RTorrez1

OK Guy. I have a 98 XJ with a 3" lift running 30x9.50 15 tires. The lift was put in about 2 1/2 years ago. To day driving home i hit a good size pot hole and it start with the dreaded death wobble. When I got home I checked everything out and everything looked good except for one of the shocks was leaking pretty bad. My question is could that one bad shock cause the death wobble if everything else is fine?

SeriousOffroad

No.

RTorrez1

OK, I need to climb back under there and see if I missed anything.

Narbu

i have had many issues in the past with my xj and death wobble and it can be caused by alot if different things.
1. check your steering damper, take it off and if you can push and pull it with ease well get a new one, that was my problem all three times i had DD
2. it also can be a bad track bar
3. tires are out of ballance
4. ball joints
5. tie rod ends

it can be one of these or multiple but i would start with the steering damper/stabilizer they are easy to check and farily cheep 40-60 bucks

RTorrez1

I rechecked everything and everything look fine as far as the suspension go other then the leaking shock. But I do think it may be the tires are out of balance. It looks like the balance weights came off of one of the tires. Going to have then rebalanced and go from there. I did just change out the damper about 3 months ago, I was driving through some rock and one must have it the damper and busted it. I did also have it realigned after that. I'll try the tire balance and go from there.
Thank

Joedirt12

Did you recheck your aliment? Get you tap out and check it. A aliment issue can also make it wobble and if you hit a big hole and then it started like you said I bet your toe is off. It should be 1/4 inch toe in. Which means if the back of the front tired read 42 inchs the front should read 41 3/4. If you don't understand this do a small search on google and you'll find tons of info on doing you aliment your self in your drive way.

RTorrez1

I thought about that but it wasn't pulling one way or another, But I will recheck that too.
THanks

blue_on_blackXJ

Way to be frank, Frank.

Joedirt12

Camber and caster is what makes it pull if the toe is out which it more then likely is it will dw on you

RTorrez1

Thanks a lot Joedirt112 You hit the nail on the head. I was off by just over 3"
Going to make the adjustment in the morning.
Thanks again.

Joedirt12

Anytime glad I could help. I've been throughout a few jeeps and have learned alot on death wobble. If all is good it's always toe. I check my toe ever time I go wheeling and every time it needs a little. It's a good practice to get in.

johnydoe

DW is usually caused by the axle shaking, from not being firmly in place

most likely cause of DW is usually track bar, followed by lca and uca, those are what hold your axle in place and at the right angle, if there is any loose in the track bar a steering stabilizer is the cheapest and easies way to "fix" the problem but it wont be permanent only hide the real problem (track bar)....if the track bar is fine then i would check the bushings of the uca and lca then check angles....

it does no good to get an alignment if you have a loose axle

Joedirt12

Yes very true but he said everything wuz good but one shock. Which leads to the aliment. I've put all new parts on mine in the past and still had the dw due to my aliment being off. If he had not said he hit a pot hole and it started I would of had to go with what you said as that's 80% of most problems with dw. I've even been able to clear up dw on jeeps with worn out parts by getting the aliment as close as possible. There's always a vibration on these still but defiantly drivable.

RTorrez1

I the adjusted and it is running great again.
Thanks