Every so often, when driving my 2-door 92 XJ at highway speeds, I'll hit a bump just right and the front end will start to bounce up and down, and I mean violently. I've never seen anything like it. Sometimes, jamming my foot on the brake will stop the oscillation, but sometimes nothing but slowing way down will do the trick. It seems to get worse the faster you go, and seems to get more likely if one of the front tires is down on air.

Mechanically, it's stock, so it's not a bad lift. It has new front shocks, but the rears haven't been done yet. The bushings are all pretty bad, and...well, the whole Jeep is pretty bad. The previous owners, I don't know, lived in a salt factory or something, and it's the worst XJ I've ever seen, but it's mine, and I'd like it if it worked properly.

Can anyone think of a likely cause for this bucking? My instinct at first was to assume it was the shocks, but then I replaced the shocks, and it still does it. Thoughts?

 

search death wobbles

 

See, now I thought it wasn't death wobble because I was thinking DW was primarily a sideways oscillation, with the wheels wobbling back and forth, but now reading further, I can see that's exactly what's going on with my XJ. I wouldn't have guessed it'd happen on a stock Jeep, but looking at the causes...well, everything is wrong with this XJ, so it's not a huge surprise.

Mystery solved; of course, that's really just the beginning, but thanks for setting me on the right path!