Death wobble bedammmmmmmned !!!!!!!

[pyrotech]

Hey guys whatsup I am sorry to not have been following up with the forum lately, Just to let everybody know about my long awaited improvements as well as my now finally repaired freakin death wobble man those things are down right freakin scary! I came into a small amount of money and mama said since I have been so good I could spend some on the red headed step child so here goes my list of new stuff I bought 4 tires and wheels off a mechanic friend of mine the wheels are from a 05 jeep limited the tires are 31x10.50x15" pro comp extreme terrains with about 3000 miles on them so nearly new they still had the little titties on the sides,new 5.50" lift springs for the front from super lift s10 blazer leaf springs new ubolts as well as spring clamps,new left outer tie rod end then new rt inner tie rod end, new steering stabilizer, new shocks on all 4 corners The cheap pro comp es 3000 series,2 sets of pinion angle correction shims for a total of 5 degrees correction whew now the test drive hmmmmm the new springs in front really soak up the crapppppy roads around here more driving went on I drove the stepchild for about a week and a half just before I was about to go to my buddies shop I bought my tires from for a 4 wheel alignment it happened I got my first taste of the dreaded death wobble well after stopping completly then getting out to see which wheel had came off not to mention clean out my tidy whitys I seen nothing I shook the wheels nothing I drove away it waited until the next day before scaring the crap out of me again I went home and pulled up the ol xj talk forum and typed in death wobble oh !@#$%^&*&^%$#@ I can't afford to replace all this stuff hell I only have cont. arm bushings rt. outer tie rod end lf inner tie rod end to go,but wait I forgot one or 4 more parts BALLJOINTS I replaced the right side spindle upon my first repairs back when I got it 4 years ago and guess which side now needs ball joints yep the RIGHT side replaced both on the rightside now once I get the wheel back on I will see if I am done man I hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:bang::sign0181::rant:

[bigjim350]

Every time mine gets death wobble its because of the track bar. Check that out if you havent already.

[pyrotech]

Thanks I have already ruled out that part I discovered a fair amount of play in both ball joints in fact can you tell me this when I removed the top ball joint from the mounting point on my front axle I was able to slide the threaded shaft out an additional 3/4" from the body but it was not sloppy just came out more is this normal?
And for those of you who say if no pictures then it did'nt happen I will post them in a few!!!!!!!

[4.3LXJ]

You said you were headed for an alignment? Did you get it?

[LizardRunner]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "when I removed the top ball joint from the mounting point on my front axle I was able to slide the threaded shaft out an additional 3/4" from the body but it was not sloppy just came out more is this normal? "

If you are talking about the tie rod adjustment sleeve, It should not "slide out" unless the pinching bolts are loose. If those bolts are loose with out your purposely loosening them, you are in danger!!. They are only loosened to adjust your front end alignment and should be tightened down other wise.

Like Jim said, If you are experiencing DW then the most likely culprit is the Track Bar, it will be one or more of these; a. bent (either or both of the bracket(s) or the Track Bar), b. bushings shot to hell, c. to short or to long.

[pyrotech]

No the shaft I was referring to was the shaft in the ball joint I can slide it up and down 1/2 to 3/4" so I will have the new ones saturday I prefer to use moog parts so I had a little challenge to locate them but was able to order at a independent parts house man I miss these places they used to be all over this neighborhood but all the big boys put most of them under!

[4.3LXJ]

The top ball joint is made to do that. The question is can you wiggle it back and forth.

[pyrotech]

Strange the moog ball joint did not do that as a matter of fact neither of them did I just finished the install and surprise surprise shes still wobbilin I memory serves me this all started after I installed a procomp steering stab. So this morn I am going to disconnect it and try that hell it can't wobble any worse I am down to the only old parts left is rt outer tie rod end Lf inner tie rod end oh and the air in the tires also no bushings or bearings luckily they are all still tight.

[pyrotech]

I f I can ever somewhat slow or stop the stupid wobble I am going tues. after noon I am expecting any sudden change or for that to be a magic cure but its on the list.

[4.3LXJ]

Did you ever get that alignment? Same upper and lower links on the front?

[saar]

I didn't understand if you replaced the control arms bushings.
If you didn't, it may be the time to do so.
Saar.

[bigjim350]

A bad alignment can cause death wobble. The steering stabilizer you put on would not cause the death wobble. In fact if everything is in good working order you would have no dw even if you didnt have a steering sabilizer.

[COLORADOJEEPXJ]

Check your caster angle. I had developed the death wobble after installing a 2" budget lift on my DD. Nothing but fun at 80MPH on the highway. It took a additional 1/8” shim on the LCA to get the angle back to stock. Did that about 4 months ago and have not had a wobble since then.

[pyrotech]

Well yall ready for my update it was the track bar the bushings on the end that mounts to the axle housing were fairly shot I had hell getting the bolt out just to remove the thing the sleeve had welded itself onto the bolt so I am now in the process of replacing the track bar and the control arm bushings with good ol urethane from energy they were on sale that helps then on to the front end shop will keep yall updated thanks everyone for your advice!!!!!!!!!!

[pyrotech]

Well its amazing the red headed stepchild is now on the healed list no mo wobble I now have all urethane bushings up front new alignment replaced the pass. side u joint in the axle a little red paint in the fender wells a little black everywhere else new stabilizer all new tie rod ends only thing I didnt change was the air in the tires up front, I am glad the step child is behaving for now he almost got sold.:crazy:

[Mudderoy]

Well its amazing the red headed stepchild is now on the healed list no mo wobble I now have all urethane bushings up front new alignment replaced the pass. side u joint in the axle a little red paint in the fender wells a little black everywhere else new stabilizer all new tie rod ends only thing I didnt change was the air in the tires up front, I am glad the step child is behaving for now he almost got sold.:crazy:

That's great news. I've been lucky so far no death wobble. Well I did have it on my 1983 Chevy pickup, it was, well interesting on those 36" tires. lol

[Converted96XJ]

Glad you got it figured out, it usually is the track bar that causes it.

Though there is a laundry list of things that could cause it. For me it was the tie rods.

I am down to 4 upper control arm bushings til everything up front has been replaced. I am doing the ZJ tie rod upgrade as its sitting here in boxes, and I am replacing all my tie rod boots with poly ones.

[dagr8tim]

Glad you got it figured out, it usually is the track bar that causes it.

Though there is a laundry list of things that could cause it. For me it was the tie rods.

I am down to 4 upper control arm bushings til everything up front has been replaced. I am doing the ZJ tie rod upgrade as its sitting here in boxes, and I am replacing all my tie rod boots with poly ones.

My DW was a bad TRE at the pitman arm. I replaced that, the drag link, and upgraded to a V8 ZJ tie rod setup and never looked back.

I love the way my XJ feels and the extra beef of the ZJ tie rod is great.

[Mudderoy]

What a great death wobble video...

http://youtu.be/b1RMVmBn9RY