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HELP Problem after rough country lift

T

the_luch

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Calgary
Alright so I've run into a bump in the road. I just bought the rough country 3.5 inch lift. I installed it two nights ago and then I tested it. When I was driving down a main street doing about 50mph the front end started to vibrate a little then when I released the gas it started vibrating violently, so I parked it and got an allignment done the next day. After the allignment it was driving great then last night it did the same thing and almost vibrated me off the road. Has anyone had this happen to them befor or have any ideas what it could be. By the way the kit I bought was only add a leaf, springs and shocks.
Thanks in advance Chris
 
All bolts tight, just had an allignment done and all tires are in good shape and balanced as they were put on yesterday with allignment. Could I need lower control arms this is what rough country tech said when I called but I wanted to check first make sure that they arn't just trying to get more money.
Thanks for the quick responses.
 
It's recommended that you use longer control arms, but you should check your caster, if it's within specs you won't need the arms, and if it's not too much out of specs, maybe you could use some shims as explained in the link I posted.

I found this chart searching on this site:

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/..._Arm_Chart.htm

A 3.5" lift is about the limit between needing and not needing control arms, so you should really check caster angles and decide for shims or new control arms based on that.

And, of course, be 100% sure that balancing and alignment was done properly. If you have this problem, it's 99% sure the alignment shop didn't check for caster angles.
 
There are many different areas to look into for front end vibrations especially after a lift install. I will tell you that I experienced a wobble similar to what you are explaining but I experieneced it before I lifted or did any other mods. After having front end checked and replacing worn bushings on the control arms it still occured. My problem came from a bad wheel bearing in the hub assembly. After replacing the worn bearing the problem went away. If you feel like you didn't have the problem before the lift but do after the lift keep in mind that a lift and taller tires puts more stress on components and can exaggerate an existing problem.
 
I've got 3.5" of lift (Rusty's 305sts heavy duty frontcoils) and I still have my stock LCAs and I don't get DW.

How's the trac bar bolt on the axle side?? Make sure it's snug.
 
I'm a newb but is the trac bar the same as sway bar and do you mean the lower bolt on the sway bar link. Thank you everyone for the help.
P.S. I hate death wobble
 
If you don't mind mjma, I will answer this one. The trac bar and the sway bar are not the same. The sway bar is one bar mounted on the frame that has links that connect to both sides of the front axle to control body roll. The trac bar will mount on the passenger side of the front axle only and go up and mount to the frame on the drivers side only and controls the side to side movement of the axle.
 
My buddies 95 xj did the same thing. It only did it when he when around a curve at highway speeds. It would damn near shake you off the road. We put a 1" t case drop temporarily until we do an sye. It remidied the problem. But he plans on doing the sye so it will be right. By the way he is running the 3" rough country lift. It may not be your problem but might be something to check into.
 
the swaybar is not going to be causing death wobble, the trac bar can. I don't even run a swaybar, but that's a matter of preference.

You wanna check like jeremy said the bolt on the front of the axle on the passenger side. It needs to be nice and tight, or else the tracbar will hop around a bit and can cause death wobble. it will eventually wallow out that hole and make it hard to keep in place if you don't tighten it up soon. So check that, 15mm, get a 1/2 breaker bar on there and make sure it doesn't budge!!
 
Did you re-center you axle after the lift? (e.g. did you drill an new lower trac bar mount location and re-center your axle?) If you did not, that is a good place to start.

If you did recenter the front axle after the lift and if it is vibrating more when you let off the gas it is probably the driveline angles. The angles are different under accel. (stress) conditions than when your foot is off the gas (nose of the axle drops, often creating a bad angle which causes vibes). With a 3.5" lift you should be able to fix it with a 1" TC drop kit.

On the other hand, if doing a wheel alignment fixed the problem (even temporarily) and you are sure that your tires are balanced, then I would follow the previously give instructions to check that everying is nice and snug (all bolts that you played with during the lift install).
 
Last edited:
the swaybar is not going to be causing death wobble, the trac bar can. I don't even run a swaybar, but that's a matter of preference.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You don't run a front sway bar? Just curious....hows that handle?
Mine touches the front coils just a tad every now and then since my 3.5" lift install...I thought about the sway bar relocater......
 
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