RadGrama

Here's to hoping one of you tech guys can help me on this! We put a 4" Rough Country lift kit (we wanted 2") on that realistically is about 3.5". Drove it for about 2-3 months and the steering wheel started to do a light rock back & forth with the road bumps. Replaced one tie rod. Drove it some more and it turned into a death wobble which was set off by bumps in our road when doing about 50mph. Took it to our local dealer (the lift installer was too busy to deal with it) and they found that one of the front shocks was blown out and the other not far behind it. Also found that all the tie rods had to be replaced, no doubt due to the violence of the wobble. 2 shocks and all tie rods - Ka-ching..$630. Got one day out of it and the wobble was back. This time they replaced the steering gear. Ka-ching-$440. Drove it a day, the wobble is back. As long as I keep the speed under 50mph there is no wobble. Although I can still feel it in the steering wheel so I know if I go faster, the wobble will be there if I hit a bump in the road. Between the lift kit and these latest repairs, just about the whole front end is new. Does anyone have any suggestions?? Besides rolling it off a cliff?? Thanks for any help!!

JCJimmyD

Check your ball joints. Those a major contributer to death wobble.

beerjeep

I've done my whole front end, except ball joints and control arms. I'm doing CA's next, but can't seem to get rid of the wobble myself. Hopefully it's the CA's, if not hmmm?

Bustedback

Stock track bar?

jtodaro

Something you've said has me wondering. You say that you had blown shocks after only 3-4 months. This seems to make me think that they weren't replaced with the lift, thus a complete kit wasn't installed (and/or ir was a very basic budget kit).

What components did the 4" RC lift kit include? At 4" you need a new trackbar and your shocks will be at their limits. Did the kit come with new ones or did you just throw 4" springs into this setup?

RadGrama

The kit was a complete kit by RC. I am assuming it was a 4 inch since in reality it is about 3 1/2. Maybe it actually was a 3 1/2. Remember, it was supposed to be a 2 inch lift. Had more parts than carter has pills. The shocks were part of the kit. The right front one totally blew out and the left one was right behind it. The dealership that did the replacement said the RC shocks as part of the kit were too short for the lift that was put in so they blew. The back ones seem to be ok. Now I am replacing the steering stabilizer/shock as that is now the 3rd part of this kit to go bad. Cant say I am real fond of RC right now. Also had the alignment looked at and it was a hair off so that has been redone AGAIN. Keeping my fingers crossed it takes care of it.

jtodaro

There are two RC 4" kits. One with lower control arms, and one without. Were the control arms swapped. Also, them saying the RC Shocks that were part of the kit were too short for the lift worries me as if they came in the kit, they should have been the right length. You really need to determine what you have and what was installed. You can throw money at a problem all day, but until you know the full combination that is installed, your just picking at stuff.

RadGrama

I am still trying to get a receipt or a list of parts from the installer.

Trust me, I am not just throwing money at stuff. These are all parts that have gone bad that had to be replaced. When they say the death wobble is violent, they mean it. You dont want to have it happen if you can help it. Each time it happens it just breaks something else.

I suspect that this all started with the shocks going out and causing the tie rods to go out which then caused the steering gear to go out which caused the stabilizer to go out....there was nothing wrong with the tie rods or the steering gear prior to the lift.

And yes, the shocks came with the kit and were too short for the lift. To say I am now gun shy about a lift on another vehicle is an understatement.

MichaelMaxim

Check your caster on the front axle. It will perform best with 4 to 7 degrees of positive caster. Also check the Trac bar bolts and make sure that they aren't wallowed out and torqued to spec. If there is any movement in the bolt holes (using incorrect size bolts that are too small or if the holes have gotten reamed out) then you will get death wobble. Caster is usually the most over looked cause. Adjustable control arms will help you dial in the correct caster along with a cheap angle finder from your local tool store.

RadGrama

The latest replacement was the steering stabilizer. It was pretty shot. With all that has been replaced we are fairly confident we will be wobble-less!!





The kit was indeed the $499 4" RC kit. I finally got a receipt on it. So yes it had Lower Control Arms, pitman arm, shocks, coil springs etc.







I am a newbie on all this so perhaps someone can explain what the purpose is of the short arm vs the long arm. What affect do they have and on what?? For a 4" kit, should it have come with one of them?

RadGrama

Ok so can someone tell me what parts out of this RC 4" suspension kit need to be replaced in order to get my jeep back to stock? I am sure the coil springs and shocks need to be replaced but what about the other items? This is for a 2004 Grand and it was the $499 kit. Any information would be appreciated. As well as any suggestions regarding taking it back to stock.

1ATony

Did you try an adjustable track bar to correctly center the front axle?