steering stabilizer?

i added 3" lift and some 31s'. now i notice a wobble when ever i hit bumps like manhole covers. i was wondering if steering stabilizer would help?

it helped me a lot..

i have a 2001 also, witch brand did you use?
thanks
norm

ive got a rustys on my 2001

i used a rustys also

next time you go under your xj ... wear shoes...

go for rancho... theyve got a lifetime warranty as long as there is no external damage. worked great for me!

another vote for the rancho, i've used mine for around 2 yrs now with no problems

Purple said:

next time you go under your xj ... wear shoes...

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it was 65* out at 11pm... i couldnt help but walk out bearfoot!

thanks for your input..i'll have to order one and see if it helps.
is it an easy install? anything special needed?
thanks
NORM

did you take the stock steering stabalizer off? it should be plenty.

did you get your alignment done after the lift? i'm guessing your toe is too far in.

if your stock one is bad, just go to your local auto parts store and get a new one, plenty cheap and will work just fine. If you had an alignment done already and it still does it, perhaps you have a little bump steer. But at 3 inches, I wouldn't think bump steer would be an issue.

A steering stabilizer dampens the vibration causing the wobbles but is not a cure. Wobbles come from out of spec alignments, worn ball joints (including tie rod & drag link ball joints) wallowed out mount holes, and tired bushings just to name a few. If you don't address the problem now, it'll grow worse until we finally see you posting "My XJ has a violent wobble when I hit 55 and wouldn't go away until I slowed WAAAaaay down" and it'll be a very scary experience because the steering wheel will be jumping around in your hands as if posessed and you won't be able to control your Cherokee. Then the rest of us will stroke our hoary chins as if wise and reply "Ahh, you have the Death Wobbles, Grasshopper."

You'll ask "What can I do?" to which you'll get a laundry list of things to check which will include the things mentioned above and the whole thing will drive you crazy because it won't go away until you replace all the worn parts, have the front end aligned & make sure every nut & bolt is tightened (including the one for the track bar tower). So for now, skip the "Yes, the steering stabilizer will help the wobbles" (which is just a form of denial) stage and go right to the "Holy cow! I've got Death wobbles-" stage and start trouble shooting. This way you can do it without the panicky "-and I nearly died!" part.

The very last thing you want to spend money & time on is the steering stabilizer. It may make your wobbles go away but not what's causing it. It'd be a bit like taking an aspirin to make the pain from a spike driven into your skull go away.

Do a search on Death Wobbles and see what we've been through. For myself, I've long since chucked the steering stabilizer and I'm running 5 - 6 inches of lift w/ 35 inch BFG MTs. I've fought Death Wobbles at every worn ball joint, loose track bar tower bolt and out of spec steering angle. I stress again, the only cure is to make sure everything is tight, adjusted correctly and not worn or bent. The ONLY part of the steering that will NOT cure or cause the wobbles is the steering stabilizer. If that isn't apparrent now, it will be soon

And yes, I know the joys of a wobble free Cherokee

you dont need a steering stabalizer

well thanks for your suggestions, i thought all that death wobble stuff was
from everybody's drive shaft (per, dozens of posts) i'll get under there with some tools and double check everything. i'd rather NOT have that kind of
experiance.
thanks
NORM

Drive shafts can cause vibrations- often very annoying vibrations but as far as I know, doesn't cause what we refer to as Death Wobbles. Death Wobbles describe a conditon where your front tires wobble so violently that the steering wheel slams around, sometimes to the point you have no directional control of the vehicle at all. The first first time the Death Wobbles nail you is usually at highway speeds and, without exageration, they are truly frightening and potentially life threatening.

Stock vehicles are much more forgiving, but the more lift and larger the tire, the more sensitive the front end becomes sensitive to even the slightest play. It can be overcome, but it's something we have to watch for. Good luck!

This is one of the issues some (most?) face to some degree when they lift their Jeep.

His case doesn't sound like DW - yet - DW is truly one of those things you "know" is bad when it happens... kinda like a parachute or SCUBA malfunction.

Anyway inspect everything for wear & looseness... If everything is tight and not obviously worn out, try the alignment. It would be a waste of money to align it without checking things first.

New (bigger/heavier) tires/wheels? Balanced??? Wheel hubs & ball joints un-sloppy?
New track bar? Axle centered and bolts tight? Frame bracket bolts tight?
Old track bar? Tight bolts & servicible bushing/rod-end? How far off-center is the axle?
Steering box bolts tight? All four tie-rod ends on the steering drag link/tie-rod ok?
Control arm bushings & brackets OK? Bolts tight?
Shocks working?

The alignment tech should check & adjust caster (moving the LCAs forward/rearward - with shims on an older XJ, or with a cam bolt on the newer.) and toe (moving the wheels in or out of paralell.) Camber (how much the wheels slope inward from bottom to top) is factory set, but there are offset ball-joints available that help correct this if need be.

If one is sticking with a stock steering, I'd never advise "not" to run a steering shock, but if installing a fresh one 'fixes' the condition, it has probably only masked the real cause.

My axle is way off center. What causes that and how is it fixed?





94 xj, 2wd, auto, 4door, 31s, 3in coil in front, stock rear

clayman said:

My axle is way off center. What causes that and how is it fixed?





94 xj, 2wd, auto, 4door, 31s, 3in coil in front, stock rear

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Adjustable trac-bar.