Death Wobble 45-55mph, on left turns

After searching in the forums, i am just unsure as to where to begin. I have had my jeep aligned, and that seemed to be temporary solution as it would quit for a while - but it's back. Anyway, i drive a '96 cherokee sport 4x4. It has a 2in. spacer lift up front to clear space for 30in. tires. The bushings in the linkage are certainly worn and cracked, and i suppose i should start there. But i am working while being a full-time student, so time is something hard to come by, and i would love help if anyone could offer advice in addition to this.

As in the subject line, it only occurs when i am veering/turning left around 45-55mph and there are bumps in the road. Even when it doesn't wobble, the steering feels very shaky (during left turns.) It does not happen when i am turning right. However, when i am turning right, there is a growling sound that almost sounds like wheel rub - but there definitely is not. This sound happens even when i turn the wheel right to correct myself when driving straight. I have tested the front shocks, and they are good. And the tie rods look pretty solid, but there is definitely some play someone in the linkage - but i am having a hard time isolating it. the passenger wheel has more play when being pulled on, though.

I wanted to post this in hopes of avoiding having to solve this by trial and error (and spending a lot of money.) If this sounds more particular to one thing than the other, i would really appreciate anyone's help/experience. Thanks!

Blair Boyd

make sure your tires are balenced, after comming out of some mud and going straight onto the road, and i got horrible wobble at those speeds, pressure washed the inside of my tires and problem solved, so check your balence first. it is very dangerous to drive it like that. otherwise, make sure all your steering linkages are nice and tight, that can cause issues as well.

blairboyd said:

After searching in the forums, i am just unsure as to where to begin. I have had my jeep aligned, and that seemed to be temporary solution as it would quit for a while - but it's back. Anyway, i drive a '96 cherokee sport 4x4. It has a 2in. spacer lift up front to clear space for 30in. tires. The bushings in the linkage are certainly worn and cracked, and i suppose i should start there. But i am working while being a full-time student, so time is something hard to come by, and i would love help if anyone could offer advice in addition to this.

As in the subject line, it only occurs when i am veering/turning left around 45-55mph and there are bumps in the road. Even when it doesn't wobble, the steering feels very shaky (during left turns.) It does not happen when i am turning right. However, when i am turning right, there is a growling sound that almost sounds like wheel rub - but there definitely is not. This sound happens even when i turn the wheel right to correct myself when driving straight. I have tested the front shocks, and they are good. And the tie rods look pretty solid, but there is definitely some play someone in the linkage - but i am having a hard time isolating it. the passenger wheel has more play when being pulled on, though.

I wanted to post this in hopes of avoiding having to solve this by trial and error (and spending a lot of money.) If this sounds more particular to one thing than the other, i would really appreciate anyone's help/experience. Thanks!

Blair Boyd

Click to expand...

DW is hard to fix without trail and error... It could be tons of things... Lots of times it is either your Track bar or Caster angle... I changed my caster angle and it went away, i would want to find out what my caster angle is from the previous allignment if it hasnt been too long to find out. Some people will tell you that worn bushings and TREs can also cause it and some will tell you that you can run a worn out F/E with no problems.. I could see how worn bushings would cause DW... Check your trackbar and mounts first, make sure your axle is centered. With the 2 inch lift i am assuming you still are running the factory TB. You could redrill and realign it to be sure it's centered. If all is well with the TB then i would suspect Caster angle next. Mine runs excellent at 4*. Hope I help... Good luck.

Balance tires first, put the two tires with the least weight up front. The higher you go the more tire balance usually matters.

blairboyd said:

I have had my jeep aligned,

The bushings in the linkage are certainly worn and cracked,

However, when i am turning right, there is a growling sound

but there is definitely some play someone in the linkage -

the passenger wheel has more play when being pulled on

Click to expand...

Any shop that would do an alignment and not address these issues is not worth returning to.

I would start with the things you have mentioned....fix them...ALL of them...then start fresh.

Rev

My '99 TJ now wobbles all of the time from 40 to 50. I just haven't taken time to fix it. It started with my 33" BFG MTRs and a 3" suspension lift. I too plan to change the caster angle because the angle strays from the factory setting when the frame is lifted and the axle drops. You end up with shopping cart wheel wobble. Bushings, steering linkage, etc. are all Bandaide fixes that help to temporarily cover up symptoms of the root cause: wrong caster angle. Nevertheless, they can't be ignored. Those same worn parts would most likely not cause death wobble at stock ride height (your Jeep would dance to a more Latin rythym). FYI: do check for mud trapped in the rim. Stock Jeep rims are mud magnets. You don't see the mud from the outside of the tire--only on the backside.

the noise you hear in the rf sounds like a wheelbearing going bad also explains the looseness I'd replace the steering stabilizer first.

irb4ur said:

shopping cart wheel wobble

Click to expand...

I like it! Catchy!

98XJeep said:

I'd replace the steering stabilizer first.

Click to expand...

Thats right! I would put a bandaid on a compound fracture as well!

Fix all the loose stuff. I'd say from the speed mentioned that the tire balance or possible cupping on the fronts could be setting the shimmy off- but it probably wouldn't be shimmying if all the parts were tight, either.

JJacobs said:

Fix all the loose stuff. I'd say from the speed mentioned that the tire balance or possible cupping on the fronts could be setting the shimmy off- but it probably wouldn't be shimmying if all the parts were tight, either.

Click to expand...

It was my Jeep's death wobble that strained the steering linkages to the point of becoming loose. If you replace all the loose parts, which is good to do, you will only have to do it again prematurely if you don't fix the caster angle to compensate for the lift.

Then your parts were borderline anyway. There's no point in trying to fix a shimmy while ignoring loose parts. Replace the stuff, then after proper alignment, wheel balance etc if it still wobbles you need to go deeper for the root cause.

Okay so your axle growls on right turns and wobbles on left turns.

Check your right side (pass side) wheel hub and ball joints.