br1anstorm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- United Kingdom
I know there are lots of threads, and a checklist for troubleshooting death wobble - but I've done just about everything and still it happens, so I'm seeking advice.
My Jeep is a 1993 4.0 XJ, now on 130k miles, completely stock, no lift, and I've owned it from new. Rarely used for wheeling or serious off-roading, never hit anything. Both front shocks were replaced at about 60k miles and front discs (rotors) and pads at about 110k miles 2 years ago. Tyres only a few years and 5k miles old.
Over the last 3-4 months the front end felt increasingly loose and floaty, and hitting any unevenness on the road at over about 45mph caused the front-end to shake like a jelly. Not so much the rhythmic DW as an unstable shaking (a colleague said it felt like the lug-nuts on a front wheel had come loose!). The front also felt very loose in general driving, cornering etc.
Given the age and miles I decided to give the front end a serious overhaul. Turned out the driver's side shocker was very tired and feeble anyway - which I guess explained much of the looseness. So.... I replaced ALL the front steering and suspension bushes with a complete poly kit, fitted new tie-rod links/ends, and replaced the shocks with a pair of new Rancho shocks. One U/J had been replaced 6 months ago, so I replaced the other one too. Couldn't see any slackness in the steering box mounts or other chassis mountings.
About the only thing I didn't change was the steering damper (I have never had any of that predictable steering-wheel shake at certain speeds which is typical of out-of-balance wheels/tyres).
Then I had the alignment adjusted and checked after all these replacements.
First impressions - the Jeep was transformed. Solid and steady as a rock again, all felt normal in regular driving. It still does, 98% of the time. BUT - in the last couple of weeks, a problem has (re)appeared. If a front wheel hits a significant irregularity like a manhole cover or pothole at anything above 45mph, it sets off a serious wobble. Not every time: seems to depend on how big the hole or the bump is, and what speed I'm doing. It's a different kind of wobble to what happened before. Not a floaty unstable jelly-like shake, but a serious almost hammering vibration that is much more severe than the loose wobble that occurred before I replaced all those parts.
I'm baffled. Having checked and replaced most of the items on the to-do list, I can't understand why this particular problem is occurring. What have I overlooked, or what else can I do? Anyone got any ideas?
My Jeep is a 1993 4.0 XJ, now on 130k miles, completely stock, no lift, and I've owned it from new. Rarely used for wheeling or serious off-roading, never hit anything. Both front shocks were replaced at about 60k miles and front discs (rotors) and pads at about 110k miles 2 years ago. Tyres only a few years and 5k miles old.
Over the last 3-4 months the front end felt increasingly loose and floaty, and hitting any unevenness on the road at over about 45mph caused the front-end to shake like a jelly. Not so much the rhythmic DW as an unstable shaking (a colleague said it felt like the lug-nuts on a front wheel had come loose!). The front also felt very loose in general driving, cornering etc.
Given the age and miles I decided to give the front end a serious overhaul. Turned out the driver's side shocker was very tired and feeble anyway - which I guess explained much of the looseness. So.... I replaced ALL the front steering and suspension bushes with a complete poly kit, fitted new tie-rod links/ends, and replaced the shocks with a pair of new Rancho shocks. One U/J had been replaced 6 months ago, so I replaced the other one too. Couldn't see any slackness in the steering box mounts or other chassis mountings.
About the only thing I didn't change was the steering damper (I have never had any of that predictable steering-wheel shake at certain speeds which is typical of out-of-balance wheels/tyres).
Then I had the alignment adjusted and checked after all these replacements.
First impressions - the Jeep was transformed. Solid and steady as a rock again, all felt normal in regular driving. It still does, 98% of the time. BUT - in the last couple of weeks, a problem has (re)appeared. If a front wheel hits a significant irregularity like a manhole cover or pothole at anything above 45mph, it sets off a serious wobble. Not every time: seems to depend on how big the hole or the bump is, and what speed I'm doing. It's a different kind of wobble to what happened before. Not a floaty unstable jelly-like shake, but a serious almost hammering vibration that is much more severe than the loose wobble that occurred before I replaced all those parts.
I'm baffled. Having checked and replaced most of the items on the to-do list, I can't understand why this particular problem is occurring. What have I overlooked, or what else can I do? Anyone got any ideas?