Borgli

Hi all, I have the so called death wobble. Looking online I figured it was caused by a "loose front end" and this one guy on youtube said to check out the bolt that connects the axle to the rod that attaches to the frame. Then the tie rod ends, he said to check them by having someone turn the wheel and look for side to side movement. So today I had my dad turn the wheel, nothing was loose, and the bolt is on there tight. We tried shaking things by hand to see if anything would move, nothing.

What else can I do? Are there more causes for the wobble?

Thanks

no rdplz

Lots and lots of threads on this topic. Any vehicle with a solid front axle that uses a track bar is susceptible to DW. DW can empty your pockets pretty quickly. If you're not careful. Areas to check:
tires balanced
uneven tire wear
alignment
TRE's (including the draglink-to-pitman arm TRE)
hubs
axle u-joints
ball joints
track bar
any and all front end bushings
LCA's
steering box

If anyone tells you that a steering stabilizer will fix your DW, walk away from them. replacing your stabilizer is merely putting a bandaid on the problem.

Borgli

The u joints are all good. Track bar bushings are not all to great, I have some wear on the outside of the passenger tire, but the alignment is spot on... not sure what LCA's are...

car5car

When I bought my first Cherokee 10 years ago, it past MD safety inspection. That means tie rods, shocks, bearings, ball joints, brakes, stab. bar and links were in perfect condition. After I noticed wobble, I checked everything myself and brought it to a good mechanic to check. Everything was fine.
Finally I went to a dealer and dealer mechanic spent 10 min, disconnecting one steering stabilizer bolt and then moving rod by hand. Rod was moving w/o any effort, it was empty.
After replacement of stabilizer wobble was gone.
I suggest spending 10 min. to check stabilizer.

builtnotbought89'

read this: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/di...-wobble-55021/

You should remove your stabilizer shock completely tell your death wobble is fixed. It's only masking the actual problem.

partsguyct

Lower control arms

tjwalker

My understanding of “death wobble” is this. Somewhere in the vehicle, one or more components is worn beyond tolerances, and when oscillation initiates from a suspension “traumatic” event (hitting a bump or a pothole) or also when a vibration reaches a certain point and harmonic at a certain speed, it causes the other components to react. This is called the “multiplier effect”, where one component affects one or more other components as the event travels through the front end of the vehicle.

Death wobble is not uncommon with the XJ. It is even more common with a lifted XJ. Finding the worn component or components is not always easy. It can sometimes be downright difficult. Sometimes it’s obvious, other times everything appears to be okay when you perform an inspection on a hoist, but getting the vehicle up in the air and going over everything with a fine tough comb is always a good first step. It is very helpful if you know exactly how to perform a comprehensive inspection of every single front end part, looking for abnormal wear and or play in that hardware. If you do not know how to do this type of inspection, pay an experienced professional to do it. Be sure to ask them if they are familiar with “death wobble”, as not all technicians are versed in this…..

Check out the below link if you would like some extensive reading on “death wobble” causes and cures. From my research, Kevin (the author of this tutorial) is possibly the best in the business with tracking down root cause of death wobble. He does offer hardware for sale that can help resolve death wobble, but even if you don’t buy any parts from him, you can still get some excellent ideas on what to look at in resolving your death wobble.

http://www.kevinsoffroad.com/how-to-...-death-wobble/

Possible causes of death wobble are listed below. Isolating death wobble is a process of elimination and the root cause is not always obvious and it can often be caused by a combination of things! From my personal experience, I would first concentrate on the track bar and the control arms and associated bushings.
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-Front tires out of balance (try swapping fronts to rear; see if symptoms change)
-Tire pressure. Don’t laugh. It’s not a root cause but can exaggerate the problem. Experiment with lower tire pressure to see if it helps
-Improper lug nut torque on wheels
-Front alignment out of spec
-Loose track bar
-Worn track bar bushings
-Worn track bar (check for play!!)
-Bad control arms and associated bushings
-Worn/damaged steering stabilizer (not generally a cause in and by itself)
-Worn/damaged shocks
-Worn/damaged tie rod end
-Bad U Joint
-Bad ball joint
-Loose frame mount
-Steering box loose
-Bad front hub assembly