Opinions on this..

[Vengenz666]

Hey there, long time caller, first time listener here. :anon:

Anyways, I found a guy adding tons to his rig so I bought his D30 and steering setup on the cheap. Did the swap a few weeks ago, everything went smooth. Took it out on the road and had my first meeting with Mr Death Wobble. Brought it home, checked the alignment and its set to about 1/8 toe out. Track bar angle was 20* and drag link was 15* so I moved the drg link on top of the pitman and moved the track bar to another hole. They are both at 14* now under weight. The problem is I still have DW. Any thoughts, ideas? It only starts the DW if I hit a bump in the road over 35ish. Will a steering stabilizer help?

Thanks for the help!

 

[zachandandy]

Steering stabilizer may mask the issue, but there is another cause. I would move the drag link back under the pitman arm and then mount the track bar over the axle to lessen the angle on the steering, flatter is better. What was your steering set up before the swap? Death wobble is a tricky beast, could be anything worn ball joints, out of balance tires, loose bolts, wallowed out mounting holes, worn steering box, or even cracked unibody around the box or track bar mount.

 

[redneck]

Sounds to me like something is loose. Check to be sure that all of those Heims have no play in the bushings. I would then check to be sure all of the bolts are tight. They may be threaded down but make sure they arnt shanked out or floating in a hole. The steering stabilizer will only be a band-aid for the actual problem. Did you have the chance to drive his XJ before he pulled the axle and sold it to you? No mention from the PO of any known issues with it?

zachandandy beat me to it...

 

[ruger81]

1/8 in toe Out? You mean toe in? I think their is only two settings for toe. 1/8to 1/4 or zero. for disco axle and other is for non disco. Can't remember

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

you really want to be slightly toed in...

lets start with the basics (not to insult your intelligence),
BJs?
unit bearings?
trackbar bracket tight? mounting holes wallowed out?
steering arms wallowed out? shouldered bolts completely through arm and heim body?
jam nuts on all links? any play in the threads?

 

[Vengenz666]

What was your steering set up before the swap?

D30 disco with stock steering.

lets start with the basics (not to insult your intelligence),
BJs?
unit bearings?
trackbar bracket tight? mounting holes wallowed out?
steering arms wallowed out? shouldered bolts completely through arm and heim body?
jam nuts on all links? any play in the threads?

Ball joints are tight, look pretty new. Unit bearings, are those the ones on the hub or inside the diff? I replaced my axle seals last week and the hubs looked good. Just old. Trackbar bracket is tight, I drilled the hole out yesterday and went up the next size bolt. The linkage is all good, adequate bolts, brand new heims. Jam nuts are all tight.

Here the deal, the axle was already out of his heep before I bought it so I couldn't see it run. His rig was trailer'd out so he prob didnt know if there was any DW. When I swapped the axles, all I did was the axle and the two links for steering. I kept my track bar and my control arms. The control arm bushings are kinda worn so I got new ones comin.

Would the "toe out" or bad alignment cause DW on its own?

 

[RoyalXJ]

Bad alignment can cause death wobble

 

[Cburb88XJ]

Control arm bushings.

 

[VAhasnoWAVES]

Bad alignment can cause death wobble

Control arm bushings.

identified 2 issues there.

its a good start.

 

[jeeperjohn]

There are as many causes for death wobble as there are things we don't understand about women.