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Death wobble after installing 3 inch lift!

batesxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lawrence, KS
Just installed a 3 inch suspension lift on my 2000 xj. At first, I was getting some serious death wobble at 60+mph, but then I noticed that the OE steering shock was completely blown out. I replaced the steering shock, and so far, haven't experienced death wobble again. Also, my front axle is now sitting about 1 inch to the left (drivers side). Do I need to re-drill a new hole on my trac bar bracket? Will this fix my axle issue, and more importantly help make sure the death wobble is eliminated?? I have already had an alignment, and I have brand new 31 inch tires. Also, all ball joints and tie rod ends are in good shape. Any help / input would be greatly appreciated!
 
Your steering stabilizer/shock is just a cover-up for other issues that NEED to addressed!! Redrilling the axle tracbar mount is cheap fix that you can get away with but I recommend an adjustable tracbar instead! Check ALL bushings and joints in the frontend as any of them worn/loose can cause DW!!
 
Your steering stabilizer/shock is just a cover-up for other issues that NEED to addressed!! Redrilling the axle tracbar mount is cheap fix that you can get away with but I recommend an adjustable tracbar instead! Check ALL bushings and joints in the frontend as any of them worn/loose can cause DW!!


I know you said you had an alignment done..but check your camber. And does it happen at slower speeds as well or just 60+?
 
Get an adjustable track bar. Your factory bushing is probably shot and is the main contributor to your death wobble... not to mention that redrilling crap is a chintzy band-aid. Essentially, if you decide to redrill and use your old track bar I'll regard you as less of a human being.

Then, check all your control arm bushings and retorque all of the bolts to factory spec. Also, be sure to inspect all ball joints and TREs.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I will probably just purchase a new adjustable trac bar. Seems like that is probably the best way to go at this point.
 
The stabilizer shock is there from the factory. It's not true that the stabilizer is simply covering up other issues. A stock XJ (or other vehicles with stabilizer shocks) can have DW if the shock is worn out. If the new shock fixed the DW, I wouldn't worry about it any more. True, if there is a slight problem in another area, the shock can compensate for it, but that's why it's there from the original designers.

Drilling a new hole and moving the track bar over on the axle mount is a tried and proven way to deal with a small lift. Drill the hole and forget it, until you wear out the existing track bar or just want to get an adjustable one.

You CAN keep it simple. :)
 
says he's already had it aligned in the first post. Following that- would relocating the trackbar after an alignment job necessitate having it realigned?
 
You can install a track bar mount relocating bracket for the axle end that will re-center the axle. I have one I can give you if you pay shipping. Just PM me if you're interested. If you are getting an adjustable track bar you won't need it.
 
says he's already had it aligned in the first post. Following that- would relocating the trackbar after an alignment job necessitate having it realigned?

I missed where he mentioned it was aligned. Relocating the track bar shouldn't change the tire alignment, although he may want to adjust the link to the pitman arm to recenter his steering wheel. I wonder how good of an alignment it was if they didn't say anything about the axle being way off center. If castor was an issue, they should have flagged that as well.

Now would be a good time to do a thorough inspection for loose parts (something else the alignment shop should have done). Crawl under the front and have someone crank back and forth on the steering wheel while you look for and feel for slop in any of the tie rod ends and track bar.

On the steering stabilizer, many would argue its just a bandaid as they have a vehicle that works just fine without it. It is true that it can mask problems caused by other worn out parts. But if all the other parts check out and DW is still there you can often cure it by replacing a worn out stabilizer. That was the case on my Comanche. If its gone with a new stabilizer, then I would still inspect for other worn parts and then not worry about it.
 
My first xj i redrilled the hole and it wallowed, then came DW, i have had 2 more xj's since and would never redrill again. about half of everyone i know, who has did it had wallowing problems. and everyone who used a bracket had them keep coming loose. and the stock trac bar IMHO is useless after you start lifting a rig. get a adjustable if you don't want problems down the road.
 
How can drilling a new hole cause it to wallow out? A new hole is just like the original hole......it's just a hole. If the hole wallows out, it means the bolt moved, which means the bolt was loose. If the original hole didn't wallow out, then it means the bolt was never as tight in the new hole as in the original hole. Not rocket science here, guys.

The original poster already said he inspected for loose parts, and that the new stablizer fixed the DW. That's pretty much the end of it until any DW comes back, then check further.

Don't track bar relocating brackets also lower the track bar at the axle, increasing the angle even more than the lift did, and putting the track bar angle out of alignment with the drag link?

Drill the hole and make sure the bolt is real tight, and tack a heavy washer to the outside of the new hole if you're concerned about the bolt not staying tight enough.
 
I agree that insufficient torque or the bolt loosening will cause the wallowing. One problem with the relocation brackets is that you can't tighten the bolt in the original hole too much without bending the bracket. They need a stack of washers or a bush to prevent that. In my case, I just welded the bracket in place.

As I recall, the relocation moves it towards the drivers side and down a bit. Isn't the track bar pivot further towards the passenger side than were the drag link connects, so this would correct the angle difference after the lift?
 
The problems with wallowing has not a thing to do with bolt not being tight. at 3"s the passenger side will bind before the drivers will." flex it out and see for yourself ". a lot of people with smaller lifts dont wheel there rigs hard. the ones that do are the ones who usually experience the wallowing.fact is the stock trac bar was never made to do what your asking it to do at 2" more lift, let alone 3". works for some not for others.just check the bolt often.when metal parts bind,something is going to give!
 
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