Death Wobble just shoed up. Is this common with the XJ?
What is the cure?

 

Google "jeep xj death wobble"

 

Very common. You basically have to go through your whole front end to find the cure. Usually it's something simple like ball joints, but then those are difficult to remove even with the right tools. Check all your rubber bushings. With a Jeep as old as ours, there's something that is bound to fail.

 

Identify what lift you have on your vehicle, and any mods

Any imperfection with the trackbar ends will cause an issue, as this is the main component to transversely stabilise the front suspension

test all suspension components by lightly jacking them to see if there is too much play

inspect all rubber bushes

 

Crawl under the front and have someone saw the steering wheel back and forth about 1/2 turn. Look for and feel for any slop in the tie rod ends, ball joints, and the track bar. Track bar lower mount is pretty common.

A wobble is just that. Death wobble is crapping yourself while you have to slow down to a near stop to get it under control again.

 

Thanks for the insight. After some searching, I think I will be able to track down the (many) worn parts. I lifted the front 2" when I owned it years ago to account for spring sag. The rear is stock.
My Bro-in-Law put 235 tires on it. I haven't yet found my tire receipt from years ago when I owned it. 2nd time around on this Jeep for me. Liked it so much then, had to have it again.
Seems Death Wobble must have been due to road "imperfection" on one side of suspension

 

Sounds like it hasnt had much maintenance done, so you need to check control arm bushings, they play a big part after the track bar

Also, how did you accomplish your 2" front lift, new springs or poly blocks?...bad springs will certainly cause a wobble. Place a straight edge against them

I have gradually gone through and replaced all worn OEM parts, and still have a bit to go. I used mainly poly bushes, and it has almost no vibration at all, despite having a 3.5" lift

My next improvement is to file out the slightly wallowed trackbar mounting bracket hole, from nominal 10mm to 11mm, and fit an 11mm bolt. I will also reinforce the trackbar mounting bracket itself with some minor gusseting

Its the best its ever been handling wise, and I still have other things to do, such as adjust steering box for any play, and add some brackets and reinforcement around the steering box itself, they flex badly on the UniRail itself, and actually break the steering box bolts

Ideally I would fit a complete steering box reinforcement kit

You also should have near perfect tracking and wheel alignment. You can do this with a string line or long straight edge and 2 jackstands

 

L
2" lift is via poly blocks.
Plan to slither underneath this afternoon for prelim visual inspection, then store for the winter.
And yes, doubt there has been much maintenance while the niece and her bud owned it. Certainly little cosmetic care so doubt much other than oil changes.
Thanks for the input. dg

 

Your suspension can never ever ever work as intended if the front springs have lost their characteristics, so count on replacing them, and the trackbar tie rod end and bush

I would also almost bet my ***** the bushes in the front axle housing for the UCA will be worn. A visual inspection can tell. It is not easy to replace them, so they get ignored

(unless you know they have been done, then my bet is withdrawn )

 

I was beginning signs of death wobble a bit ago, I-75 became a game of russian roulette every day. I did the ZJ tie rod upgrades a lot of guys have talked about here, as well as replaced my sway bar links, track bar, and steering damper. She rolls around better than new now. SimpleDad replied to my thread about this with a list of part numbers that were all correct, so check it out here if you're interested.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/wor...damper-273448/