Death wobble on my friends 90 XJ

So my friend that gave me her old 90 XJ just bought another 90 XJ with a 4.5 in lift and running 33's. Almost the same set up I have. Well she was telling me yesterday that once she hits 35 or so she has a death wobble. It wont go away unless she goes under 35. The guy had 4wheel parts do the lift and everything and everything but the ball joints were replaced at that time. The ball joints are about 3 years old. I guess the lift is 2 years old but not 100%. The tires are also new and everything. She is kinda scared to drive it because these roads are pretty bad at times so thats were I come into play haha. So because its not the same problem I have with mine figured you guys would know.

Check the track bar mounts/bushings, the LCA ends, alignment, tire balance, tie rod ends for wear..

All that has been done and is new. The guy had the tie rod ends replaced 4 months ago and all the bushings are new and alignment is good. Tires are new and been balance

Check for steering slop. Have her turn the wheels side to side and check for slop.

Are you sure she actually has death wobble and not just a bad vibration issue?
Once she hits 35 or so ... Hmmm ... Was there anything done to realign the driveshafts?

is the trackbar and steering a stock setup with the trackbar and draglink pretty much parallel?
trackbar mount is tight and bushings and tres on the trackbar are tight?
tires are balanced?
no slop in the ball joints or unit bearings?

how is the alignment? caster and toe ?
control arm bushings?

you need to put a breaker bar on all the trackbar bolts and crank on em.

Ok well I haven't drove it so I am just going off what she has said. But 4 wheel parts did all the work to the jeep. But to me it doesn't sound like my problem. I have slop in my steering because of a bad steering box. So far I have only seen a few pictures of the jeep and we are suppose to meet up some time this weekend so I can look it over. And like I had said before in another thread I started, I been told never to let 4 wheel parts touch a car so it might be something stupid that they said they did and they never did it.

well if 4wp did all the work take it back there and tell them to fix it.

my last 2 DW experiences in my rig in the past on my rig was either a loose trackbar mount or a toast TB joint, the one before that was 7 years ago with some terribly cupped and unevenly worn 33" swampers that were way outta balance => new tires solved the issue that time.

on a side note, a chick with a lifted XJ is a pretty cool chick

Well because it was a few years ago they wont fix it unless she pays to have it fixed. She already tried that card. But Ill have to check it out and see what I can come up with.

Ya she is beyond cool LOL. She is perfect in every way

There is definitely something going on in the suspension. Could be something loose like everyone else said. Trac-bar and control arm bushings are the first thing I always recommend. Next would be steering geometry like Blondejoncherokee said. Make sure trackbar and draglink are parallel.
You said 4.5" lift? Make sure it doesnt have drop brackets on tracbar mount and dropped pitman arm. My experience, at that lift height is that can lead to bad driveability. Anything over 5" is ok to run that type of drop.. i.e 5.5 extreme-duty R/E lift. Also check the heim joint on the tracbar.

Check unitbearings and tire balance too. Check steering box at frame mount and make sure there is no slop. Or that the bolts arent pulling out of the unibody.

In regards to 4wheelparts, I am assuming you are reffering to the Fresno store? Have her call them up and see if they can perform a courtesy inspection, if they arent running and kind of free promo inspection they usually only charge $59 for a 4x4 inspection (sometimes there are coupons for free ones) Since its over 2 years and if she is not the original owner, you cant expect a shop to offer any kind of warranty. Lift kit components can wear out and lead to shaking/shimmys. What lift kit is it? You said 4.5", so is it a R/E? They now offer a lifetime warranty on their products, even if she isnt the original owner. If she locates that its a bad part from their lift kit, it might be under warranty.

Just some friendly advice.

Gnarlyrider27 said:

Ya she is beyond cool LOL. She is perfect in every way

Click to expand...

we need a pic to verify this..........

Well she wont go to 4 wheels parts at all and ya the Fresno store. But when she is able to bring it over I am going to check everything out that all you guys told me to check, and hopefully get all the info about the jeep too. So once I get it here and figure it out I will be sure to post what it was and again thanks for all the advice.

4.5" of lift--is it on short-arms or a long-arm kit?

Check EVERYTHING--track bar, TRE, ball joints, unit bearings, control arm bushings, steering box mounting/frame cracks.

Is there a steering stabilizer mounted, and is it in good condition?

As stated before, check the geometry of the track bar and drag link. Check that the mounting holes for in the pitman arm and the track bar to frame bracket are not "egged" out.

If the lift is on short-arms, then seriously consider a control arm drop bracket kit.

I believe its a short arm but most on the stuff is almost brand new under it but she said it got worst and doesn't want to drive it anymore so now I have to find time to run to her house and look at it.

Didn't read the thread all the way thru.Also check the shocks. Yea i know it sounds funny, but mine did this when it broke one off. If they are bad this can cause it too

Ya I am going to check everything over real good.