I have a 99 2 dr xj that i lifted 3.25 incs and have death wobble. Unsure if it was there before the lift. I looked at the front end and had 2 ball joints that were bad so i replaced them. I also have a bad u joint but assume that would not cause d.w. i do have a factory trac bad but it does not have anyslop as it was replaced with abrand new one i had laying around. I even went so far as to weld on a washer and run a 7/1y reamer through it and put in a 7/16 bolt. Could a factory trac bar cause death wobble with the lift? I also recently balanved the tires and got it aligned with lca shims making the caster back in spec as well.. i have tried everything i can think of and everything i have seen on the fourm.. hoping to get more suggestions.. it does not do it often but the right bump rly makes it shake super bad at anything over 45..

 

Did you check your front wheel bearings for any play? Tie rod ends and drag link?

 

Make sure your track bar and drag link angles are parallel also. If they are out of whack that can cause problems too. Did you put a new steering stabilizer on with the new lift or still running the factory one? It might be wore out.

 

Replaced the stabilizer shock and all normal shocks as well.. the drag link and trac bar are not too far off.. and all tie rod ends feel tight. Only thing i could fine in the fron is the u joint and a little noise in steering shaft going to the steering wheel but nothing i would think wouldnt be there from factory

 

post pics.... let us judge if it happened after a lift I'm going to guess it's the culprit.

 

Ok sounds good i will try to post a picture tom after work! Would them not being parallel def cause a issue?

 

You should use a adjustable t bar as the front axle is no longer centered and that can throw the steering geometry out of wack,I have a 3.5 and run a adjustable bar and my geometry is pretty close to parallel ,however get one that don't use a ball joint as they are stronger then the ball joint bar,I am gonna go to full grand Cherokee steering here soon for strength and better geometries..

 

Just FYI a steering stabilizer cannot cause death wobble. I don't even have one and my rig drives just fine. A steering stabilizer will only hide a little wobble. Getting a good steering stabilizer won't actually solve any problem, just mask it.

 

For me the problem was the track bar mount. There was no play where the track bar mounts to the axle, but all the play was where the mount connects to the frame. IIRC its 2 bolts behind the front DS wheel (I replaced mine with G8 hardware) and 2 nuts with lock washers holding the mount to the frame (these ones like to come loose so I red threadlocked them)

 

You have two options with a that size lift.
Re-drill front track bar axle bracket over towards the drivers side ¾”, center-to- center or install an adjustable front track bar.

EDIT:

I didn't just make this up. I'll cite my source. This is the procedure for many lift manufacturers (rubicon express step 17)when doing a 3.5" lift in an XJ/TJ. I've done this multiple times on customer's vehicles when installing lifts and they opted for the stock track bar (if it was still in good usable condition). Really easy to do, just make sure you use a center-punch, start with a small bit and work up, and most importantly..... drill straight!

 

Hoping that it is OK for me to [tap in] for this. If Not, can my post be moved ?

I, too, am trying to diagnose DW. Background:
'96 XJ 2D 2WD 120k mi.
Fresh Zone 3" Lift Kit [full leafs] installed.
New HD Moog Stabilizer
New Adj. Track Bar
Corrected Sway Bar End Links [after Much research].
Fresh alignment 3mi. drive from lift install

My XJ tracked FINE prior to all of this. I frequently pegged the speedo on my long commute. No noticeable vibration, nothing.

Meticulously installed Kit [i wrench in aerospace, so pretty ****]. Immediately took for alignment. Guy in biz 44yrs, and immediately familiar w/ DW. Said post alignment, that it had one DW incident as exiting fwy on test drive.

Prior to this, I had NEVER experienced DW, and I'm not a 4x4 guy. I'm a road race guy. On my two hour drive home, I got it several times. Needed clean underwear when I got home ... lol. SCARY ****e

Next thing I did was have Costco do the air purge, and Nitrogen fill. ALL BUT ELIMINATED ANY ISSUES. Very MINOR DW occurrence.

Alignment shop said replace Track Bar & Steering Stabilizer. Which I did ... AFTER Nitro fill. Drove XJ, and it runs WORSE than it has ... EVER. Steering wheel clocking is off more now than just post-alignment. Things feel "unstable" everywhere while driving. Checked torques.

Installing TB can be a hassle w/o a second person to lightly turn wheel to align holes. Had to go back & forth w/ wheel to get TB into place. I measured old OE TB at pretty near 31" center-on-center. Set Adj. TB to very nearly identical to that. At most 1/16" off.

What could be the issue ? PLEASE. If Control Arms or Ball Joints were issue, wouldn't they have shown earlier ? I drive quite briskly on my commute.

ANY Help profoundly appreciated. Sorry if this is considered a high jack. No offense intended ... we're all here to learn, right ?

 

Heres a pic of track bar vs. Drag link

 

This may sound redundant but how good is the intermediate shaft on the jeep and how good is the power steering,all can play a role, if the pump is low on fluid or is pulling air intoThe system it can cause cavitation in the disinfecting like death wobble,my ranger had done this a few Times to me when I had a leak in the steering rack,my jeep also did it yesterday day due to.a pin hole in the pressure line

 

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Steering wheel adjustment is an easy fix. There is a collar on the drag link with 2 bolts keeping it tight. Loosen the 2 bolts and rotate the collar to rotate the steering wheel. Just make sure your wheels are straight otherwise youll just make it worse. Is your steering column loose as well? That could be some of the slop your feeling. My most recent bout with DW loosened all the bolts in the steering column. ITs gotten so bad I can move my steering wheel in a circle.