I have a 100% stock 96 XJ Sport, 200k on the clock. My daughter drives it. She came home a few weeks past and told me she had it on the highway and it started shaking like crazy. My head went straight to the Death Wobble I have read about here. It has since happened again which has me very concerned about her driving it at speed. She doesn't drive much at all and usually just around town. I'm curious how common DW is in a stock XJ? I have seen to look at the track bar, ball joints, tie rod, wheel bearing, wheel balance and will be doing that. Any thoughts and advice appreciated.

 

Don't know how common DW is on stock XJ's but worn components will do it. To start with have someone work the steering wheel while you look for any play in the steering components.

 

You are on the right track. All of the bushings are rubber and wear out. You're pretty lucky if you go to 200k before it happened. I decided to go all poly bushings when I redid my 99.
I replaced:
tie rod ends
ball jpints
bushings (upper lower control arm. lowers are a pain because of space and pressed into the axle)
track bar (this will definitely cause DW when worm or not tight)
shocks if not recent
wheel balance
wheel alignment

Check the front track bar fist. It can come loose at the lower mount point and cause all sorts of problems. It is a single bolt holding it in place. The hole can also wear and become hollow and allow the track bar to move. also not god and will cause DW.

Steering stabilizer will not cause DW, but if worn will not help prevent it.

If these parts haven't been replaced and they are 200k miles old, they are due for replacement.

The bearings are a sealed unit and fail by causing a loud roar when driving.

 

What is working for me so far until i rebuild the front end is a track bar and brand new tires in front. Nothing old. And make sure theyre balanced.

 

My understanding of “death wobble” is this. Somewhere on the vehicle, one or more components is worn beyond tolerances, and when oscillation initiates from a suspension “traumatic” event (like 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 stock XJ! It is even more common with a lifted XJ. Finding the worn component or components is not always easy and 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…..

Possible causes of death wobble are listed below. Isolating death wobble is a process of elimination; the root cause is not always obvious and it can often be caused by a combination of things! Always chase and resolve death wobble because if it is not resolved, it is such a violent event that it has the potential to seriously damage front end parts. 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 end alignment out of spec
-Loose track bar
-Worn track bar bushings
-Worn track bar
-Bad control arms (upper and lower) and associated bushings
-Worn/damaged steering stabilizer (not a root cause in and by itself but a good stabilizer will sometimes mask death wobble)
-Worn/damaged shocks
-Worn/damaged tie rod end
-Bad U Joint
-Bad ball joint
-Loose frame mount
-Steering box loose
-Bad front hub assembly

 

Mine had death wobble when it was stock, I replaced the lower control arms, ball joints, and track bar and haven't had an issue since.

 

Thanks for the feed back all. I'll definitely get it resolved. She said both time is occurred it was just after going over some sort of bump. I knew it was common in raised jeep's but wasn't sure about in stock jeep's. Clearly it can happen in both. I'm pretty handy and have done some work on my truck and this jeep. I'll get under it this weekend and have her turn the wheels and see if anything is obviously worn and not looking right. If I can't see it on my own I'll get in the shop. I actually have it going to the dealer for a new cat converter... they are replacing on recall. May just bite the bullet and have them work on it $$$.

 

I had death wobble once and only once. It was in my '92 years ago. I had decided to replace the shocks with Rancho RS 5000's and the steering stabilizer. At the time it was 100% bone stock. I did the shocks and went to install the steering stabilizer to find that it was defective, the new one was messed up inside so that it was so stiff I couldn't move it, tried putting it on and the jeep wouldn't steer. I took it off and took the jeep for a ride without any stabilizer on there and I got death wobble about 40 or 45 mph, it was crazy scared the crap outta me. I went back home and put the old stabilizer on it and it was fine, no more wobble. Now granted my front end parts were probably worn, later I ended up doing all new ball joints and track bar too.

 

Work on it before it gets out of hand. My son added a 3inch lift kit and 31inch tires couple weeks back, and had a death wobble on his '96XJ so violent that the bolts to one of the motor mounts sheared and took out the distributor. The Jeep had a mild 'once in a blue moon' death wobble before he worked it over.