Vibes in steering wheel at 32mph

3" lift, SYE, 3º rear pinion angle

I am feeling some vibes in my steering wheel (not out of balance tires type) but a quick vibration through the steering wheel/column when I accelerate.. it happens only at 30-32mph.

Any idea's? I'm willing to throw money at it. I have not driven without my front DS in yet.

Could it be the front pinion angle? I have a LP D30 :bawl:

Tony, I seriously doubt you have a pinion angle problem with a LP @ 3" of lift and certainly not one that would cause "Steering wheel Vibrations".

Specific speed related vibrations can be tire balance, especially if they are not bump induced.

I have noticed that wheel bearings can vibrate at certain speeds when they are dry. I've had that a couple times.

If this only happened in a turn, I'd be looking at the wheel joints.

Try rotating tires Ft to Bk 1st and see what happens.

-Ron

steering wheel vibes usually, if not always, are not related to rear pinion angle, especially at 3" of lift.

check control arm bushings, tire balance, tie rod ends, ball joints, wheel bearings.
more than likely out of balance tires if everything else is in check.

Check your axle shaft U-joints, And when you replace them use real spicers.

I just put a 2.5" bastard pack in my '98 recently and have identical symptom. It's also the same as when I'd had 1.5" lift shackles in rear w/ no spring lift. Based on the symptom appearing, both times, when I changed my pinion angle I'm going to go with driveshaft vibes.
I'd bet you a 6 pack of your brew vs mine that you need to check your angles then replace your rear driveshaft u-joints.

Forgot to mention, new tie rods, drag link and track bar.. so that rules those out. Rear DS is new Tom Woods so the u-joints are new back there.

I will rotate the tires but it does not feel like out of balance tires... the frequency is too quick.

The front wheel bearings could be bad... I have no clue on their condition. No noises.

Well, you could always put it up on jack stands (under the axles, to keep everything at ride height) and drive it up to 32 mph, see what happens. That would isolate the rear end, too. Or engage 4wd and see if it's in the front end.

Take your front shaft out and report back. Could be a bad u joit, or slip joint in the shaft with play. While acceleration vibes usually come from the rear, taking out the front shaft is an easy way to confirm where the sound is originating (or not).

Front shaft is out... vibes are still there.

I did take the time to dial in the proper pinion angle in the rear... so I don't think that is it.. not sure how it could be?

I'm going to replace my LCA's with WJ's and look at replacing my hubs to see if that does not fix it.

Pull the rear shaft, put the front shaft back in, put her in 4wd (You do have a '231 case, right?) and see what happens.
My bet is that without the rear shaft the vibrations go away.
I'm not saying "don't go WJ arms" or "don't replace your hubs" - those are both reasonable ideas, especially given how "clean" you keep your XJ, but first thing's first: try to prove or disprove what the problem is before you start replacing parts.
Also, don't know if you realized it already, WJ control arms will limit the amount of droop you can get out of the suspension. If it's off roaded much you really want drop brackets (to lessen the amount of starting droop from lift) or to modify your lower control arm mounts on the axle side to allow for more movement of the arm.
I used to run WJ arms, and really enjoyed how cushy the ride was, but didn't go all the way in modifying my rig to take them without binding / banging while I was in the dirt. Went back to XJ arms with fresh bushings and welded some steel in to stiffen them.

I'm on board... I need to isolate the issue here. I'll try what you suggested first.. yes I do have the 231.

I'm looking for clues here...

Rear DS is Tom Woods and brand new -- should there be some sort of balance weight(s) on it?

Also, it appears wet all along the bottom of my differential.. from the pinion seal...

Does that tell anyone anything? Did an out of balance DS take out the seal/bearing?

I would expect to see balance weights, yes. Not necessarily a lot / many of them - but they do take weight to get balanced correctly.
It's hard to say if the shaft took out the bearing / seal. I mean, mileage is a factor as well - and we don't know that your bearing is shot, either. Does it have play when you grab the yoke and try to move it? Could just be a leaky seal.
If you have a local driveline shop, it couldn't hurt to have them "check" the balance and see what's up. Well, it could $50 hurt, but with no weights on the shaft I'd want the peace of mind of having it checked.

I know of another member that had significant balance issues with a Tom Woods shaft. I wouldn't rule it out.

Ok, I'm going to give them a ring to see whats up. I remember too, the guy said the balancing machine was down when I was checking on my order.

I have my front DS back in. I'm glad I didn't start throwing money at the front end at this point. Hopefully its just an out (or never been balanced!) rear DS.

I'll pull it this weekend and see if I can isolate to the rear DS, but I dont think I should be paying to get this thing balanced IF that is the issue.

I agree - whether you have to send it back for balancing or have TW reimburse you, that sucker needs balance verified. I mean, unless it came off the welding jig within a gram of perfect...

This is my daily so I don't have time to send it back to TW. I pulled it yesterday and let a local shop balance it. When I dropped it off, the guy said he never saw a weight put on like that refering to the one TW put on. (see pic). This is how I got it back. They added a couple. When I spoke to TW on Thurs they were helpful, they always have been. Their service has always been outstanding. I'm not going to throw them under the bus, but this isn't the first time I heard about them delivering a shaft that wasn't balanced. Should I call them up and ask to reimburse my $65? I don't know. Perhaps I should at least ask them for reimbursement to see what they say.



I drove it with the front shaft only and it was pretty smooth... as smooth as can be with a 158k orig shaft/joints. Even then I have very minor vibes around 30mph.

I installed the newly balanced rear shaft and front (steering wheel) vibes were the same as it was with no rear shaft but much better than it originally was... at 70mph the "groaning" noise was half of what is used to be.

Conclusion.. balancing the rear shaft reduced the intensity of vibes more than half... they are minimal now. So I think I'm dealing with a culmination of more than one thing here. I realize that I'm anal as hell when it comes wanting a vehicle to ride smooth as glass at 70 mph, so I take that into consideration too.

Probably front drive-axle U-joint time. The front tcase-to-axle shaft may need help, too.
WJ arms (all four can be used, if you are willing to work at it) will isolate vibration pretty well, too, but have the drawbacks I'd mentioned.
OR, do this thing I'm working on, and calm the F down - it's a 14 year old Jeep. If you manage that last one, let me know how.

After 40 yrs there's no fixing me anymore. If there's a way for something to be corrected I'm going to find it. Realizing this may be an exercise in futility, the thought has crossed my mind more than once in just jumping ship and going JK. Tempting as it may be, I like no car payments instead.

After seeing what a PITA WJ arms are, I think I'll pass. I may just replace the lowers and look into rebuilding the front shaft and possible u-joints. I'm they all need it anyway.