XJ death wobble

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tradedhonda4XJ

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i just lifted my xj two weeks ago with a 4.5 inch rusty's lift and i couldn't drive it more than 2 minutes without getting the death wobble. I brought it to a shop to get the alignment done and after that it was drivable, but it still shook a little when driving. i took it on some trails the other day and when i drove it home, the death wobbles are back. thinking maybe i overlooked doing something when i put the lift in?
 
You shouldn't have to use a drop pitman arm. It will throw your steering/trackbar geometry off, and cause different problems including excessive bumpsteer.

Make sure everything is really tight, and you don't have any worn steering components.
 
I have rusty's fixed lower control arms and rusty's adjustable traction bar if that helps. I'll post a pic of the front end tomarrow.
 
That's pretty much my setup.  I've never gotten the death wobble.  How are the bushings on the upper arms?  Is there any play in the steering box?
 
it's deffinitely DW. i have to slow down to about 15 mph to get it to stop. I checked all of the ball joints and bushings and they all seemed to be fine, although it's hard to tell how stiff stock bushings should be, they all seem fine. I'm using used tires that came off my friend's jeep, but they didn't give him any problems so i'm assuming that my tires aren't the problem. the other thing is that my caster is off by about an 1/8 of an inch compared to the other side, so i don't know it that could be the problem. anyone know if i should have my lower control arms pushed all the way to the front or rear?
 
if the caster is off from one side to the other  i think you have bigger problems. do you mean toe

http://aligncraft.com/terms/terms.html#FrontCaster
 
i'm not sure. i think it's the caster. the best way for me to explain it is that where the lower control arms connect to the body, the body has an oval whole to move the axle forward or back a little bit. i notice that the gaps are different on each side. my passengerside lower control arm is set back about an 1/8 of an inch more.
 
stupid question. is the steering damper good? my old 91  xj did that.  when I hit  a bump it would start and I would have to just about stop to get the wobble to stop. new damper and it was good to go.

 
tradedhonda4XJ said:
i'm not sure. i think it's the caster. the best way for me to explain it is that where the lower control arms connect to the body, the body has an oval whole to move the axle forward or back a little bit. i notice that the gaps are different on each side. my passengerside lower control arm is set back about an 1/8 of an inch more.
Click to expand...

Just bring it to alignment shop.  My XJ isn't even either.  I noticed that when I did my lift. 

Before you started the lift, did you check the angle of your front pinion?  I checked it prior and after the lift and made adjustments to my control arms to get it as close to orginal.  Although I got real lucky, I talked to Rusty's before and asked him where I should start with the control arm lengths and it was right on the money.  No DW.
 
the side to side  thing isnt a big deal as long as the housing isnt twisted  wich i doubt it is. check your track bar  bushings. make sure they are not sloppy.  other than that give the whole front end the hands on wigggle check. as kakirubi said check you pinion angle  if the pinion is to far up it  will cut your castor and cause dw
 
I just replaced my steering stabilizer since it was only 30 bucks and everything seems to be running good. I got one death wobble doing about 55mph but i hit a pretty nasty bump that set it off. the steering still wobbles a little but the front tires have a slight differnt amount of wear...new tires should be helpful when i get the money. thanks for all the advice guys
 
i damper will just cover up the problem. need to find out what is the real problem. glad its a lil better
 
If who ever did the alignment actually did a good job, ask them for a printout of your front end.  It will show you your before and after angles and your thrust angle of your jeep.  With fixed arms on a XJ there is little caster to be adjusted, only shims can be placed on the rear of the control arm where it connects to the body.  Out of balance tires are a very common death-wobble cause other than loose parts. Just a question?? does your jeep pull to on side when driving? 
 
that is true and it was proved today when i drove to school and couldn't go over 57 mph before it would start shaking and a good bump would give me the DW. the jeep does pull to the right slightly. i talked to the guy who did my alignment and he was the one that said i needed a new stabilizer...he said that my caster wasn't off by anymore than two tenths of an inch because it would have shown up red on his machine. but this was a few days ago so i didn't think to get a printout.
 
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