hidperf

When I bought my 92 XJ it already had a Rough Country 3" full leaf suspension kit with 31's on it. I got bit by the bug and decided to go bigger and better so I picked up some used parts: a locked D44 with gears and disc brakes and a matching locked HPD30, JKS upper and lower arms and quick disconnects, RE HD track bar and bracket and a ZJ tie rod. My new parts consisted of JKS bar pin eliminators front and rear, RHD XJ drag link, Goferit inserts for the OTK steering conversion, RCX control arm drop brackets, JCR track bar relocation bracket, Goodyear 33x12.5 Duratracs on 15x8 steelies, RCX front coil spacers and longer rear shackles.

Still with me?

Part one-Lift: I never did measure the lift when I bought it but I was wanting to see if my spacers and shackles put me at 4.5" now so I crawled under and measure the distance between the top of the axle tubes and the frame rails front and rear. According to information I've found on this and other sites, I'm still only sitting at 3"

So I guess I should buy springs front and rear now to reach and actual 4.5"? What brands do you recommend? Thoughts?

Part two-Death Wobble: The control arms and D30 have new bushings in them as does the RE track bar. The ball joints are new and one wheel bearing is new. Caster is 6.5deg per Go-Jeeps site, toe is zero, tires are balanced, steering components felt tight when I put everything together but the ZJ tie rod is used with unknown mileage. Track bar and drag link angles look good but I haven't actually put a line on them and measured yet.

I don't get death wobble at any certain speeds or anything. Only when I hit a bump and it doesn't always happen. I can drive down my street at the same speed and hit the same bumps and sometimes it will go crazy and sometimes it's just fine. The steering is kind of sloppy and the XJ has 190k on it.

Would a worn steering box cause something like that? I do hear some popping or creaking in the front when I turn the wheel that wasn't there before all these upgrades. I also plan on doing the Durango box eventually so this might be the perfect time.

If I go 1-ton OTK, can I just remove the existing inserts, drill the knuckles larger and install the bigger inserts?

If you're still with me, thanks for any feedback.

The_ocho

If all the components are good like you say i would check the box make sure its tight(both mounting bolts and internals) and also check the ujoints in the intermediate shaft(shaft that connects the box to the steering column) mine were shot and had like 1/2 in of play in them.

things to check
-Front tires out of balance
-Front alignment out of spec
-Loose track bar
-Worn track bar bushings
-Worn track bar end
-Need adjustable track bar
-Bad bushings/joints in control arms
-Worn/damaged steering stabilizer
-Worn/damaged shocks
-Worn/damaged tie rod end
-Bad U Joint
-Bad ball joint
-Loose frame mount
-Steering box looseness
-Need drop pitman arm
-Driveshaft(s) not balanced
-Bad front hub assembly

You said you were at 0 toe. try some toe in and then try some toe out. the steering system is designed to have toe in to help keep all the components under tension and take up some slop but some jeeps that doesnt work on. so try a lil toe in if not its ok to have some toe out. just keep in mind what these settings will do to how the jeep handles. toe out will make it want to wander a bit on the road but will usually help with DW. it is a little know fact that too much toe in can cause deathwobble. I know it did for me. pulled a lil toe out of it and i was good to go with a jeep that used to get wobble on any bump above 50mph.

Here is a quote form a JP magazine article. using this info is what cured my DW
Here is the link to the article link

hidperf

I've ran down most of the list already but I'll check the few that I haven't. I'm also keeping an eye on a thread on one of the forums that is about the exact same problem I'm having.

I set it at zero toe because I have the 242 transfer case and apparently that model uses zero toe. Although I don't understand why it's different. But I can mess with that next and see.

I'm also not running a steering stabilizer because I haven't figured out how I'm going to mount one with the OTK steering and raised track bar. But so many people say that it's not needed if done correctly.

Thanks for the reply.

ZINGGG

You need to have a friend turn the wheel while you look at all the components and figure out exactly what is cracking/popping. My first suggestion would be to retighten the track bar frame mount bracket.

hidperf

I'm going to try that this weekend. I had the front wheels off recently and impacted the bolts down that were in the inner wheel well but forgot about the ones that go into the frame rail. So I'll hit those two and then see if I can get someone to work the wheel for me.

Thanks for the reply

hidperf

Well I got under the Jeep tonight and checked the bolts that go up into the frame and both were loose. Not just a little loose, I could move them by hand

So I tightened them and took it for a spin and not once bit of death wobble. I'm not going to call it fixed just yet, but I do feel good about it.