front end wobble

Hi--

Recently the front end my 210k XJ started to wobble badly when I hit a rough patch of road. I believe its the driver's side front wheel. When I brake it goes away. I have Rusty's budget boost, but its been on for 80k with no problems. My shocks are new, although my BFG AT's are 3/4 worn.

Any suggestions?

Hub/bearing

Ball joint(s)

Tie rod end(s)

Alignment

Track bar

I have experienced this same problem as well as many of my friends with high mileage Cherokees. I would say in 90% of the cases on one with such mileage is your track bar. A key area of wear on the XJ is the lower track bar mount on the axle (especially if you have lifted and not added an adjustable track bar, as was my problem). The hole for the mounting bolt is on a thin bracket that tends to get reemed out with old age. Best way to tell is this: Place your finger on the head of the hex bolt for the lower track bar mount; have a buddy in the cab jerk the wheel back and forth slightly but quickly, if you feel that bolt move you have found your problem. The only way to repair this fun little problem is weld the hold shut and redrill or cut the bracket off entirely and put a beefier one on. The next common area of wear is the upper mount. This is a removable bracket that bolts to the frame. Just make sure those bolts are good and tight with an impact gun.

Actually, a worn track bar does NOTHING to cause wheel wobble. The root cause is usually poor wheel balance, and loose or worn components (like track bar, tie rod ends, etc) simply allow the wobble to be more noticeable.

I drove around for about 6 months with a badly worn track bar on the '88 XJ because I didn't feel like changing outdoors in the snow. No wheel wobble, just vague steering. I'm now seeing the same thing on the '88 MJ. Had my brother turn the steering wheel for me last night so I could confirm that the track bar is, indeed, shot, but I get no wobble. Just vague steering, and requires a lot of attention and correction to stay in one lane on a straight road.

Eagle said:

Actually, a worn track bar does NOTHING to cause wheel wobble. The root cause is usually poor wheel balance, and loose or worn components (like track bar, tie rod ends, etc) simply allow the wobble to be more noticeable.

I drove around for about 6 months with a badly worn track bar on the '88 XJ because I didn't feel like changing outdoors in the snow. No wheel wobble, just vague steering. I'm now seeing the same thing on the '88 MJ. Had my brother turn the steering wheel for me last night so I could confirm that the track bar is, indeed, shot, but I get no wobble. Just vague steering, and requires a lot of attention and correction to stay in one lane on a straight road.

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So your telling me that when I had death wobble, it wasn't because of my trac bar? Which I replaced with a SJ adj, and the death wobble dissapeared?

there are many, many forms and causes of death wobble. i had em bad the other day because two bolts that held the trac bar mount to the frame came loose. Ive had em before at stock do to shot stock arm bushings.

But other people drive around for months on end, thousands of miles, with worn bushings, loose bolts, etc, and never experience death wobble. That automatically eliminates those factors as the cause of death wobble. I'm not saying they are not a contributing factor, I'm saying they are not the root cause. A properly balanced tire and wheel is like a gyroscope -- the faster it spins, the more it wants to stay IN its plane of rotation rather than wobble. Something has to start it wobbling, and that's usually poor balance, sometimes a bent rim. Once the wobble starts, worn or loose components make the effects more obvious.

Yes, I see your point.

In case anyone is checking this, I replaced the tie rod and steering stabilizer and it seems to have cured the wobble-- at least temporarily.

good timing on this, as I am having a similar problem. Bumps, i get a similar wobble, braking to now. XJ tracks straight, but feels sloppy. The slightest turn of the wheel sends it off. My wife won't drive the 87 because of it.

Now I have a few things to check

Copperhead
1987 Laredo 4.0
1996 Sport 4.0 HO, 2wd

most of the time when the steering shakes after hitting bumps, the steering damper is bad. if it is leaking especially

if the track bar or other suspension parts were bad you would hear a noticeable knocking or thumping noise from the area of the bad part(s)

I also just replaced the upper and lower ball joints on the passenger side.

So, I did the tie rod, sttering stabilizer, and right side ball joints. Death wobble is gone, and the Jeep steers and handles bumps like new.

If it's only when you hit a bump then your stabilizer is prime canidate.

I was having some shimmy/wobble at speed and replaced my entire front end. Didn't fix my problem. I replaced tired and the problem was gone. That is the second time I had this and tires fixed it both times.