death shake at 45+

[jjcustoms09]

ok i have a 89 jeep cherakee with a 3inch heckthorn lift and 33s and i have this death shake every time i hit 40MPH if i speed up to like 55 it will go away i dont know what i can do to fix this problem. i mean like the hole front end with shake at them speeds then go away? and thats not safe.

any one know what i can do to fix this problem?

[cobra]

check your trackbar bushing might be shot, or it can be loose

[jdhughes]

i balanced my wheels, and that fixed mine

[hillbilly67]

The death wobble is caused by not enough caster, you need to kick the bottom of the axle forward. Worn and loose components amplify it, but are not the cause. I've been curing the same problem on Dodge pickups (which use the same style of front end) for 5 yrs now. Dodge sent the trucks out set at 0 degrees, I've cranked some up to 10 to get rid of it.
Once a lift is installed, the arms usually pull the bottom of the axle back. The problem then is trying to add caster while keeping the pinion angle decent. After receiving so many complaints, we are now working with American Axle to custom build offset kingpin yokes to cure this.

[pgdyk]

Originally Posted by hillbilly67

Once a lift is installed, the arms usually pull the bottom of the axle back. The problem then is trying to add caster while keeping the pinion angle decent. After receiving so many complaints, we are now working with American Axle to custom build offset kingpin yokes to cure this.

Sounds expensive. What about those of us who have the same problems without a lift and balanced stock size tires?

[cj7guy]

Agreed, I get it on my bone stocker.

Any tips? Should I have my mechanic set my alignment a particular way, more or less toe?

LCAs aren't really an option unless I go for a 3" lift. How else can I adjust it?

[foreman1063]

Originally Posted by cj7guy

Agreed, I get it on my bone stocker.

Any tips? Should I have my mechanic set my alignment a particular way, more or less toe?

LCAs aren't really an option unless I go for a 3" lift. How else can I adjust it?

Pull out your tape measure and check the toe. You want the front toed in about 1/8th of an inch.

[cj7guy]

Any way to adjust caster on a bone stock Jeep?

Would 1/4" toe-in be better?

[EricsXJ]

First of all what this guy has is NOT death wobble.

Death wobble rarely is as predictable as this (doesn't happen every time at the exact speed, etc) and it does not go away by going faster!

This is surely a bad tire/wheel balancing issue. I've experienced it myself and just because the vibrations are bad does not mean its the same as DW. In my case I could not go above 50 mph. Same vibes every time.

To the original poster, you need at the minimum a balance job. If that doesn't fix it completely, maybe your wheels need to be replaced or the tires if they are out-of-round. If you want to experiment before balancing them you can just rotate them yourself and see how that changes things as the individual tires are usually at different levels of unbalance. Sometimes this can help you determine which wheel/tire is the worst, but in your case its going to need a balancing regardless.

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by hillbilly67

The death wobble is caused by not enough caster, you need to kick the bottom of the axle forward. Worn and loose components amplify it, but are not the cause. I've been curing the same problem on Dodge pickups (which use the same style of front end) for 5 yrs now. Dodge sent the trucks out set at 0 degrees, I've cranked some up to 10 to get rid of it.
Once a lift is installed, the arms usually pull the bottom of the axle back. The problem then is trying to add caster while keeping the pinion angle decent. After receiving so many complaints, we are now working with American Axle to custom build offset kingpin yokes to cure this.

True for Dodge pickups maybe, but I disagree in our case unless the Jeep in question has zero degrees caster, which is unheard of. It is very common to have less caster than factory spec after instalation of a lift but it will not automatically cause DW. I will agree that it is a contributor. In what we've experienced a loss or worn part is almost always the cause, which is why you can have caster set to factory specs and still get DW.

[EricsXJ]

This is true Death Wobble (from thread Stock cherokee death wobble ):

My 99 cherokee sport does a death wobble when i hit any large bumps at about 50+ mph, i need to come to a complete stop or almost a complete stop to make it go away. It's pretty bad, my car is still relatively low mileage i don't understand! please reply!!!

[pgdyk]

I fixed my DW, shift fast and hold onto the wheel tight until i hit 60.

[jjcustoms09]

it is not my tires ive put my stock ones on still does it put my mud tires on still does it put my smaller mud tires on still will do it. all them are with different rims to so i know damn well it aint the tires.

could it be that shock type looking thing on my trac bar or what ever you call it.?

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

First of all what this guy has is NOT death wobble.

Death wobble rarely is as predictable as this (doesn't happen every time at the exact speed, etc) and it does not go away by going faster!

This is surely a bad tire/wheel balancing issue. I've experienced it myself and just because the vibrations are bad does not mean its the same as DW. In my case I could not go above 50 mph. Same vibes every time.

To the original poster, you need at the minimum a balance job. If that doesn't fix it completely, maybe your wheels need to be replaced or the tires if they are out-of-round. If you want to experiment before balancing them you can just rotate them yourself and see how that changes things as the individual tires are usually at different levels of unbalance. Sometimes this can help you determine which wheel/tire is the worst, but in your case its going to need a balancing regardless.

[mecompco]

After eliminating the DW by adjusting the LCAs, I still had front driveline vibes at 55+ (the faster the speed, the worse they got). It turns out the garage had not properly seated the U-Joint exactly in the yoke (or, the yoke is slightly sprung) and it was off to one side just a tiny bit. In any case, we removed the straps, tapped the U-Joint with a brass hammer to seat it, tightened it back up and the vibes were totally gone. I plan to replace the front yoke with a U-bolt style eventually, but it's working fine for now.

[Flexin' XJ]

Since it does it with different tires on, I suggest looking at your trac-bar mount at the body. If that joint is loose, your axle will move side to side. I agree with EricsXJ about the DW thing. DW won't go away the faster you go. The axle gets into a back and forth motion that won't stop until you stop. I had it on my XJ. At 45 it would shake violently and other cars would slow because they could see it happening.

Found my Trac-bar bracket was loose at the axle and causing the axle to move. Tightened it and it went away but my upper mount is toast. Now I have a tire balance issue too that needs to be take care of. Which more than likely is a bent rim since I have had them balanced recently and it didn't help.