Hello all, I am new to the jeep community. I bought my 95' xj yesterday. I drove it 200 miles home, cruising at 75. 15 miles from home, I hit a small bump in the highway and it started shaking like I lost all but one lug nut on all my wheels. After some research, I found that that's "death wobble". I checked all my suspension components, all seam tight. This is my family wagon these days I can't have it doing that with my daughters in the back. So....... Light me up. At this point, I'm about to replace every bushing and ball joint the thing has. Any comments or suggestions? By the way; it has a 2" suspension lift with stock wheels and tires

 

Hey, welcome to the forum... and the death wobble club! Prime suspect is the track bar, the joints/bushings wear a lot faster when lifted. Otherwise you're right, DW is the front end resonating because *something* is loose, could be anything.

 

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. Have a friend turn the steering wheel back and forth full travel as you perform the inspection. 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

 

Looks like I have a bunch of front suspension parts to order

 

Don't throw parts at it just yet. Focus on the track bar first, then move on to control arms as suggested earlier.

 

Before you do all that, have a look at the steering stabilizer. If its blown or one of the bushings is bad you can get death wobble. Even if this seems to solve your problem, it is really just a band-aid masking some worn component. But at least it might make your jeep safer while you track down the worn part. There are lots of videos on youtube of people "solving" their death wobble with a new steering stabilizer. All I can say is that its a cheap, easy replacement that might help you out.

 

I just battled DW and it was an expensive one. Short of the axle itself everything is new. I feel like an idiot now but in hindsight I'm glad my front end is now solid beyond a doubt.

Anyway, I would take it straight to a competent alignment shop and get that checked, the dealer in my case, and get a road force tire balance done as well. That ended up being the majority of my problem. I figured the local shop I took it too after my lift for an alignment knew what they were doing so I dismissed the idea of bad alignment.

$650 in parts later, it still wobbled and I was ready to drive it off a cliff, got it to the dealer for another alignment and a road force balance, not even a shimmy since.

 

Thank you for the thoughts. My other train of thought is that it's 18 years old and all the suspension components look pretty old. The control arms are rusty, all the ball joints are covered in grease. I just sold my other vehicle and was left with extra money after buying the xj. I'm thinking it will be easier to do everything at once and just take the opportunity to bear it up while I have the money instead of waiting and doing each component as I diagnose it to be bad. DW once with my daughter in the car and how many times later until I finally fix it?

 

I just ordered all new rough country components. Upgrades baby!!

 

Awesome! I know how you feel, DW with my little siblings in there with me was a little unsettling.

 

Sure wakes you up. lol

 

Oh yeah, but after it happened a few times it just became really annoying. lol

 

I'll try to post some pics when I get it done next week

 

Whats up guys, just bought my Cherokee a few months back and found it had a slight shake at 50-60 mph. Last week I installed new Alloy USA HD Ball joints (as Im lifting etc in the future...and I thought these would fix it). Now the shake is WAY worse even after an alignment. New track bar bushings/tie rod boot are on hand and my next step to eliminate my DW. I might also go down and have my tires balanced.

 

I'm pretty sure mine was caused by a combination of a bad track bar joint and and a bad stabilizer. My understanding (after reading posts here) is that any warn or loose part I the front suspension can cause it. Check your tie rod ends, steering box etc. good luck