The Great Wobble Investigation
Hey friends.

I have death wobble on my 3.5" Metalcloak Lifted 2000 XJ. Stock 235/75/15 Goodyear R/T tires. I have replaced almost everything I can think of that might cause the wobbles.

Symptoms: Smooth driving up to 60mph. 60+mph death wobble initiates only if I hit a sizable crack or bump in the road. Then need to slow down to 30-40mph to cease wobbling.

Diagnosis per Mechanic: Taken to a "Jeep Specialist" who charged me a good amount to take the jeep for the entire day and road test it, tighten everything in the suspension, and come up with a cause. HIS suspected cause is that the tire's sidewall is too thick and that is causing the wobble. That's BS.

The Lift comes with:
New Coils
New Leaf packs
Adj. Lower Control Arms
Adj. Upper Control Arms
Adj. Track Bar
Sway Bar Discos
T-case drop

What I have installed to attempt to fix the wobble:
IRO OTK 5/8" Steering Setup w/ Heim joints
IRO 3/16" Steering Gearbox Spacer
Steering Stabalizer (Dampens the Wobble but I know this is just sweeping the problem under the rug)
New Ball Joints (This minimized the wobble. one of them was bad.)
AA SYE and Double-Cardan Adams Driveshaft (Obviously this fixed driveline vibrations)
(I will be adding a new steering gearbox soon because the stock one now creaks trying to turn the new steering setup.)

tell me what you guys have experienced in the past to try to fix it, and if something is apparent that I have missed to fix this.

Request pictures of any part of the Jeep. Thank you forum!

 

I've seen many Death Wobbles resolved simply by setting the Toe-In / Toe-Out to almost zero.

Just a week ago we resolved a coworkers Wrangler by replacing the trackbar and making sure it was on the same drop as the drag link.

 

One note regarding the creaking steering. It might not be the steering box at all, but could be a crappy steering spacer. I would replace that first (cheaper) and also add some unibody stiffeners in that area as well. That just might solve your "creaking" steering.

 

Oh I forgot to add that to my parts list. Upgraded the spacer to the IRO 3/16" steering gearbox spacer. I will edit that in there. In detail, there is about 5 or 6 creaks lock to lock. It sounds like a loud crack.

 

check your trackbar bolts on your trackbar and frame bracket.
also, sounds more like bump steer, so as mentioned, check to see if your trackbar is parallel to your drag link. i know your trackbar has a bend in it, but imagine a straight line from end to end.
you may need a drop bracket for your trackbar.

my drop bracket used to shift around ever so slightly while wheeling, making a loud crack, but gone since i tightened the bolts really tight and added a small tack weld for added measures.

trackbar is 9 times out of 10 the cause for death wobble.

 

Yeah I will be inspecting it to make sure it is parallel. But this has been aligned 2 times and then inspected by 2 other mechanics. One I asked specifically to make sure that those 2 lines are on the same plane. He said they are. Ill be checking the bolts around the track bar and where it mounts as well.