Serious deathwobble midway through trip

Moving to VA from CT today. Left this morning at 8 am, and over the course of 396 miles, driving mostly on 95 south, my jeep had deathwobble 7 times which forced me to pullover to a stop. I felt very uncomfortable driving on 95, I was sweating like a madman the whole drive thinking every little bump was gonna send me into a severe shaking frenzy.

I tried to stay of 95 as much as possible since alot of it was under construction and the DW only seems to be happening at speeds 60 mph and up. I have since stopped for the night in Dover Delaware to rest up and drive the rest of the distance from Dover to Hampton VA tomorrow.

Is there anything I can do or check that I might be able to fix before I head out tomorrow? I have a basic craftsman tool kit (200 pcs) and a basic knowlege of the front end suspension parts.

Here are the specs on the jeep. I just bought it last week.

97 XJ, 4.0 , 5 speed. 2" BB with coils and AAL. Has aftermarket fixed control arms and aftermarket heavy duty adj trac bar. Has a tc drop. Any help would be much appriciated. I was very scared driving it today.

is track bar loose?

I pulled off 95 at a rest stop and tightened the tracbar on the axle end, tightened the tie rod ends. I dont think the trac bar is loose on the frame end , but even if it was , I dont have a big enough wrench to tighten it. Its some after market HD crap and the bolt is huge. Possibly its not adjusted to the right length but I still wouldnt be able to adjust it with the wrenches I have.

since your on a trip...i would bring it to a shop

I only have 150 miles left, and am taking all back roads to VA . I also am traveling on miltary orders and cannot stop to have this fixed. Once I get to my base, I should have time to bring it to the auto hobby shop and get it looked at.

If anyone knows the roads , Im taking Rt 13 south in Delaware through maryland throught the chesapeake tunnel and then north 20 mins to Hampton.

Ball joint's
tracbar
caster angle - at least stop and have an allignment shop check it over. It shouldn't take too aweful long. An hour tops...

So it's better to be killed than to be late? Have the military come pick you up in a super duper chopper copter...

had it aligned yesterday

ball joints are competly fine on it

trac bar what? I tighted it on the axle end, nothing else I can do to it w/o tools.

Im not gonna crash or hurt myself or anyone else. Im taking ALL backroads. Im only having the deathwobble at speeds greater than 60 on hard bumps in the road.

And I cant be late, sorry. Just cant happen.

93_xj said:

Im not gonna crash or hurt myself or anyone else.

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How do you know that? I assume that since you are taking back roads makes your Jeep less prone to DW.

It seems that you have done all you can do then. Have a safe trip. I wish you the best of luck.

Replace the steering dampener that will help and you can do it with simple tools

NO! You'd be wasting money! Tis a bandaid. What did the shop say your caster was set at and did you have them adjust anything? Did the DW start before it was lined up?

mixedupjeeper said:

Replace the steering dampener that will help and you can do it with simple tools

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Haha....This was his first post too!

Check your control arms also for tightness. Also, out of balance tires can cause DW.

lowrange2 said:

How do you know that? I assume that since you are taking back roads makes your Jeep less prone to DW.

It seems that you have done all you can do then. Have a safe trip. I wish you the best of luck.

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I know this because the speed limit on the roads I will be on will not exceed 55. Ive only ever had problems at speeds 60 and greater. I drove 55 from NJ to DE with no deathwobble taking back roads.

The steering stablizer is probbaly shot also, it looks stock or atleast very very old. Ill have to stop at napa and get one, that might help me out a ton.

Im thinking possibly the control arms not being tight or the bushings on the control arms, because I have checked neither since purchasing the jeep.

The shop that did the alignment gave me a computer printout of before and after. I cant remember specifics, but the paper is in the jeep. I know the toe was in the negative. And I had DW before and after the alignment.

a steering stab will not cause DW. It only masks the REAL problems.

Like I said, IMO you'll be wasting your money on a stabilizer but if you think it'll help keep things under control while driving home then by all means go for it. But keep in mind that you have NOT fixed your problem.

Just be careful. To me, speed means nothing. I had it happening to me at as little as 20 mph. Plus, the difference between 60 and 55 is only 5mph. You think your Jeep is only going to go haywire at only 60? Not 59? 55?

Either way, I wish you luck in the morning.

Go buy a crecent wrench and tighten the trackbar. Every case of deathwobble I have seen is from one of two things, improper caster due to worn parts or incorrect combo of lift and parts, or trackbar loose on one end of the other.

Sounds like a decent setup if its only a 2" lift and its got aftermarket arms and TB. Tighten the frame side or at least don't write it off. You can buy a crecent wrench anywhere.

made it to VA saftely , not on instant of deathwobble.

Conviently, the Auto Hobby shop is located 100 feet from my dorms, so ill have plenty of resources for wrenching on my offduty time.