I know there is a ton of information about vibration and death wobble, however during my searching, it was difficult to find anything that matched my exact problem. So here I go.....

A little while back I noticed that I was having some noises when turning and determined it was my u-joints on the front axel. It drove really well besides this. No vibration or death wobble, ever. I decided, since I was going to be doing the u-joints, I would also replace the ball joints and bearing hub assemblies.

Of course, being a 98 XJ in Michigan, it wasn't exactly without issues, but after about 10 hours worth of work, the job was completed. After driving now for about one week, I have noticed vibration through my steering and what feels like the beginning of death wobble (when I hit the right pot holes). The vibration is especially noticeable as my speed increases. I have not gotten an alignment yet as I want to do all my ties rods, track bar, etc. first.

My question is, could I have screwed something up during the process that may be causing this? I want to cover all my basis before continuing on and I have always found this to be the best place for answers or suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

 

Does the vibration change when you turn left or right? Got that center hub nut to the correct torque? iirc 175 ft/lb

 

No changes that I have noticed when turning. I will need to double check the torque on the hub nut, though.

 

I had death wobble on my 98 XJ also. I rescued this XJ from someone who had no idea about geometry changes when you put a lift kit on. He didn't use the transmission spacers, didn't change the shocks for extra travel and length, etc. All that said though, the one thing i did that had the greatest impact on reducing the death wobble was changing the track bar out with a new one. I think the ball joint in the original track bar was trashed. It still wobbled a bit, but after I changed the track bar it was greatly reduced, and a good alignment job fixed the rest of it. Also make sure your tires are well balanced. That can start a wobble on as well if they are badly out of balanced, for example if you have a big pile of mud stuck inside your hub. I almost gave up till one day i was washing my XJ and a big pile of dried mud fell out of the wheel. Drove like a champ after that!!

Oh yeah, make sure you tighten that little bolt that attaches the track bar to the axel really really good. I put a lock washer on mine to keep it from getting loose. That little bugger will come loose and send you on a death wobble from hell if you don't get it good and tight.