I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee and I've tried almost everything to eliminate my wheel shimmies at around 40-55 mph. It's not bad wobbles and it's not death wobble, but it's very noticeable as I'm driving...

I'm lifted 6.5 inches on 31" tires

So far I've done:

-Brand new ball joints(upper and lower)(helped a lot)
-1 new wheel bearing on the front drivers side(helped a little bit)
-Wheel alignment(on professional rack)(didn't do much)
-I've rotated my tires(x-pattern)(didn't do much)
-I've checked wheel balance(no tire is more than an once off between the inner and outer of the wheel)
-I have a rough country aftermarket track bar with a new mounting bold (seems tight as can be)

My entire suspension and joints seem strong as hell so Idk what it is, or where every the side to side oscillation is coming from...

I have a video to help, any input is appreciated, thanks guys

I'm uploading a 1080p video right now for better quality

 

What kind of steering stabilizer is that and has it been changed recently?

 

Only asking cause it wasn't in your list of things you've done.

 

Front suspension looks solid, have you checked drive shaft balance or loose U-Joints? This cause vibrations as well. Just my opinion of course.

 

How are your axle u-joints? If they are loose and worn, or just plain installed wrong, they can cause problems.

 

Yes, sorry I forgot to list that above...

It's some $35 steering stabilizer from O'Relieys, I replaced it about 2 months ago because my rough country one was shot, it might be bad now, but I wouldn't like to think it's that because I hear it doesn't cause wobbles, it just masks the problem...

Also it doesn't look bad at all in the video

Idk what do you guys think? Replace it and give it a shot?

 

Last time I had my hubs and axles out was when I installed my ball joints(2 months ago), the u-joints showed no play or slop when being moved around, all though they probably weren't the most greased...that could be the issue now. I'll check when I replace my wheel bearings tomorrow and get back to you

 

I'm almost out of ideas so I'm thinking about temporarily removing my front drive shaft to see what happens, the u-joints might be bad, I've never checked because I haven't been using 4WD because it's been summer until now

I'll let everyone know what it is once I figure it out

Thanks!

 

When you say the track bar seems tight as can be, do you mean you've tightened it by hand as much as possibe or the bolt is tight inside of the track bar bushing (the bolt isn't able to move around inside the bushing)? I have a very similar "shimmy" at about the same speed and I plan to get a larger diameter bolt and drill out the track bar bushing just enough so the bolt barely fits. I know the bolt I used could move around a bit

 

My trackbar has a new bolt and the bolt fits in there pretty well, it's only hand tightened(tightly thought), because I could only get a wrench on the backside once. I can even get in there again to loosen it, this might be the culprit but I don't see any movement there in the video

Wobbles are quite annoying and take so much time to figure out, diagnose, and fix...

If you do that bolt fix any day soon get back to me and let me know if it fixes it

 

Put a pry bar under between the axle C and the u-joint caps. There should be NO play. Rotate it around check all caps to be thorough. Also make sure your steering linkage is perfectly tight. Even slight play can cause problems.

I have seen wheel bearings, steering linkage, and ball joints cause the most problems. And if you had one questionable wheel bearing and changed it, that forces any slop to the older wheel bearing which may kill it pretty quick. Also check your control arm bushings and make sure they are solid and tight.

 

What were the alignment specs?

Having caster out of spec could also cause this issue. The reason I ask is it looks like your're on stock upper control arms. With 6.5" of lift you should really have some adjustable uppers. I'm assuming the lowers are longer or adjustable?

Post the alignment specs if you can find them.

 

My upper and lower control arms are the stock ones but they're modified and custom. The previous owner cut the stock ones in half and rewelded square tubes to them to make them longer. My caster isn't extremely off at all, my arms are probably 3" longer than stock...my springs are straight and the axle looks pretty even under the springs although I haven't checked caster with an actual measuring tool

My alignment specs are:
Front left: toe(0.09deg) camber(-1.3deg)
Front right: toe(0.09deg) camber(-0.3deg)
Caster wasn't measured

 

I didn't see any shimmy in the vid. I didn't watch all 8 min though.

 

I'll take another video of just one wheel later to show how it moves, its a lot of wheel left/right movement. Almost like its turning left, then right, then left, the right contently while driving, but not a lot