death wobble

the death wobble as my buddies call it happens around 45 65 mph my cherokee will hit a bump just right and.... its hard to describe but the left front wheel just shakes until you come to just about a complete stop. my dad tightened both hub bearings last weekend and that made it somewhat better but she still does it. my dad thinks its just cuz everything is so worn on my jeep (which by the way is a 90 2wd) it just started doing this last month. please help i really dont want something to snap off on the highway

jack up the front end, start pulling and prodding on things.
Check the trackbar bushings and it's bracket on the frame.
Check the tie-rod and it's ends.

I had the death wobble exactly as you do. I lifted my xj 3 inches, with new lower control arms and bushings. It did the scary wobble crap on the highway until I had new tires put on, and the front end aligned. Hasn't done it since. How long has it been since you had it aligned?

alignment: i dunno bought it september and have changed the oil twice and thru 4 alternators havent done anything else

i would recommend you have someone get in the car and steer it left and right while in park while you get down up front and look at the moving parts. check all the balljoints and especially the trackbar bushing. after i liftedmy XJ 2"s we retightened the trackbar but it was not tight enough to keep it still... i'm talking about an inch of movement so the unibody would twist while the front axle stayed still. we had to tighten it with a flex bar to make it go away. no more death wobble for me. if you haven't done any suspension changes and the only thing that has happened is that it aged .. look for worn bushings and ball joints. just my 2 cents. best of luck

don't you love that feeling, driving and not knowing when and what will make it happen. its almost like being a pinata, you know you are gonna get smacked, just you dont know how soon it will happen.

i had death wobble bad and i bet it was funny, me driving down the highway with the O SH*t look on my face.

I got pretty tired of it and consulted some friends. The caster was off a bit and i needed new LCA's. the oem ones were shot so I called Rusty and ordered up some of their non adjustable ones. The day I popped those in was like magic. I have not had death wobble since.

An alignment that corrects for caster would be able to point this out. cherokees are very particular about what position their pinions sit at.

If you are tight on bucks hit me up and I'll send a set of stock LCA's out to you all I ask is if you could pay for shipping. I have em at my parent's house and I am heading there this weekend. These were run for about 3 weeks by a friend and he went to adjustables. These are pretty much new. I just have to dig em out and hope my pops didnt toss em.

John

I found a really good DW posting on J U -
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Curing death wobble is defiantly a reality. Death wobble isn’t similar to a wobble from an unbalanced tire. It is by far worse. When death wobble hits you will know… it’s a violent shake from the front end that feels like the Jeep is about to fall apart. Usually when it happens the only thing you can do to stop it is to slow down.

The first steps to eliminate death wobble should be a visual inspection of each component, check the bushings, tire balance and an alignment. There are some common things you must check anytime you lift your Jeep. Death wobble is experienced mostly on lifter Jeeps, however it is not uncommon for someone without a lift to experience the dreaded DW. Listed below are a few things you can check.

Torque specs:

Item ........................................ Ft. lbs. ................... Nm

Lug nuts (1/2 X 20 w/ 60* cone) .... 85-115 .............. 115-150
All tie rod ends .....................…..... 55 ...................….. 74
Steering (both ends) ..............…..... 55 ................….... 74
Shock absorber upper nut .............. 16 ................….... 22
Shock absorber lower nuts ............. 17 ................….... 23
UCA frame end .....................…...... 66 ..............…..... 89
UCA axle end .........................….... 55 ................….... 74
LCA frame end ......................…..... 85 ...................... 115
LCA axle end .........................….... 85 ...................... 115
Track bar frame end ..............…..... 60 .................…... 81
Track bar axle end .................….... 40 ..................…... 54
Track bar bracket bolts ..........…..... 92 ...................... 125
Track bar bracket nut .............….... 74 ....................... 100
Track bar bracket support bolts ...... 31 ....................... 42
Hub bolts (3) ............................…. 75 ....................... 102
Hub- axle bolt ..........................….. 175 ..................... 237

Alingment specs (stock):

Angle ............. Preferred ........... Range ............. Max R/L diff.

Caster ............ +7.0* ........ +5.25* to +8.5* ......... 1.25*
Camber ........... -0.25* ....... -0.75* to +0.5 ........... 1.0*
Total Toe-in .... +0.25* ....... 0* to +0.45* ............. .05*
Thrust angle .... 0* to ± 0.15*



Check your Track Bar, play in this can cause the axle to shake.
1. Bushings - check to see that they are not worn. Looks for cracks, and excessive play)
2. Angles - this angle should be the same as your draglink. Use an angle finders you can get at sears to determine this, don’t just eye-ball it.
3. Bolts – Make sure all bolts are tightened down to spec (some lift components have a different torque spec then)

Check the Axle, your mounts may be worn
1. Check the axle mount. Here is a good write up on a wallowed out bolt hole
http://www.jeepin.com/features/trackbarfix/index.asp
2. Check your Universal joints, a binding or lose U-Joint can cause DW
3. On the frame end if you still use the conventional Tie Rod End or (TRE) make sure that there is no play in this, as play can cause DW.
4. Look/Check for worn/torn boots on ball joints/tie-rod ends.

Check your Tires
1. Out of balance tires can cause shaking in the front end, which can lead to death wobble.
2. Make sure all of your lug nuts are tight, (Sounds elementary but it happens to the best of us)

Check your Frame
1. Small cracks in the frame can cause the steering box to feel loose, Shaking from DW can only make this worse. 33’s and larger should have some form of Steering box brace, or frame brace in.
2. If you have upgraded your frame mount, make sure its cranked down nice and tight. (best to use an impact gun)
3. A busted Frame Mount can cause play in the front end causing DW (Keep a watchful eye on the welds as welds in sheer can break over time.

Make sure you have a good alignment
1. After you get an alignment done, have them print out the numbers for you. An XJ should have a 7* positive caster angle. A lifted XJ can’t always have that high of a number because the pinion would become out of alignment with the front driveshaft. Pinion angle takes precedence over caster.
2. Make you sure you go to a place that will adjust the caster if necessary (either by shims in the frame side of the LCAs, or adjustable LCAs).

The more adjustable parts the easier it is to tune in your suspension.
1. Adjustable Track Bar
2. Adjustable Upper and Lower Control Arms (upper ones above 4” of lift). Not only are they adjustable, but they are stronger.


Things to remember:
1. After any lift, get your Jeep professionally aligned, this is a REQUIREMENT, not a suggestion.
2. A Steering Stabilizer (SS) is not a quick fix for DW.
3. Make sure that the lift you purchase comes with all the required parts for a safe driving vehicle. (as long as its going to be a DD)
4. PLEASE ALWAYS DRIVE WITH YOUR FRONT SWAY BAR CONNECTED!

Entire list of everything that can cause death wobble:
-Front tires out of balance
-Front alignment out of spec
-Loose track bar
-Worn track bar bushings
-Worn track bar end
-Need adjustable track bar
-Bad bushings/joints in control arms
-Worn/damaged steering stabilizer
-Worn/damaged shocks
-Worn/damaged tie rod end
-Bad U Joint
-Bad ball joint
-Loose frame mount
-Steering box looseness
-Need drop pitman arm
-Driveshaft(s) not balanced
-Bad front hub assembly



Information provided by Jeeps Unlimited

I have experienced the DEATH WOBBLE twice in the ownership of my 98 XJ Sport BDS 3.5 lift Cherokee (140,000mi). Once with 10.5x30x15's, and currently with my 10.5x31x15 BF Goodrich A/T's. I did my share of prodding with the first scenario (see previous post).
The first time, the reason was a broken band (inbalance) in my right front tire. (problem solved 2 weeks)

Thats been a year and about 35,000 miles ago and my JEEP went into the DEATH WOBBLE again. Ive been prodding away, since I ruled out the tires, and I now have it under wraps again with the installation of a new steering stabilizer shock. I intend to have a new alignment done as well, because I dont think things are measuring up, they way they should. Im thinking real hard that the stabilizer shock has been the culprit multipling the severity of this wobble in both situations. I changed my ORIGINAL one out yesterday, and took a full load of Music equipment to a Buddy's down a bumpy road (Michigan), at 55 mph. Cool Beans, NO WOBBLE. (problem solved 4weeks)
Please only try this after you prod everything in the previous post (TWICE)!!! (By the way, I checked the tires by rotating the front ones back). Good Luck, and BE CAREFULL!

if you change the stabilizer and it is fixed....YOU DIDN'T FIX ANYTHING-YOU JUST COVERED IT! when attemting to fix the wobble, remove the stabilizer. When you have it fixed and it does not wobble at all then put it back on. The only way you will know if it is fixed is without anything that will mask the problem.
GOOD LUCK!