I need some input...death wobble?

Jeep has stock ball joints...its an 87'...4.5 rc short arm..on 35's..ball joints dont seem to have play when raise front and try and pull/push tires...all other like track bar are good control arms good...jeep kinda feels like passengerside kinda wants to hop, when gradually turning left above 40 mph...kinda weird because it started with no warning! tie rod off of pitman arm is a lil warn..could that do it?.....ill probably do ball joints soon..is the 180$ alloy brand worth the money...jeep is a daily driver...thanks ,ken

Yes, the tie rod end at the pitman arm can definitely cause death wobble and alignment guys have told me its often the first to fail. The Jeeps are very sensitive to any looseness in the steering. On mine I still had problems after changing the pitman arm tie rod and and found that tie rod end of the track bar was a little loose. It passed multiple inspections so then I took it loose at the frame and and moved it up and down rapidly and could feel that joint had some slop in it.

tighten every thing . do not "eye ball" it or wiggle it, get a big ol breaker bar, and crank on every bolt, specifically all tre castle nuts, pitman nut to box , all trackbar mount bolts, both trackbar bolts, all 8 control bolts.

99% sure its your trackbar, but any shot TREs will exaggerate it, or outright cause DW.

have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you inspect the TRES, and all 8 control arm bushings. Check torque on steering box bolts.

bad ball joints could cause it too.

get the tires balanced too.

check the unit bearings.

Theres a million culprits... do a search here and you will see... (Not trying to be a dick, but people wont go thru that list over and over, they'll tell you its your trackbar, and it usually is).

Many sets of eyes are your biggest ally... have any fellow jeep guys you know dry steer it for you, then dry steer it for them, untill someone sees the movement.

Alloy USA WAS a good company, but was sold to omix-ada... a chinese importer of garbage. Wouldnt recommend them.

Have you had an alignment recently?? After I put my 4.5" lift on my jeep I had DW with 31s and I thought that was bad. Once I trimmed and put 33s on, it was terrible. Finally just spent the 50 bucks and got an alignment after adding over sized tires and lift. Solved ALL Death Wobble problems. I can Cruise down the highway at 75 now with no shimmys at all.

Oh and have your tires balanced that's why you might feel a hop

Thanks for the replies...i think its warn ball joints...i will replace tre too...i orderd some crown bal joints from 4 wheel parts...does anyone know where i can get a Preload spacer for the knuckles? Its an 87 and i heard its got a preload spacer in the bottom part of knucke were ball joint goes through....or has anyone used existing preload spacer ?
I appreaciate the help guys!

I had a death wobble issue with my 98, 4.5 rc lift. Had it aligned shortly after the lift and it was fine until a couple of long days on trails. I was lucky enough to put on a new steering stabilizer and simply rotate the tires. It could be a lot of different things but until something is proven always try the easiest and cheapest!! good luck...