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So I am probably not going to look into this for a while but just curious what you guys are thinking...At 50 mph I get a shimmie that comes through the steering wheel. At about 53 mph it is gone. My solution to this problem right now is to not go 50-53 mph! I just go faster or slower. If there was a major problem with the suspension wouldn't the shimmie be there at higher speeds regardless of how fast? Would it really stop after speeding up?
What does tire wear look like ?
Harmonics can be a elusive thing.
At that narrow a speed band, I would suggest it was a wheel balance issue.
Probably go away if you swap the tires to the back
Tire wear I will double check. The tires have less than 3500 miles on them probably. There was an alignment done and new tires put on a month before I bought it in march. I have the receipt in the jeep still, the guy left it in there. I only drive it on the weekends so it gets maybe 75 miles a weekend if it is a heavy driving weekend. I will check out the balancing though. Thanks for the heads up guys!
Check those tires, but the wheel balance can definitely contribute. I noticed you have 31's on your XJ. I also run 31's. I had to do check the tire contact patch on mine to get the correct tire pressure. The way I did it was using chalk. You run a band of chalk across the tire width, drive about 50 feet and then check how the chalk wore off the tire. If you get a even wear of the chalk, then you have found the correct pressure.
I suppose, in short I'm just saying that don't assume that the tire pressure on the door jamb, is correct. If you do use that door jamb tire pressure, then you will very likely have rapid, excessive tire wear.
Tire balance is high on the list. But just about any component and/or bushing in the front end could be the source. Start with the easy stuff, like tire balance. Also, a lot of alignment shops don't know how to deal with a lifted Jeep and 31" tires. You might try to find a shop that knows jeeps. Long list of other stuff on a Cherokee that could be causing a shimmie, like shocks, track bar bushings, wheel hubs, ball joints. Hopefully it won't be too hard to chase down.