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I give up!!

mgreen84

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Georgia
This is my 4th XJ, I have experienced death wobble several times and usually corrected it by troubleshooting and replacing the worn parts and/or correcting alignment issues WELLL...

The xj in question is a 98 Sport 2 door 5 speed 4.0, 5.5 RC Lift, 33 bfg's, RE Adjustable Track bar, RC Fixed LCA.... still got a wobble at 50MPH on the dot.... I have replaced ball joints (all of them) with MOOG, both u-joints in the front, both hub bearings, entire drag link and tie rod all with new TRE's, Upper and Lower CA busings, had it aligned at a alignment-only shop TWICE (2nd time he let me watch, so that I could see the numbers) Toe is at 1/16 in, Caster is at 5*, camber is .5* & .6 (left and right) so obviously the axle is not bent, thought it may be the tires so I had them balanced and rotated still no luck,I needed new tires so I bought new wheels and new BFG's , STILL no luck.... axle is sitting as close to dead center as possible (using a tape to measure from frame to inside of tire on both sides, track bar is tight and mount is solid, no play in the steering box, angles between track bar and drag link are almost perfect!!...
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ----What am I missing??? I am now out almost $1200 bucks and I can't find the problem... I've spent hours searching NAXJA ..and while it has gotten alot better its still pretty bad at 50MPH... I'm about ready to just put dual stabilizers (which I know is a band-aid) on it and hopefully control it some because there CAN'T be anything wrong!!
 
x2 on that steering box.

When you changed your CA bushings, did you also change the two upper bushings on the axle?
 
x2 on that steering box.

When you changed your CA bushings, did you also change the two upper bushings on the axle?

I changed 4 bushings per side...total of 8... upper and lower both sides (body and axle)... When I had the draglink off I checked for play in the box and did not feel any???
 
With someone in the car turning the steering back and forth(eighth of a turn each way), get under with a light and watch the sector shaft for side to side movement.
 
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Do you have drop brackets?What CA's are you running?
 
I don't have drop brackets, I have the LCA's that came with my RC kit... ... I was just outside looking at everything and decided to take a fresh look at my other XJ and compare the angles to this one.... I am going to take some pics of what I found... one of you gurus please tell me if you see something......be right back
 
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sorry about the BAD camera.....is it me or do the springs look like they are sitting at a steep angle on the axle????
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if you guys are willing to look at pics of my setup and help me out please let me know and I will take pics all day long....but it has to be before dark... this 6 dollar camera does not have flash and thanks in advance....
 
I don't have drop brackets, I have the LCA's that came with my RC kit... ...
5.5" of lift and stock uppers,Id say you found your problem.Your angles have to be horrid.
 
5.5" of lift and stock uppers,Id say you found your problem.Your angles have to be horrid.

thats what I'm starting to think... although my 89 has 6 inches and stock uppers, it drives like a caddy compared to this one
 
something else that really bothers me is that ...my alignment guy swears that everything is in good geometery and I even saw the computer readings.... somethings not right here... I think I'm getting the shaft!!
 
5.5" lift and stock UCAs could it possibly be a rear driveline shake? caused by the Slip yoke? or possibly the front drive shaft?
 
As long as your caster is right, then the problem is not with your stock uca's.
Are you running a drop pitman arm? Your angles dont look bad but not perfict either, zoom out on your pic so you can see from the pitman arm to the trac bar backet at the axle and post it.
I agree you need to get under the XJ and look and watch for any movement while someone sweeps the wheel lock to lock.
Id really watch the trac bar bolt at the axle housing.

Are you sure its a "death wobble"? Is it so bad you have to slam on the brakes and slow way down? Or is it more of a shimmy right around 50? As scott said we are talking wobble not vibration right?
 
As long as your caster is right, then the problem is not with your stock uca's.
Are you running a drop pitman arm? Your angles dont look bad but not perfict either, zoom out on your pic so you can see from the pitman arm to the trac bar backet and post it.
I agree you need to get under the XJ and look and watch for any movement while someone sweeps the wheel lock to lock.
Id really watch the trac bar bolt at the axle housing.

Are you sure its a "death wobble"? Is it so bad you have to slam on the brakes and slow way down? Or is it more of a shimmy right around 50? As scott said we are talking wobble not vibration right?

this is a wobble definately... I could deal with a vibration... I am almost certain the caster is not right...regardless of what the computer or the alignment guy says.. I don't have an angle finder or I would just check it... I am going to take some more pics... especially how the springs are sitting on the axle in this position " \ "
 
Well these are the only 3 other pics that I could get before this high-tech top of the line POS camera took a dump.... To give you an example.... the bumpstop is completely vertical not bent...
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Just wanted to add to check for cracks in the frame rail around the steering box.

Looks like alot more than 5.5" lift. I'm at 6.5 and my tie rod doesn't come above my axle tube like that.
 
Just wanted to add to check for cracks in the frame rail around the steering box.

Looks like alot more than 5.5" lift. I'm at 6.5 and my tie rod doesn't come above my axle tube like that.

it started as 5.5 and after a couple of years it settled so I added spacers which makes it nearly 6 and 1/4 now (last time I measured)....forgot to mention that
 
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