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not death wobble but wobble

littlebluexj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
tulsa,Ok
when i get to aroound 40mph my front end starts to shack and the people behind me say that my tires are moving.ive had death wobble and this isn't that bad.i have replaceed the axle with a new one that isnt bent it is
]----O--[ now and it has new balljoins and hubs and new stock steering.i have done the hub and balljoint test and nothing my allingment is set had a corprit tire and allingment place do it.now heres my question i have an 88 xj with 4.5 inchs of lift with STOCK CONTROL ARMS 33x12.5 truxs and they are wearing unevenly my axle sits back a good 2 1/2 to 3 inches and bounces on take off a little when im in reverse or parked the tires look like this
/ \ or even oppisit of that whats going on
 
Do you have a readout/report on the final alignment?

Lifted XJ's tend to like zero toe-in to eliminate wobble and uneven tire wear.

What is the resulting caster report?



What are the shock bushings like?

Are they tight (can you grab a shock and move it by hand through wear/slop in the bushings)?


Longer aftermarket LCA's (or adjustable LCA's) will help, by using more rigid links and bushings, but proper alignment will still be needed. Do not expect new control arms to eliminate the need for proper (lifted rather than stock spec) alignment.
 
quite often it is the track bar bushing that has gone bad causing DW. It sure doesn't take much wear to cause it either. I have had it on two of my XJs and it was always traced back to the TB bushing on the axle end. I finally went with the JKS design and cured it once and for all.
 
Yesterday I had my tires ballanced and the out of round tires moved to the back. This took care of a (non death) wobble/ shudder I picked up after bending a tie rod. I know, Iknow, the egg shapped tires had nothing to do with the tie rod. But after replacing it and getting an alignment while still having the vibe, I was sure it had to be alignment. But on my third trip down to Discount tire, they pulled the front tires to check the balance. They ended up balancing all four, rotating and plugging one at no charge. And the wobble is gone. Who'd a thunk?


Tim
 
i don't have reports on anything but if i had to change something what should i change.LCA's the tires are in great shape not cupped of worn just replaced them. my shock has a lot of movement shrough the bushing.my track bar is a RE adustibal HD that is good so what guys.this is the oneyu place i know to go for tech help.i was told by a 4x4 shop in town that because the control arms are so short that it is causing to much negative caster which is causing my axle to rotat foward as it is pulled back and might be causing my chamber problem.
 
littlebluexj said:
i don't have reports on anything but if i had to change something what should i change.LCA's the tires are in great shape not cupped of worn just replaced them. my shock has a lot of movement shrough the bushing.my track bar is a RE adustibal HD that is good so what guys.this is the oneyu place i know to go for tech help.i was told by a 4x4 shop in town that because the control arms are so short that it is causing to much negative caster which is causing my axle to rotat foward as it is pulled back and might be causing my chamber problem.


I wonder why good manufactures like RE sell longer LCA's with their 4.5" lift kits. :rolleyes:

Yes it does sound like you caster is way out of spec. Controls arms definitely should be on the top of your to buy list. You should also consider adjustable ones, and adjustable uppers as well.
 
i just got a set of adjustable LCA's teraflex from a friend for 50$

and that should help other then that fix my shock bushing and then go get it allighned and caster checked right guys
 
You're experiencing shimmy at 40 MPH; have you replaced your speedometer gear?

Shimmy at 45 - 55 MPH without hitting some sort of bump or irregularity in the road is usually triggered by a balance problem. You said your tires where fairly new, but starting to show wear problems. Were they dynamically balanced? Not just balanced, but dynamically balanced.

At 4 1/2" with stock lower arms, it is impossible to get a decent amount of positive castor without modifying your control arm brackets. It's not likely that you have negative castor, but definately not enough positive. If you adjust your lower control arms to about 1/2" to 5/8" longer than the stock arms (center to center), that should get you in the ballpark where you can use the factory shims to fine tune. About 5° seems to be a reasonable compromise, but you have to walk a fine line between castor and pinion angle. When you get another alignment after the control arms are installed, make sure to get a printout of the before/after specs, or at least ask and write down toe, castor & camber. SAI and thrust angle are nice to know if they offer that.

Balance, castor and shock bushings should make a noticable difference.
 
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