Fsher21

Spring is temporarily here and I am ready to get working on my huge list of stuff I should probably fix before it kills me. Most xj's in the family have a little wobble at 55mph or so, and nothing more. Mine has that, but has seemed to get worse in the last 6 months. Not death wobble but around 55mph under any circumstance (acceleration, deceleration, turning, braking, etc) the front shakes. The intensity comes in "pulses" sort of, but is always there between 53-57mph. In the past month on a certain exit off the expressway, i will be coasting with the wheel slightly turned and if I hit a bump just right I get lesser version of death wobble that is worse than normal, happened twice.

So far I have noted the following: Everything seems solid in the front, nothing loose. Bearings and ujoints have recently been replaced. Every other speed is smooth. Steering wheel has always had a bit of play in it. Was involved in a minor front end collision where the front right tire may have hit the other vehicle while it was turned about 30 degrees. No difference in driving immediately after the hit, this was 5 months ago.

I am looking to upgrade my track bar to one off a junkyard zj. I will get an alignment regardless if I upgrade or not, which may help. I am thinking possibly steering related? Any advice on where to go next would be appreciated.

Thanks!

VTJeep

Idk man, "everything looks ok" doesn't mean it is ok. What have you done to physically inspect/verify this is the case? Alignment might help because it's hard to say what the prob is..

Edit- also, you said it was in a collision. Was it ever checked over?

Fsher21

Yeah I included that to rule out any comments suggesting I make sure to visually inspect everything. No trees mangled in my front end or snapped metal lol. I have given everything a good shake in the front and felt no play, when I had the front lifted up nothing had extra play either.

VTJeep

When in the air did you feel the wheel joints for play?

freegdr

death wobble info....http://www.mikestrawbridge.com/XJ-death-wobble.shtml

freegdr

more info...http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/tr...wobble-921805/

Fsher21

Problem existed before and after ujoints were replaced.

thanks for the links freegdr, couldn't quite find anything that detailed in my search. Wasn't sure at the time if my issue actually classified as death wobble, would have avoided another death wobble post then.

XJdryva

Have someone rock the wheel back and forth while you lay under the steering box and see if the shaft is wiggling from side to side. That's what mine is doing but it has full blown death wobble. Also mine deals with wind about as good as a kite....

freegdr

take a shoe box and throw it into the wind same as xj going down the road...lol...

tjwalker

The track bar is ALWAYS suspect for vibes, not just death wobble. I had a pretty good case of death wobble and found just the tiniest bit of play in my track bar. Installed new one and death wobble has been completely resolved. Before it was death wobble, for about 20k miles it was a simple vibe at 55-62 mph. Sound familiar?

Of course as they say in the financial industry "your results may vary". But key on that track bar for sure for starters.

RTorrez1

I had a similar problem on my 98 XJ. After fixing all the front end problems I still had a vibration between 50-60 mph. I had one front tire that had a small bump on the side. After replacing the two front tires which was time to have changed out anyway no more vibration.

Fsher21

I appreciate the input, I will look at the steering box and track bar soon. I will rotate my tires to see if that changes anything. I have one pretty worn in the back from a previous "learning experience" that needs to come forward anyway.

In reference to the wind, I was following a truck the other day that I was getting frustrated at for drifting all over his lane. I realized after 5 minutes of this that I was in fact copying his drifting and was just used to compensating for the wind lol.

Fsher21

never had a browser double post. my bad?