My DW saga continues...

[Crewdude007]

Okay, about 4 months ago, I put a 2" lift on my '01 XJ. For the past 3 months I've had sporadic wobbling problems and just last week, it took on a whole new life. Now the wobblling has become a violent shake that happens almost every 5 minutes. Here are the steps I've taken:

1. Put on new steering stabilizer, new trackbar, and new shocks.
2. Had 3 different mechanics inspect the front end. All have said that the steering components are good.
3. Had alignment checked and rotated my tires so often I can't even tell anymore where they originated.
4. Replaced all 4 control arms and all bushings.
5. Doing the brakes today.

The only other things I can think of are bad tires, worn u-joints in the front axle, and wheel bearings. If anybody has any suggestions (other than putting the beast out of her misery) I'm currently on my knees and begging for your help.

 

[90Xjay]

Okay, about 4 months ago, I put a 2" lift on my '01 XJ. For the past 3 months I've had sporadic wobbling problems and just last week, it took on a whole new life. Now the wobblling has become a violent shake that happens almost every 5 minutes. Here are the steps I've taken:

1. Put on new steering stabilizer, new trackbar, and new shocks.
2. Had 3 different mechanics inspect the front end. All have said that the steering components are good.
3. Had alignment checked and rotated my tires so often I can't even tell anymore where they originated.
4. Replaced all 4 control arms and all bushings.
5. Doing the brakes today.

The only other things I can think of are bad tires, worn u-joints in the front axle, and wheel bearings. If anybody has any suggestions (other than putting the beast out of her misery) I'm currently on my knees and begging for your help.

I've been real lucky with DW as my 90 with a 3" has been good about not having it.

What about a double steering stabilizer?

 

[Crewdude007]

I forgot to mention that this is my daily driver with ~55k miles on it. The tires are still stock.

 

[XJBEATER]

Try this web link for a few tips on how to solve the death wobble, it cured my problem when i replaced my track bar.
http://jeep.off-road.com/jeep/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=261532

 

[90Xjay]

It just puzzles me how two rigs can be lifted and one gets the DW and the other does not.

 

[TwistedCU]

A stabilizer is not a cure, it will merely mask the problem.

Unbalanced tires could cause DW.

Strange, you seem to have covered all the usual culprits. Was the front lifted via coil spacers or new springs?

 

[Crewdude007]

Strange, you seem to have covered all the usual culprits. Was the front lifted via coil spacers or new springs?

It was a 2" Daystar BB. The front has coil spacers and the rear has longer shackles. Should the alignment be done with different specs because of the spacers?

 

[90Xjay]

alignment should not change..right? The COG will be different though.
Is that a 4 wheel alignment or just a toe/castor, camber set?

 

[TwistedCU]

No, the specs are the same, but the lift will throw it out of alignment.

but you said you had that done already, right? If not... there's your problem.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

You have a new trackbar, but is it loudgrunt tight? Both ends have to be super tight for it to not have any play.

Have somebody bounce the steering wheel back and forth off of full-lock while you watch both ends of the trackbar for movement, especially the upper end.

 

[Crewdude007]

It's as tight as I could make it. It took me 2 days to recover after installing that thing. I also checked it today and it appears to be okay. I still have most of the original parts. Would dropping the lift and returning it to stock be something worth trying?

 

[claythomas]

Your problem may be a result of a few things. I had the DW with a '97 wrangler w/ 4in Suspension lift, but only at 45-55 mpg and after a brief warm up. In other words if I left my house and immediatley got up to that speed, all was fine. The DW wouldn't start until after "something" warmed up, and since it was speed related, it was probably something that was spinning All the steering components seemed tight, I replaced the shimmy shock because it was leaking badly, which didn'y help at all. I replaced the right front u-joint, it needed it. The wheel bearings are pressed on this rig, so they couldn't be repacked. This took away 90% of the DW. Then I dropped the tire pressure to a few lbs less than recommended and that seemed to help a bit also. The rest may be as you say a busted belt or a balance problem, but a slight wobble still exists in my rig, but nothing, nothing like it was.

 

[mingez]

A stabilizer is not a cure, it will merely mask the problem.

Unbalanced tires could cause DW.

Strange, you seem to have covered all the usual culprits. Was the front lifted via coil spacers or new springs?

What happened to me was the DW caused my alignment and geometry to fall out of whack. Then, by the time I got all of the front end stuff fixed, the tires were "Worn" with a bad Memory. As soon as I got new tires the DW was gone.