I have a 1993 xj Cherokee which is wondering and darting badly. I have had this xj for about 3 months. I’ll begin with what has been replaced. Steering gear box, steering stabilizer, track bar, sway bar bushings and links, front shocks, hub assemblies, rotors, calipers, pads. Alignment has been done and double checked. Three different mechanics have told me my ball joints and tie rod ends are good. This was all done to cure the “death wobble”. The wobble was fixed but on its first test drive the wondering and darting started? So help me out. Possibly the trailing arms? Oh and the gear box has been changed twice. The second mechanic thought the first one may have been a bad reman.

 

There are no trailing arms, maybe you mean control arms?

Can you specifically describe the behavior - is the steering wheel straight but the Jeep wanders? Does the steering wheel pull when it moves?

Have you had someone examine the tires? Maybe try swapping them around and see if the behavior is affected.

Most folks will say to jack up the front end and have a helper turn the wheel back and forth to look for movement. Try looking at the steering shaft (where it connects to the gear) and look for play in the little u-joints.

 

I have two sets of wheels and tires. I changed them to see if it were the wheels. No difference. But yes, control arms. Not sure why it tracked fine before the wobble was fixed and now it’s darts and wonders. The steering wheel is tight and straight but slightest variation in the road and it darts left or right. I have to fight it back?

 

It's possible the control arms have an issue - check that they're not bent and that the bushings are tight.
New control arms are inexpensive and pretty easy to do - you may need to cut bolts if they're rusty.
The hardest part is the bushings pressed into the front axle - not a lot of room to get a BJ press on them.
Do one arm at a time so you can line up the new ones more easily.

Fortunately, the lower arms are the ones you'll really feel and are easy enough to cut the bolts and replace.

 

Well that’s about all that’s left. Lol. Thanks for your input. I’ll get it right. Just a bit frustrating. ����

 

Double check that the new track bar is tight.

It is likely that the wandering/jerking was present but less obvious since the whole system was loose.

There is a certain amount of pull inherent in the design - look up "bump steer" but it's minor and not "wandering" feeling.

 

Anytime man - it's typical "new to you old Jeep" stuff. Fortunately it's not a ton of money or difficuly to completely replace the wear parts in the XJ front end.

 

Going to have it looked at today. Thanks for your reply.

 

If you buy MOOG, keep the receipt. They are warranted for life.

 

Are the wheels stock size or oversized?

Has anyone looked at the rear spring bushings?

 

You want the vehicle on the ground to have everything loaded up, with a helper cranking back-n-forth. Laying a finger on joints can detect slop that you might miss visually, just be careful you don't get pinched. Our Jeeps like a touch of toe-in as well. Zero toe tends to wander. Don't forget to look at the control arm bushings.

 

I dont think anyone has mentioned this before, but you should have a rubber coupler off the gear box. They are known to get a lot of slop in them over time. Most of the time, you can tack weld the "cage" that holds the bushing and it will take care of the problem. Still could be something else but would be worth a look.

 

So the problem has been solved. The steering stabilizer that I had replaced was not the correct one. It was to stiff. It was pushing the steering to much. The correct one was put in and all is well. Thanks for everyone’s input.

 

That's good to know, thank you for the update.