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hit a curb now alignment is off?

latenights

latenights

NAXJA Forum User
Location
south plainfield, new jersey
Ok so back a few months after i bought the XJ in august 2007, the gas pedal got stuck down causing me to hit a (rather large) curb going about 20 mph. I don't know how I didn't just go up the curb but anyway ever since then, or at least i think, my alignment has been off. Driving on the highway at about 53-55 mph I get death wobble with stock height and 30 inch bfg at's. If i hit a pot hole going above 50 it gets worse also. I tried searching for some answers but couldn't find much. So my question is is there anything that mite have bent causing my alignment to be off? Or did i just knock it out of alignment somehow and just get it re-aligned. I'm trying to get rid of this death wobble which i did search and find a lot of stuff about but not after somebody hitting a curb. thanks! its a 1996 sport 4x4 with 165,4xx miles.
 
Im sure your alignment is off.

and yes, there are a lot of things that could have gotten bent/broken in that case...

Check: Tierod, Draglink, Unit Bearings, TREs, Trac Bar, essentially all your front end components.
 
check the wheel too, and a damaged sidewall could cause wheel balance problem but less likely.
 
I was thinking it was the trac bar or tie rod/tre's. Im gonna have to figure out a way to check them since the trac bar already has a bend in it. The unit bearings are good, I checked those when I did my u-joints a few weeks ago
 
swbooking said:
Im sure your alignment is off.

and yes, there are a lot of things that could have gotten bent/broken in that case...

Check: Tierod, Draglink, Unit Bearings, TREs, Trac Bar, essentially all your front end components.
Click to expand...

x2 on these, and don't forget your UCA and LCA mounts and bushings.
 
What about the tie rod ends? Those take a beating when you hit things. And might be getting ready to fall off. (BTDT) Lay underneath while someone turns the steering wheel back and forth. Look for play in every component from the tie rod ends to the steering box. Also the track bar ends.
 
Hitting things can and will break or bend things. You might be lucky and the adjuster in the drag link slipped and just needs adjusted and retightened. You won't know until you do a thorough inspection.

As an example, I hit a hole hiding in the deep snow in my Comanche and caught air as a result. Afterward, the steering wheel was cocked about 1/2 turn off and very sloppy, driving home. I figured it was just alignment or a bent drag link. Nope, not so lucky. I actually broke the TRE at the pitman arm and it was barely hanging on. The only thing that turned out to be bent was the axle itseld. It was sitting 1/2" lower to the ground in the middle. Replaced it with a junkyard axle.
 
lawsoncl said:
Hitting things can and will break or bend things. You might be lucky and the adjuster in the drag link slipped and just needs adjusted and retightened. You won't know until you do a thorough inspection.

As an example, I hit a hole hiding in the deep snow in my Comanche and caught air as a result. Afterward, the steering wheel was cocked about 1/2 turn off and very sloppy, driving home. I figured it was just alignment or a bent drag link. Nope, not so lucky. I actually broke the TRE at the pitman arm and it was barely hanging on. The only thing that turned out to be bent was the axle itseld. It was sitting 1/2" lower to the ground in the middle. Replaced it with a junkyard axle.
Click to expand...

mines only off by about if you turned the wheel to the left about 2 inches. it doesn't pull to one side if i let go of the wheel either. but ill check the TRE tomorrow and hopefully be able to figure everything out by the weekend since i have nothing to do and can spend my whole day with my jeep =)
 
latenights said:
I was thinking it was the trac bar or tie rod/tre's. Im gonna have to figure out a way to check them since the trac bar already has a bend in it. The unit bearings are good, I checked those when I did my u-joints a few weeks ago
Click to expand...

I'm going to vote "Bent Tie Rod", I did this same thing a few years ago. Time to upgrade!
 
jmg256 said:
Is this tour DD? You've been driving it with death wobble for a year and a half? That's kinda scary.
Click to expand...

well its probably been a year since it happened but yeah. at first it was only a little wobble at about 65-70 but recently it has been getting worse and im going to be driving on the highway more now so thats why im doing everything now
 
ok so i think i've located the problem. when moving the steering wheel back and forth theres a noise coming from where the pitman arm connects to the trac bar. do you guys think that fixing that would help my death wobble, i think im going to start there
 
If that tie rod end is loose or damaged, that can cause death wobble. Slop there would probably show up as rotational play in the steering wheel too. BTW, the track bar doesn't connect to the steering - thats the bar that goes from the frame to the axle to keep it centered.
 
This might help on the terminology. I think this is actually a picture of a TJ, but it's pretty close.
tjsteering%281%29.jpg
 
lawsoncl said:
If that tie rod end is loose or damaged, that can cause death wobble. Slop there would probably show up as rotational play in the steering wheel too. BTW, the track bar doesn't connect to the steering - thats the bar that goes from the frame to the axle to keep it centered.
Click to expand...

thats the tie rod that connects to the pitman arm? i thought the tie rod was the strait rod that goes from pretty much one side of the axle to the other side. there is rotational play in the steering wheel to.
 
Ya know, looking at that picture again it looks like the track bar is adjustable? I wonder if a TJ track would work on an XJ lengthwise.
 
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