Steering/wobbling issue on every XJ I've owned

I need help. Really hoping someone can tell me what's going on with my Jeeps. Long post, sorry, but it's a long story.

I am on my 5th XJ now. I've had an 88, 89, two 90s, and a 93, all 4WD 4.0, none of them lifted. Four of them have developed the same problem (the other one I only owned for a short time and didn't drive it much). It must be something I am doing to them, but I don't know what.

Here's what happens:

After a week or two of owning the Jeep, it starts to shake a little at 55 mph or so. The shaking gets worse when making turns, especially to the left.

Then it starts to wobble at slow speeds, like when coming to a stop and starting from a stop. A fairly big wobble, too, as it gets worse. Other drivers notice it.

On turns, again especially left turns, it does not make a smooth arc, but there are "bumps" in the arc. The tighter the turn, the more "bumpy" and wobbly. On really tight turns, it stops wobbling and starts skipping like it's in 4WD, but it's not.

The passenger side front tire starts to wear on the outside, really quickly. As it wears, it aggravates the problem. That is, if I replace the tire, the symptoms will lessen for a while, but get worse again. The driver's side tire starts to wear on the inside after a while, too, if I let it go long enough, but not nearly as fast as the passenger side.

All of this gets progressively worse.

It feels like the driver's side front wheel is tracking straight, but the passenger side is either toed in way too far or it doesn't stay straight for some reason. That's how it feels driving it and how it looks on the tires. Driving in the snow, it felt like I was sliding slightly to the right while going straight.

This has happened the same way on all of the XJs, through many different sets of tires, no matter what the mileage was on the Jeep when I bought it. On the one I owned the longest, I tried for years to fix this.

First, I thought U-joints. I replaced them and got an alignment. It seemed better for a couple of days then it came back.

I then replaced tie rod ends, track bar, sway bar links, steering damper, and another alignment. It was okay for about ten minutes until I hit 65 on the freeway and then it all started again.

So I replaced the entire axle assembly with one from a donor Jeep, thinking it had to change it somehow, since it now had a different u-joints, hubs, ball joints etc. It was good for a day then started again. At this point I gave up for a while.

Then I replaced the lower control arms. That made it worse. Everything still happened, but harder. New shocks made it drivable again, but still the same issues.

Took it to a highly recommended Jeep guy. He builds Jeeps and knows them well. He replaced the upper control arm bushings on the "frame" ends. He said he didn't see anything else wrong with it. I took it for a drive and it felt great. For about 15 minutes until I took it on the freeway. Hit 65 and it starts shaking again. It all came back, and worse than before.

I sold that Jeep with it still doing it. Now my new one is doing it as well, the exact same symptoms.

So what is going wrong and what am I doing that causes it? Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.

1990 XJ Wagoneer - 4.0 - AW4 - 242 - 144,000 miles.

seems odd to have the exact same problem with 5 jeeps. Did you ever have a dealer service manager drive it under the same conditions to have them see if they could feel the same issue? For wearing the inside of the tires only, that would most likely be the camber being incorrect. During the alignments, were they also checking camber too, or just toe in / out?

What are the chances of 5 XJ's in a row..? Twisted uni-bodies on all 5?

I don't know.., but I found this site that might help you. Maybe!

http://www.4wdmechanix.com/'Do-It-Yourself'-Wheel-Alignment-&-Equipment.html

I 'booked marked' address in case of future unwanted DW issues should they creep into my XJ, and require further study to help pin-point problem. Did not go further into it, in which to 'discover' the cost of equipment offered.

Good luck, and please inform us what you discover in solving your DW problem.

Yes, it does seem odd, doesn't it? It's more than that to me. It's super frustrating. I understand the skepticism. It would seem like I'm imagining it to someone who doesn't drive them.

But it's either I'm imaging it and imagining the at least 4 sets of tires all worn the same way and the visible and audible shaking, and imagining other drivers around me reacting to the wobbling at stop lights. Which would mean I'm truly insane.

Or, this is something that all XJs do, and this is normal operation, which I seriously doubt.

Or, and by far most likely, I have some bad driving habit that destroys u-joints or something.

No, I haven't taken it to a dealer. I can't afford that. It's been four Jeeps and the tires wear on the outside of the passenger side and the inside of the driver's side. I was told the camber was within spec on the one Jeep I had taken for alignment.

It's likely that one of the repairs I've made has fixed it temporarily but whatever I'm doing has broken it again.

Here is another site, worthy of my lists of bookmarks.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/diagnosing-death-wobble-fixing-non-dw-shimmies-wobbles-1052221/

When I had DW, scary stuff 'eh.., Kevinsoffroad.com sold me stuff to correct it. Fantastic, no DW now, even after 40k plus miles. One thing is that he had a program to trade out the track bar mount, i.e., buy his, send in my old one for a rebate of sorts, or some discount on future parts.., can't remember now.

I read through everything, missed the part about replacing ball joints.

Past that, you have a knack for buying worn out jeeps.

Thanks for those links. It's not gone on to be real death wobble except on the one Jeep with 217,009 miles on it. The problem quickly got the better of the old, worn components and became seriously scary.

I did replace the ball joints in effect when I swapped in the whole donor axle assembly. I pulled and replaced the whole housing and steering knuckles and all. It did feel better for a while but went back to the same thing, probably because I trashed the ball joints or u-joints or whatever in the new axle.

So will bad ball joints cause all that? I had thought that at one time, but after that axle swap, I forgot that idea. Only two Jeeps later, am I realizing that it is something I'm causing, so it could be them.

Still remains the question of how I trash ball joints so quickly.

Yes, I do buy cheap Jeeps. It's all I can afford. I usually buy ones for cheap with problems that I know how to fix. Unfortunately this thing has got me.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. I'll post back if I get it figured out.

Since my front end restoration for DW, some 40k plus miles ago, my ball joints recently began to get out of spec., i.e., 1/16" on driver's side, and a 32nd on pass. Did not experience any DW of any kind with that condition. Since replaced with Spicer.

Am currently looking for another '89, or '90 for parts, but our dear leader had lured people to have 'em crushed, i.e., Cash for Clunkers program. :flamemad:

jack up the front and put hands at 12 and 6, and try to pivot the tire back and forth, and then do the same at 3 & 9. That will tell you quickly the basic condition of the ball joints and the tie rods. Then, the next thing would be to get a thrust 4-wheel alignment and have them check camber (and watch them while they do it to make sure they actually check it). Aside from that, driving style and tire air pressure has a LOT to do with it. So if you're rough on the rig, it'll wear much faster and show up especially on the tires. I'd drive it like a grandpa for the next few thousand miles after doing the above and see how the tires do. If nothing else, you've saved money in repairs and gas

John Parrot said:

Still remains the question of how I trash ball joints so quickly.

Yes, I do buy cheap Jeeps. It's all I can afford. I usually buy ones for cheap with problems that I know how to fix. Unfortunately this thing has got me.

Click to expand...

I understand the budget thing all too well.

The first time I replaced the ball joints, I bought them at Autozone. When that light clunk came back, I replaced everything else, twice. When I finally got it to alignment (nearly a year later), the tech was able to show me the play in the passenger-lower ball joint. The thing was tight for all of a month, then I took the Jeep off-road.

The moral of the story is that cheap parts are just that, cheap. It was a hard lump, but I started buying the more expensive NAPA parts. I didn't save any money, changing out budget parts on a regular basis.

I have noticed the passenger side Tie Rod Ends and Ball Joints seem to wear out quicker.

in many cases you do get what you pay for, and saving a few bones at a local autozone or advance may end up costing you more in the long run

I have only owned 1 XJ and I have had the 'wobble' of which you speak. I have always figured it was the aesthetic only steering stabilizer. Everything except the dead steering stabilizer (really ... even the axle) has been replaced as part of routine maintenance and it still does it. If I hit a bump at highway speeds, the steering wheel will wobble 4 or 5 times.

I just bought a 97 and found it had the start of DW. Looked at everything and then removed the shocks. Found one shock was bad. I have spares here so i just installed a better set and now she is smooth as silk.
I didn't see any place that you tried this.

Remember i said it had ONE bad shock. So you'll have to remove them to test them.Bad shock will just slide up and down in your hands.

HTH a little

Hypoid said:

I understand the budget thing all too well.

The first time I replaced the ball joints, I bought them at Autozone. When that light clunk came back, I replaced everything else, twice. When I finally got it to alignment (nearly a year later), the tech was able to show me the play in the passenger-lower ball joint. The thing was tight for all of a month, then I took the Jeep off-road.

The moral of the story is that cheap parts are just that, cheap. It was a hard lump, but I started buying the more expensive NAPA parts. I didn't save any money, changing out budget parts on a regular basis.

I have noticed the passenger side Tie Rod Ends and Ball Joints seem to wear out quicker.

Click to expand...

Buy AutoZone's better quality parts they are Moog I use them all the time no problems, the cheap line I avoid the others are fine. Nice part are warranty and instant replacement on parts plus cost is inline with web prices.

That many XJ's with the same problem....I don't what to say of answer.

My vote is sector shaft.

Or rather worn out components causing wear to the sector shaft bushing.

on the bigger jeeps (SJ's), first place to check for DW solution was a steering stabilizer:

http://www.completecherokee.com/prod-1038.htm

An update on this. I pulled the axle shafts last week and had a look. U-joints were fine, no binding or sloppiness. I did all the visual inspections and tried to wiggle everything I could. I saw nothing wrong (doesn't mean there isn't of course) with the ball joints, tie rod ends etc. Everything felt tight.

The hub on the driver's side was bad though, turning roughly and grinding a bit with grease leaking all over the place. I replaced both hubs.

The problem still exists, though the Jeep does feel better on turns now. However, the tires are crap, and I'm saving to get some better ones. (Tire money went to hubs, sigh.) I believe the tires may be the issue now, possibly worn as a secondary result of the bad hub or whatever.

As to why this happens to every XJ, I'm thinking it's appallingly bad luck. XJs either hate me, or they love me, thinking that I'm finally the one to fix all the stuff they've been needing so they let go.

I don't know why I keep buying them. I swear every time I'm not going to own another one. But I can think of no other vehicle that suits my needs and budget so well. Except for maybe a Trooper or Montero, but I'm afraid I'd run into the same kinds of problems (and exciting new ones) and I'm not familiar with those trucks like I am with XJs. Stupid Jeeps.

rockclimber said:

My vote is sector shaft.

Or rather worn out components causing wear to the sector shaft bushing.

Click to expand...

This is something I haven't considered. I'll have a look when I can.

if the tires are junk, that would be the first thing I'd replace before tackling the other stuff.

Okay, let me simplify this.

I put on some new tires. In less than 100 miles of driving, the passenger side front tire is wearing significantly. The corners of all the outside tread blocks are already scrubbed off. On the inside of the tire, every other tread block is wearing down.

I believe the tires wearing in this way causes all the other symptoms, especially the low-speed ones.

So one question: What causes that tire to wear like that?