Monocogger

I just got done replacing both front hubs on my stock XJ because the driver's side was grinding really bad and humming terribly at highway speeds (because it didn't know the words) Afterwards, everything was nice and tight and quiet. but at about 55 to 60 mph a gentle, brief death wobble started. I seems to only happen right around that speed and when I'm in a corner. Does that sound like tierod ends? Might I have done my hub replacement wrong and caused damage? The driver's side hub was stuck on very badly so I had to wail on it with a hammer after heating it with a torch to get it off. I'm hoping that's what did it. I also got a tip on this forum for unsticking the hubs by putting a socket on the partially removed hub bolts and turning the steering wheel as hard as possible so the ratchet pushing up against the steering knuckle would pop the hub off. I'm wondering if that may have damaged something too. It didn't work anyway. Anyway, I'm going on a road trip in 2.5 weeks to the Boundary Waters and I don't want to have to worry about my wheel falling off. If I decided to tackle the tierods myself would I have to get an alignment when I'm done or can I mark the positioning and install the new ends in the same location?

I'm just full of questions. Thanks for the help!

Shade133

most likely the track bar. its about a 50 dollar part. easy to replace.

Jeepman659

Mine does this and it's a u joint bro. It could be tie rods too though On my jeep i just replaced literally everything in the front end besides the u joints that's how i narrowed it down haha but yeah even a slight little play between the two yokes from the U joint causes that wobble.

Shade133

i think you miss understand what the death wobble is. a bad u-joint will cause vibrations and clanking noises. not the death wobble. the death wobble is when the front end literally wobbles back and forth left to right and usually moves the steering wheel to. the drive shafts dont hold the axle in place like the track bar does, or tierod ends, pitman arm, and all those steering componants if their bad they can cause the 2 front tires to move freely while the steering wheel isnt moving.

Bustedback

Could be a tire balance issue too. They usually start to wobble at about 55-60mph if they are out of balance.

Shade133

this is true. try to find a place that will balance on a high speed balance machine

Monocogger

Thank you all for your advice. I also noticed something new last night while I was on the hwy at about 75mph. I hear a low frequency humming or rumbling coming from the front. It sounds like a sub woofer playing a 25 hz tone. Sounds like it could be a tire. It's strange that I wouldn't notice that before I changed the hubs though. I'll have to jack the thing up and start wiggling stuff around. I just hate to know what i'm going to find.

xjcruiser307

I think he was talking about the u-joints that actually allow the wheels to turn while under power otherwise known as a steering knuckle not the U-joints in the driveshaft. I can hear a slight grinding thats relative to my speed from my driverside steering knuckle I think it doesn't have any play in it as far as I can tell does anyone have a trick to seeing if these U-joints are bad?