KotaKid287

First off, I've been searching for the past 3 weeks going back as far as 2006 and haven't found anything really helpfull so please dont waste my time as well as your own by just saying "search".

Now to describe what I have going on. On smooth roads at 50mph I have death wobble, go 45 or slower and it dissapears, go 55 or faster and it dissapears. The smoother the road the worse it does it, any bumps at all and it rides like a Cadillac. My lift consists of 3.5" RE coils with 3" spring spacers on top of them, RE CAD brackets, RC HD track bar and mount, stock XJ everything else up front, RE 3.5" leaves with 1.5" shackles out back.

Now to what I've done so far. Have tried 3 sets of tires/wheels, ballanced both of my sets twice each, no change at all. Changed the front driveshaft cause the double cardan joint was a binding, no change. Removed front driveshaft to make sure the new used one wasn't out of ballance or something, no change. After playing with the alignment myself, took it over to the alignment shop the body shop I work at uses and got an "actual" alignment, Caster: 6.8*, Camber: -.02 L and -.04 R, and Toe was set at about 5/16" in, no change. I added another full degree of Caster and it got worse so I took that degree back out and took one more out to make it roughly 6* and it went back to the way it was, I added a half degree to put it at roughly 6.5* and made no difference. Played around with the toe quite a bit had it set anywhere from 1/2" toe out to 3/4" toe in, toe in made it worse and toe out made it better aside from hearing the tires squeeling around every turn lol. I can't drive around with the tires toe'd out all the time since I'd like to be able to get more then a few weeks to a set of tires, and I feel like I've tried just about everything else so I'm in need of some help.

I'm going to be replacing all the steering linkage over to ZJ stuff since I need to before I bend the stock tie rod anyway, will be doing that either tonight or tomorrow will report on if that makes a difference or not. Ball joints and control arm bushings are in good shape and the front hubs were replaced when I first got it on the road about 6-8 months ago.

Jeepxj1234

Are you positive the ball joints and control arm bushings are in good shape? Like you replaced them recently?

KotaKid287

I am positive the ball joints are good, am a tech for a living and was a state inspector for 8yrs so I'm used to checking them properly. On the bushings I won't say I'm positive, however they aren't cracked and don't show any signs of movement. Depending on how much more it's gonna cost I may get Napa to get them for me along with the ZJ tie rod just to eliminate them as a possibility too. I'm planing to come down to Corolla, NC to play on the beach a little bit this weekend, I don't have to eliminate the wobble entirely before then, but I would definitely like to make it a little better.

helmut

Not sure about if this would help in your case, but since you are at 6.5inches shouldn't you get a drop pitman arm to get the angles more even?

ktmracer419

Pull up to a curb so one sidewall is against it and have someone turn the wheel back and forth. If there is anything with excessive movement, change it. Also a worn steering box can be the culprit, tighten down the sector shaft preload at the top until it shows some resistance, then back it off a little. Your steering may not return to center as easily, but if the death wobble goes away, i would change the box, if there is no change, bring the adjustment back to where it was.

And if all else fails and you just want to mask up the issue, start bolting steering stabilizers on til it goes away.( though if everything is set up right and is tight, you dont even need any, but some people like the easy way out)

Kuro89

Check the drag link and track bar to make sure they are parallel, did you get the drop pitman arm with the rc trac bar?

KotaKid287

I'm only actually between 5.5-6" above stock in the front (not that that little bit is gonna make a huge difference though probably) and I compared the drag link and track bar angles when I first put the RC track bar on and they're pretty much spot on, and I have no bump steer at all.

I haven't tried adjusting the steering box yet, to be honest it never even crossed my mind but at 333,000 mi it probably does have some slop. I'll try this tonight, won't have the ZJ tie rod till tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys!

Kuro89

Do you have a drop pitman arm on your jeep?

KotaKid287

No drop Pitman unless it had one already installed before I bought it and I don't know about it, the drag link and track bar are running parallel right now.

Tried adjusting the steering box, didn't change the DW but it did make it drive HORRIBLE so I put it back where it was.

ktmracer419

Do the first thing i said.

ktmracer419

Just noticed you have 3.5 inch coils with 3 inch spacers. With stock control arms. Even though you have the caster dialed in, those weak control arms at such a steep angle with their soft rubber bushings don't do a very good job at keeping the axle in place and could very well be your issue.

KotaKid287

I'm also running the RE CAD brackets so the control arms are almost completely parallel with the ground sitting at ride height. I'll see if I can't find a curb and an extra pair of hands, the extra pair of hands is no problem, the curb might be tricky lol.

Lead Foot

Agreed. ^^^

KotaKid287

My control arms are at stock angles, and my bushings are not cracked/dryrotted and are tight. If someone makes some stock length tubular control arms I'd be interested in getting them though since the stockers are pretty weak.

Jeepxj1234

But are they long enough?