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Shimmy at 55 MPH

bhorn

NAXJA Forum User
Just as the title says. It's NOT death wobble. Just a small shimmy gradually building from about 52 MPH to 55, and then going away at about 57 MPH. It feels like it's coming from the left front, but could be anywhere though. It just started about two months ago, and at any other speed it drives as good as an XJ can.

Rotated tires, didn't help.
Removed front DS, didn't help.
Replaced dead shocks, didn't help.
New Track Bar, helped a bunch.
Eveything is tight up front.

Replaced all Ball Joints, control arms, right inner tie-rod end, and axle end U-Joints within the last year and a half, less than 20k ago. Also aligned it then. Replaced the Steering stabiliser about two years ago.

92 XJ 1.75" spacers up front, 2.5" Full AAL out back.

any Ideas? It's driving me nuts!:helpme:
 
Forgot to add, I replaced the steering box with a low mileage used one at the same time as the track bar.
 
Haven't had any reefer in about 20 years ( before that I did have more than my fair share though :D)

I think I have two tie rod ends, and two hubs left to go, and it will be all new.

I had the hubs off when I replaced the knuckles, and they felt smooth, and tight then. I know the hub to knuckle bolts are tight, I double checked them.

This all started about a month after I replaced the knuckles. Gradually, untill I started replacing crap.

Actually, if I did fire up a fatty, I probably wouldn't even notice it:greensmok
 
jtl909 THATS not death wobble, youd know if you did, its a small vibration that turns into a wiggle and gets exponentially worse...

go to the search button, type in death wobble*
see what comes up

check to see if the knuckles are tightened to spec. not just to "damn, that seems pretty tight" im sure since you did all that work you must have a torque wrench, find the correct tensity and see if you are on spec. it may not be noticible at low speeds, but at high speeds small variations can grow to large problems...
 
jtl909 Hit the search button, type in Death Wobble, get a drink, a sandwich, and some no-doze. I think you could spend hours reading through all the info on death wobble.
 
bhorn said:
Just as the title says. It's NOT death wobble. Just a small shimmy gradually building from about 52 MPH to 55, and then going away at about 57 MPH. It feels like it's coming from the left front, but could be anywhere though. It just started about two months ago, and at any other speed it drives as good as an XJ can.

Wow. That is the exact problem im having on my 98 sport 4.0 auto. I mean down to the "T"!! mine is right at 52-55 then clears up around 60. I thought i had a bad tire or something since i've only owned it for 2 days
 
had a similiar problem with my 88 dont remember speeds it wobbled at but i replaced the front drive shaft u joints and the thing between the u joints on the cv cant remember the name its like a ball joint between the u joints hopefully some one else does but cleared the shimmy up wish i could remember what it is called but its like $20 at napa
 
If you search here or jeepsunlimited.com you will find that 55 seems to be a common speed for a little wobble. It isn't death wobble because if it was you would really know it. DW almost makes you lose control of the jeep. I would just go get your tires rebalanced and it should go away, worked for me when my stocker did it. Its a cheap alternative too
 
its gotta be youre hubs if everything else is new or like new.
supposedly thats one of the "weak links" to a cherokee, the hub assemblies.
 
mine does the exact same thing...noticed it first after taking some bumps a bit too fast on the trail one day. i think i may have either lost a wheel weight or dented the rim a bit
 
My '01 does the same thing from about 48 - 53 mph. I've done everything but change the rotors. Doing that tomorrow.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Krelja, Jess and meaded, I switched the tires front to rear, and it didn't change at all, I mean none, so I doubt it's the tires. Or at least the shimmy didn't move with the tires.

RocklandXJer, I'll check the torque on the Balljoints, axleshaft, and tie rod ends, but I do tend to crank the crap out of stuff when reassembling things. But you never know.

Slingblade, I took the front driveshaft out, and it made no difference.

Shomsky, I'm kind of leaning in that direction, but this old P.O.S. isn't worth new hubs.

Fish'nCarz, I had the rotors turned, and didn't help.

All good ideas, but I've already checked most of them. At least I know I've searched in the right direction.
 
I had a similar wobble and thought it was my tires at first. I had them rotated and there was no change in the wobble.

Finally after a couple weeks of hunting this problem down, I had the tires rebalanced.

Wobble went away.
 
Maybe it's a 'feature' like the issues we all have with MS Windows!

"Jeep engineers have developed a speed alert system (SAS) that tells drivers when they have reached 55 mph, as a part of our continuing effort to enhance vehicle safety." Daimler-Chrysler sources announced today.
 
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