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Death Wobble question...

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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 08:36 PM
  #1  
bholt1984's Avatar
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From: South Carolina
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO
Default Death Wobble question...

I have a 96 XJ that I lifted 3" a while back, I have another post asking for help w/ my DW problem...however, I think i've almost got it figured out. I have a few questions that maybe will catch someone's attention and point me in the right direction. Here are 2 things that helped most in making my DW less violent & less often:

Lowered tire pressure to 25psi
Had tires balanced

I drove about 12 miles to get home from the tire shop to my house tonight after the balancing, it went into DW only 1 time and was much less violent of a shake than any before, I got up to about 65mph and still didn't do it...MUCH BETTER than it was, but I hit 1 big bump in the road and it started, like I said i barely had to hit the brake to gain control of it, where before I would have to stomp the brake & nearly stop to make it go away. Let me know if anyone has any ideas...Thanks
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:20 PM
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Have you gotten an alignment?
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:22 PM
  #3  
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Look at this https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/di...-wobble-55021/
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:16 PM
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Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 5.9 V8
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Originally Posted by rweaver138
That's a great link. Check the track-bar first, almost all the cases of DW I've seen the mounts were loose or worn.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:22 PM
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From: Festus MO
Year: 1996
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We ended up getting new tires as the old ones had worn cupped, balanced them, put one new shocks and had a four wheel alignment done. That took care of it for about a year, then it started up a tad again, rotated tires front to back and it's gone, so I think ours is very sensitive to the common "4WD" wear on the tires.
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 12:22 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by dauber
We ended up getting new tires as the old ones had worn cupped, balanced them, put one new shocks and had a four wheel alignment done. That took care of it for about a year, then it started up a tad again, rotated tires front to back and it's gone, so I think ours is very sensitive to the common "4WD" wear on the tires.
Sounds like wheel wobble that can happen at high speeds on any vehicle that isn't fully maintained. Death Wobble is violent. The Jeep shakes. It comes on quickly and sometimes doesn't stop till you slow to 30 mph.
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 08:20 PM
  #7  
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From: gurnee il
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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question? how do you do a four wheel alighnment on a cherokee. I could see the front but how on the back.
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 08:32 PM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by bubbasparks
question? how do you do a four wheel alighnment on a cherokee. I could see the front but how on the back.
Adjust the uh... yeah what? Maybe dauber got ripped off.
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 08:41 PM
  #9  
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From: gurnee il
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thats what i was thinkn. i know the place by my house will put front or on a car four wheel.
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 09:06 PM
  #10  
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Year: 1985
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Engine: puny lil 4 cyld... 2,5 litres, I-4, carburettor
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I just picked up a new to me Jeep, and have been fighting a bad front end vibration and dw when hitting a bump at freeway speeds.
First thing I did was take my torque wrench to everything on the front end.
After that I lifted both front wheels off the ground and checked 2 things.
Put your hands at 3&9 on the tire and wiggle it while looking, or having a friend look for movement. Then do the same thing with your hands at 12&6.
I ended up replacing tie rod ends. That helped alot but still had a little vibration. Yesterday I put on a new steering dampener. It took all the vib away.

Now I know some people will say that a new dampener just hides the real problem. But at the same time it could be causing part of the issue..
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Old Sep 15, 2010 | 09:11 PM
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Originally Posted by bubbasparks
question? how do you do a four wheel alighnment on a cherokee. I could see the front but how on the back.
you dont
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Old Sep 16, 2010 | 12:17 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by rweaver138
you dont
I was havning wobble issues. I had new high-steer kit. trac bar drop and raise ant the bottom. new wheel hubs. caster set to 0. steering box braced. I'm telling ya, everything was new and solid. It ended up beong my caster. I needed to pull my axle back about an inch and push my caster forward to about 1-2 degrees instead of 7 pos.
Makis it a little harder to steer, but the steering is wicked solid now and I don't even run a stabilizer.
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