which ones are REALLY out of balance now atleast.

Track bar I'll check tomorrow, I really couldnt because of that friggin skid plate, which wont come off because all the bolts just spin....go figure.
 
i have owned 5 cherokees and one wrangler... mt culprit has always been too much tow out(front of wheels pointed too far out) AND the track bar or as some auto shops call it a "panhard bar".. i would also check the trac bar tower and lower control arm bushings
good luck
my opinion try the track bar

have a buddy watch the steering and coponents while you turn the steering wheel rapidly back and forth (you will probably feel a clunk) till he finds it
take turns
 
Re: God damn death wobble.

rocklandxjer said:
I had terrible death wobble over a year ago. i got an alignment and a brand new stabilizer. to date ive never had another experience and i have neither swaybars on.

just to play devils advocate...
Click to expand...
Please do. However, when you got DWs, something is loose, worn, cracked or flexing.

A steering stabilizer may take enough energy out of the oscillations to damp the DWs but unless you take care of what's loose, worn cracked or flexing, the problem will eventually raise it's ugly head- even if it takes a year or two.

When I was still new to Cherokees, I struggled with the DWs. I changed the toe slightly in one case to slightly toed in, if I recall. DWs went away- for awhile. It turned out my ball joints were slightly worn, then got worse and worse. Once I replaced the ball joints, no more DWs.

Another time I had an intermittent problem with DWs. Checke everything but could not find what was loose, cracked or worn from the usual suspects. Finally when the joint on my control arm failed I found the problem.

The only times I've had trouble with flexing causing DWs is because I bent the stock steering links or ran stock steering links with 35 inch tires or cracked a mounting point
 
Well I jacked it up at work today, and had two people look at it. One worked at a GM dealership for years, the other runs his own garage at his house.

Both of them are saying my wheels are far too easy to turn when theres a "stabilizer" on the steering. I've checked everything...there is nothing loose.

However I did find that my driver side shock is screwed, and they both say thats a contributing factor, mixing with bad balance and shot stabilizer...Also I found that there is a small amount of play in my steering box...Theres just a bolt or something you can turn on the top to adjust that correct? I'm thinking that could possibly be part of it.

Could this be possible? Bad shocks causing my wheels to not contact the road, and the balance making the wobble? It does only happen when I hit a bump. Also when I turn left during the wobble, it gets worse depending on how sharp I turn. If I turn right, it lessens the wobble, but doesn't go away.
 
Check the track bar while the Jeep is on the ground. Have someone rotate the steering wheel back and forth and look at both ends of the track bar for play and while you are at it the rest of the steering components.

I had death wobble and yes a new stabilizer fixed it...three times I had to replace stabilizer to stop death wobble...but as it turned out the real culprit was a worn track bar connection at the frame mount.
 
you need to leave the vehicle on the ground the have some one look at it while turning the steering wheel rapidly... this gives a side to side movement that simulates the dw you will probably see the problem ... as to the cherokee being "too easy to turn" they are all like that... they are sensitive. its not play its not "loose" its just how it is
good luck with yur dws
 
my cousins xj does the same thing..and everyone has told them that it could be his steering stabilizer...we also replaced his steering box about a month ago so could that be it? or could it be his front pinion angle after installing the adj pucks up front?
 
In the shop i work in the main problem causing death wobbble is the trac bar, the trac bar keeps the axle centered between the framerails. If you have no lift your best bet would be to replace the trac bar bushing and balljoint but if you have anything over a 3 inch lift you should talk to a suspension company about an adjustable trac bar beacuse is yours it too short it will be pulling the axle to the drivers side. I have a 9 inch lift and my adjustable trac bar from roughcountry solved the problem 100%
 
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