• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Why do they call it death wobble?

Nick

NAXJA Member #690
Location
Sudbury, MA
First for thought; why do they call it death wobble when it feels more like godzilla has picked up your truck and shaken it like a snow globe?

I have death wobble, we retightened everything today and I still have it. It occurs at 55 and above when I hit a good size bump and continues until I slow down to 30mph, any thoughts?

Here is my set up: OME Springs, shocks and stabilizer, RE fixed lower control arms & SYE, RRO shackles, adj. track bar, front and rear BPE's,ORGS adj. coil spacers, factory alloy five star rims with 30/9.5/15 Mickey Thompson Baja Belted. Thank you for any help.

Nick
 
RE drop brackets cured my death wobble ut I`m at 8"s
 
wheel bearings and ball joints are supposidly ok. wouldn't they have properly adjusted the caster when performing the alignment?
 
Stock uppers at 5.5 spells caster to me, that's where I'd put my money. Was the 96 a HP or LP D30 I don't remember? How much lift? Did you get a printout of the alignment? They might not have been able to dial you in.

P
 
I had a case of death wobble once that was caused by the upper bushings of my front shocks being trashed which resulted in the shocks being loose.
 
96 is a HP D30. Only the 00 and 01 XJ had the LP.
 
Don't Trust the alignment shop! Check your toe and caster! That was my problem... I took mine to 3 places and all 3 said it was ok, then I went home and check my toe it was way off. Front was in by more then an inch and a half.

shannon
 
Check everything again to make sure it's tight. I once left my steering stabilizer loose at the axle mount (on accident) and got the DW.

I agree that you should get a printout of the alignment results and talk with the technician.

For a '91 with HP D30, toe should be set at 0 degrees, caster anywhere from 5-6 degrees positive (you'll hear varying opinions). I would assume the specs are the same for other years.

I run a 91 with 4.5" lift & 2" spacers, stock upper control arms, and stock length lower control arms. The only time I've experienced the DW was with an aftermarket tierod/ draglink conversion.

How many miles are on your Jeep, and have you checked your rod ends on your tie rod and drag link for wear?

Just some thoughts. You'll probably hear of several things that contribute to DW. Good Luck.
 
Last edited:
Grasseater: Would you happen to know what the toe and caster setting should be for a 2000 XJ with the LP D30? The alignment shop failed to fix my DW after I took it in yesterday and I'd like to check it. Thanks.
 
do you have adjustable CAs? If so, adjust the caster to the low end of stock, or just align the yoke of the front diff with the front drive shaft. at your lift height (3.5 to 4") this will probably give you around 4.5 degrees of positive caster.
 
Nick, gotta say it sounds like Castor....I'm at the same lift with huge castor issues...The Clayton Kit goes on soon.

Upper Adjustables or drop brackets would help cure the problem.
 
jstgerma said:
Grasseater: Would you happen to know what the toe and caster setting should be for a 2000 XJ with the LP D30? The alignment shop failed to fix my DW after I took it in yesterday and I'd like to check it. Thanks.

I'm sorry I don't know, but you could contact a dealer service center or consult a factory service manual for the specs.

I would assume the toe should be the same, at 0 degrees (both wheels pointing straight forward).
 
I'll get them in a few minutes...but there is no easy way for them to set castor with shims during an alignment without removing the arms....

The easiest way is to get adjustable arms...
 
nick,

Some additional thoughts. Your RE fixed lowers I think are longer than stock. This will increase your caster. Too much positive Caster angle near the high end of stock settings or above does not work well with the the angled control arms of a lifted Cherokee.

Take a look at the angle of your front diff yoke and the front drive shaft. if the yoke looks like it is pointed down in relation to the front drive shaft, I would bet you have too much positive caster. get some adjustable uppers and get that yoke aligned with the DS and this will not only help the DW. it will be much kinder on the DS.
 
So the plan is to wait for my new tires to arrive, hopefully by the end of the week, as the MT's are pretty scalloped and get the alignment printout to determine caster angles. From there perhaps resetting the caster with shims if it is not too positive already like Duane suggested, I'll have to check that when the sun rises. If that doesn't work, well there goes more money on drop brackets or adj. uppers. I'll post how it all turns out, until then you'll see me driving under 55 and avoiding bumps.
 
Back
Top