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7 years of lifted Jeeps....now this (dw)

3K views 47 replies 15 participants last post by  bobthetj03 
#1 ·
First off....let me just say it really sucks to A) Have a lifted Jeep as your DD when combined with B) Having no knowledge of wrenching at all.....zero....total noob.

As much as I would love to work on my jeep......its my DD, and I can't risk it. Friggin everyone else seems to have friends that know how to work on cars,....or their dad taught them how to work on cars.......but not me.....oh nooo...not me.

With that said......
My TJ (got about 7 months ago).....slowly developed a small shimmy here and there,.....highly intermittent.....then last month or so hit a bump and bam! Steering wheel posessed....cranking from 10oclock to 2-3 oclock...I slowed to a crawl it stopped. Did this twice.

Now this morning,....turn outta my street and as soon as I get around maybe 42mph....bam! Hardcore back and forth 10oclock-2oclock....repeat.
Not a shimmy,.....felt like entire front end was jumping left to right and back....

Slowed.....tried to get up to speed again....and it starts again....I slowed BEFORE it got hardcore.....but it was gonna do it.

Drove at 34mph towards work,.....dropped it off at (please god help me) Firestone. Told them the deal.
I got a call from him,...the "middleman" said something about fittings with no grease (um....dont think so)......then balancing tires.....
I pushed the "did you REALLY check the trackbar....like check the boltholes...etc"...he wasnt sure (ofcourse...since he's the middleman)...assured me they would check that....etc.

Anyway,.....this is gonna suck I am sure. No doubt I will pick it up and it will happen right away. They are putting balancing compound in the tires....and checking alignment....etc..etc.....

And so begins my journey....not just to fix the DW,....but to even find a shop that can help (I live in the middle of nowhere).

Have a nice day.

btw - I have read every DW thread on here....so no need to offer up the standard stuff to look for.....I already know,....just don't want to "personally" take a wrench to my Jeep.....not that I even own a torque wrench :-(



EDIT: Yup......here we go. After "lubing" all the fittings...etc.....it supposedly will not vibrate. They have driven it all over town apparently,....and its perfect. Nothing. So....knowing everything was greased about 2K miles ago,.....and knowing it was gonna friggin xplode this morning on me.......I have no clue. Just gotta wait for it to do it again.
 
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#3 ·
I've always said that the only thing scarier than experiencing DW for the first time is watching somebody else experience it for the first time. :teehee:

If there's no other majors issues going on, make sure you rotate your tires every 3k miles. That can help.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
No doubt. I AM going to get it to a real shop.....this happened on the way to work,...and I needed somebody (anybody) to look at it asap.
I know Fstone isnt going to solve the problem.....but I gotta find someplace around here that knows Jeeps....and that isnt an hour away......which ain't easy.

Gonna do balancing compound. I throw weights too easy where I drive.....

btw - Boogy....we might PM'd before?.....I am over the mountain from you.....south of Elkton. You know anybody to take it too? I was thinking maybe Matt at Mad Matts?
 
#8 ·
I'd get the tires road force balanced first.My buddy's JK had the same problem and I checked everything out for him.Everything was tight so I told him to get the tires balanced and it now drives perfect.Larger tires have to balanced perfectly and the road force machine is the best way.
 
#16 ·
Well Ozmosiz....it takes alot of work. Basically, you get into a stressful 80 hour a week career, then move around the country every coiuple of years making no friends, and not having time for friends.....not even owning furniture till your 33 yrs old......and you pay shops to do stuff on your jeep.
Then you wake up 41yrs old,...finally settled into an area that has no offroad shops...and you get pissed you know nothing about jeeps. Don't get me wrong....I have read and read forums, magazines...etc for years,....but that knowledge is not remotely the same as "doing it" on a Jeep. And as my DD....I just cant take the risk of screwing something up. I would love to learn......but it's not easy to find the people!
You offering? I've always wanted to visit Maine! ;-)

Update: Got it back from Firestone yesterday.....it "stopped doing it after they lubed it"......ummm...yeah right.
It didnt go into full on DW on the way home,....but there was a strong wobble at 40mph.......maybe the lubing "masked" or reduced the issue. I dont see how it needed lube anyway after being fully lubed 2K miles ago.

Going infor Road Force Balance today at noon. Not that it may or may not be the problem ofcourse,...but I guess we go down the list 1 item at a time. BTW - Trackbar is fine.
 
#19 ·
my knowledge is absolutely terrible on Jeeps as well, but daily reading of these forums and asking questions like you are doing is the path to learning all we need to know.

i refuse to have a shop do upgrades or repairs now...not as long as i have the capability to do it...imo, you just need to find that one shop, and frequent it...also check craigslist...there are a lot of mechanics that moonlight on the side for extra money...could be a great resource for you.
 
#20 ·
The trackbar has been found to be the culprit many times in DW cases. A new poly bushing and larger bolt really helped mine.

Unless they actually removed the trackbar, there was no way they could check the track bar mount holes. The "lubing" thing is total BS. If I had to bet on it, I would say they squirted the zerks, wiggled your tierod by hand, and called it good.

Look at the 2nd video in this post: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/shimmying-shakin-i-got-dw-1032484/index4.html#post9489394. This is the "dry-test" to check your track bar bushings. Wheels on the ground, engine off, moving steering wheel 10-to-2 rapidly. If you get the bushing movement seen in the video (or similar), then its probably time for a new one. Many different/better options out there for an upgrade bushings: Moog poly, OEM XJ rubber bushing, or JK upper track bar bushing to name a couple.

Did they do the beads or no?
 
#22 ·
I just saw that you had bias ply tires. It is my understanding that, in general, they have less-than-friendly road manners and are more difficult to keep balanced.

My experience with bias ply tires has been minimal (Super Swamper Thornbirds for about 6 months), but the tire shops "couldn't get them to balance" and anything over about 55 shook me to death. (This was before I knew about road-force balancing or beads.)

I would recommend seeing how the road-force balance does first. If they are some better, then you might actually want to try some beads. Other members on here recommend them for bias ply tires. Might want to PM Flatlander757. I believe he runs them in his bias ply tires.

You still need to check that track bar bushing though!
 
#23 ·
OK Dirt - Thanks again for more good info!

I went out and did the trackbar test:
- the lower joint/bushing at the axle did not visiually appear to move at all...seemed 100% locked into place
- The upper joint where it attaches to the bracket DID have some play....it had maybe 1/2" or slightly more of vertical play....so with each 10oclock to 2 oclock movement of the steering wheel this joint would rise and fall......is this normal?

Everything else appeared normal....? At first I thought OMG my whole axle is moving right to left to right just a bit with each turn of the wheel....BUT, it was really kind of the whole jeep just responding a bit to the turning of the large tires......

Stabilizer joints.....CA joints......everything else I could stare at appeared to be solid

I could go shoot a video of all this and post? If you guys feel like being that incredibly helpful? ;-) :)
 
#24 · (Edited)
I experienced the DW and it was tied into the track bar on mine. I started hearing a clicking sound before it really set it. It was because the hole wallowed out and the bolt was sliding inside making contact with the edges. You may want to pull the bolt that attaches the track bar to the axle and see if there is any play in it. If there isn't any play than it isn't the track bar. If there is then you should go to a decent local shop and have them weld a washer around the hole as a cheap fix.
 
#30 ·
Crap. grrrrr......OK.......I'll go do it again.....

BUT to confirm,...it is NORMAL for the Heim Joint to be able to move up and down like that?..

btw - I wish I was just goofing around,.....right now you guys are more helpful than any d_mn shop I've talked to around here.....
 
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