advice for the DD

I have an 88 4dr chief, 5spd,4.0

i have had a death wobble building for the last three or four months and have been putting it off due to finances but it is beginning to become troublesome. approx 48-57mph brings on the wobble. I have looked underneath and although I cant pinpoint it this is what I see is wrong..
alll bushings look to be very worn and dry (except those that are soaked in motor oil from blow by; left side). Also when I was working on the brakes last week I noticed that the trackbar bolts that are on the fenderwell side are hand tight and I cant tighten any more bc the nutserts are spinning free.

I would like to upgrade the front end while doing this work but I dont want to have to buy/take things apart twice.

What I would like the jeep to ride on...
-JKS Acos with stock springs (Front sits now at 18 1/4" center to flair)

-quadrateck Hd springs (Rear is sitting at 17" and a couple of mm)
add a JKS 1" shackle to the rear

-JKS quicker disco pn 2002 -or should it be 2000?

What should I get..
I know I would need to get new bushings for the sway bar...
should I get a befier Tie rod and link? which? tnt... rubicon... jks?
is there an adjustable trackbar for my idea?
control arms... fixed, adjustable...

this all seems daunting to me so any advise is worth it
sorry that the descript is so long

Kyle

JKS recomends the 2002 for stock or 1'' lifts:
Front OE or Up-Country Pair PN 2002

and the 2000 for 2-3.5'':
Front 2.0 - 3.5" Lift Pair PN 2000

Pending how much lift you are going to have should tell you what ones you need.

the problem is that I dont know how much I want to go up... bigger is better right? the main question is though. how should I go about replacing the front end componets while ridding stock... but be able to go up an inch or two and not have to double buy components...

To be honest... when I drive on the road I drive the xj like its my old crx... and when I drive it offroad i drive it like my grandma is in the passenger seat..

to solve deathwobble:

buy all new steering and trackbar
buy all new bushings to locate the axle
rebuild or buy a new steering box
get an alignment
get tires balanced

deathwobble = gone... and now you have a bunch of spare parts that could get you off the trail if you need it too.

I chased deathwobble a part at a time till I had done all of the above...

I was wating to replace bushings ect until I decided if I should go with an aftermarket set up or just retain the OEM parts...

My trouble wis was that my Track Bar relocation mount was causing my trackbar to exert pressure on an unintended zone of the bracket, thus warping and allowing play for the trackbar. I could assume that you don't need/have a TB relocation mount, but definately look into Currie's Tierod system. You can run that thing forever- beefy and gives you peace of mind. Slop is going to cause deathwobble... as we all know.. my .02!

I saw the currie but at this point it is cost prohibitive... I can make my own tie rod yes? I have seen some write ups on this... my only question is how does one mount the second bar coming down from the pitman if you build your own wheel to wheel bar (sorry for the untech) also what type of control arms should I go with if I think that 3" will be as high as I will go? stock? or aftermarket and is there an adjustable HD trackbar that will match my current 0-2" lift

You could try a new steering stabilizer shock first, thats all it took to get rid of the DW on my friends stock XJ. He took it to a pep boys that put a new track bar and TREs on and still had it. I saw his stabilizer was soaked in its own oil, and replaced it, good as new. Ive seen people say that it just masks the real issue, but it seemed to completely solve it in his case, 1 yr later no death wobble.

I think that I will require more than a new stabilizer... although that will be in the mix I lean more towards a full rebuild of the front end and am looking for recomendations on uca and lca trackbars ect

The track bar bracket being loose is a BIG problem! Put that first (translated NOW) or park the Jeep. There's nothing like catastrophic failure to kill a project...and it's owner.

From what I've read here, stock components are fine with just a couple inches lift. For my budget, that's great news right there. Since you actually drive this on the street, I think you'll like the ride better anyway. I think all 8 control arm bushings cost me around $30. That makes them a cheap and easy improvement.

I hear you hypoid; I was really freaked out when i saw that but I need to get to work so unfortunatly I have to drive for now... any idea what I need to do to fix said problem... how do i get at the nuts inside the frame?

Hmmm...I just looked at my '90 in the daylight...no nutserts.

The nuts for the bolts in the fenderwell are below the air box, just above the motor mount bracket. You have to open the hood to reach them??? I have loooong arms, that's what I would do. Maybe loosen the bracket enough to inspect for cracks in the mounting areas as well.

Good luck, Mike