DougyFresh

My xj has developed an issue that i cannot figure out. today while driving i got my first bout of what i thought was death wobble... while going around a curve, i hit a bump and it fet like the front end was about to come out from underneath it. never did it again though. Came home and jacked it up and i can get it to shake when idling in gear on jackstands by turning the wheels to almost their extreme in either direction. it shakes so hard it almost fell off the stands

any thoughts?

DougyFresh

Meant to say that it also has all new balljoints and u joints in the front axle.

DougyFresh

Also checked the control arm bushings by putting it on 4 low and holding the brakes while my buddy looked under it. nothing moved at all so i am pretty are they are good. track bar has no play but i don't think that would cause this anyways

DougyFresh

any ideas? wife says that if I can't figure it out it's going up for sale.

ZINGGG

How are your tires? Balanced? How old are they?

DougyFresh

they are "balanced" with airsoft BBs, it's pretty smooth up to about 70mph. if it were tires out of balance, wouldn't it do it going straight as well?

DougyFresh

Anyone? This is our only vehicle and my wife is scared to death of driving it now

01blackxjj

Check the track bar for anything weird, I changed the track bar and got an alignment and my death wobble as gone

DougyFresh

Track bar has MAYBE 1/16 inch of play

sthon

It shouldn't have any play.

DougyFresh

I know that, but it has had that much play since the day we bought it and it just started shaking.

Radi

That isn't really a valid test. With the wheels hanging loose and turned, the u-joints are operating at extreme angles you would probably never encounter on the road. I bet they shake pretty good. That isn't causing your problem.

The trackbar- get it tightened up. 1/16" slop is more than enough to get the oscillation started.
It may have had that play for a long time and you finally just hit the right combination to set it off. I put off fixing mine (even though I knew it had some play) for quite a while because I never got death wobble. Until one day I hit some angled train tracks with a bump and curve at just the right speed. Holy man.
Being a curious old fart, after realizing what it was I turned around and hit the tracks again. Nothing. Tried again and again nothing. I think the situation has to be exactly so to trigger the DW unless your front end is really loose. Fixed the tracbar the next day, have not had an issue since and I cross those same tracks weekly for one of my jobsites. My point being just because it's been loose for a long time doesn't mean it isn't the problem.

I like to check bushings and such with a big prybar, see if I can move things that should not move by putting pressure on them. Bushings, tie rod ends, etc.
You may find some info here that might be useful too:
http://www.allpar.com/SUVs/jeep/death-wobble.html

cherokeelaredo'90

I have the death wobble issue in my jeep too. Everything is tight under the front end. I just putting around and decided to see if my axle side track bar bolt has wobbled out and sure enough the bolt hole is a nice oval shape. You can try checking yours out, there should be zero play in the track bar and all the bolts need to be tight. I'm planning on upgrading to the iro double shear bar and I'm sure that'll solve my dw