Death wobble after WJ swap

[75SV1]

LIFT......LCAs......UCAs



Stock....15.75"....15.00"

2"........15.92"....14.88"

3"........16.09"....14.92"

4"........16.33"....15.03"

4.5".....16.47"....15.11"

5"........16.62"....15.21"

6"........16.97"....15.44"

7"........17.36"....15.74"

8"........17.81"....16.09"

9"........18.30"....16.50"

10"......18.82"....16.96"

Just check the lengths of the control arms to these specs. Ran into a DW thread, and the guy was running stock UCA and LCA. So, not good.

 

[tradisrad]

Quick update: made some toe adjustments. First did an unmeasured 2 full bar rotations toe in to see what would happen. The results was severe death wobble.
Put it back to to where it was and yanked the tires, mounted the “toe bars” and set it to 3/16”. It drove pretty good and I did not get any wobble. It probably needs some more fine tuning.
Work gets in the way of life, so I’ll get back to in soon.

 

[Anak]

Sounds like progress at least.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Pretty fascinating situation. The setup looks super clean. The only thing I see that seems like a potential contributor to DW is the lack of a steering damper. However, I know there are people out there who have no issues running without.

I am helping rob here. We measured flex in the track bar mount when turning steering wheel. The mount flexes about 0.020 inch as we turn steering lock to lock.
Is this amount of flex inacceptable???

My track bar mount bushing at the frame bracket flexes at least that much when turning the steering wheel with the vehicle stationary.

I kind of question the 1/16 toe in. I think stock is 1/4. With bigger tires, I thought it is suppose to be more. ??? Although I deal with some that splay them a bit. ??? Also, what length on the Upper and lower control arms?

I'm on stock axle with 1/16" toe-in.

I've never had a hint of DW. Stock axle setup. Radius long arm. And a bunch of the stuff is RC.

I guess I'd be looking at wheel balance and wheel wobble.

I also suspect short arm could be a contributor.

 

[75SV1]

Id be concerned with the flexing of the frame near the trackbar mount. My frame was cracked there. Real Fun DW. Also, fun when the trackbar breaks loose. Steering dampeners might mitigate DW, they will not prevent it.

 

[tradisrad]

I’m getting a wheel balance this morning. I’ll ask them to check the alignment too.

I have tried to mock up the steering stabilizer, but there is not a lot of space to put it.

I did pick up a set of Rocky Road control arm drop brackets from Craigslist. Installation pending and no “permanent” mods required.

I’m tempted to buy Ironmans long arm kit as someone has one for sale in my area. I don’t think I feel like doing all that work and I’ve got super nice Metalcloak aluminum short arms.

It’s the axle side mount that has the flex and I’ll likely try and add some bracing. I’ve not tried to measure the frame side flex. I may change the frame mount to Ironmans offset bracket to lengthen my track bar by an inch or so. I can also modify the stinkyfab mount but I would not gain as much length. I’m not getting bump steer, so this is low on the list. Once I decide on this I will add a brace.

 

[75SV1]

Post in thread 'XJ Build, again.'

Feb 13, 2025

Tell your insurance company to go get this one for you as a replacement: Another nice build

That is a beautiful XJ. And really temping. I’ve been looking for a stock one, but this one seems to be built well.

North Dakota is a long drive though haha.

• Jeepedo129

I like how the steering stabilizer was done in this thread. I used a Diff cover from RUff Stuff that has tabs for a steering stabilizer on mine. With Cross Over steering, I've run without a steering stabilizer.

 

[Jeepedo129]

Post in thread 'XJ Build, again.'

Feb 13, 2025

Tell your insurance company to go get this one for you as a replacement: Another nice build

That is a beautiful XJ. And really temping. I’ve been looking for a stock one, but this one seems to be built well.

North Dakota is a long drive though haha.

• Jeepedo129

I like how the steering stabilizer was done in this thread. I used a Diff cover from RUff Stuff that has tabs for a steering stabilizer on mine. With Cross Over steering, I've run without a steering stabilizer.

Thanks for the shout out

I guess I'll add my 2 cents here.

DW is usually some kind of play in the front axle somewhere. In the past, I've found the culprit with the jeep off, pressing the brake firmly, and slightly moving the steering wheel left and right. Then having a friend feel with hands on all the steering and suspension components. Some times it will make an audible popping noise, sometimes it will be just enough to feel the pop in the part. Loose bolts, play in TREs or rod ends or control arms. Pay particular attention to the track bar since this is what keeps your axle centered under the jeep. Also look at your knuckles. Looks like you used 1 ton TRE's so your knuckles are drilled out. Did you use a Taper bushing or was a reamer used? If there is play in on any of those ends that will cause DW.

As mentioned before, other factors can also be out of balance tires or loose suspension components in the back. (leaf bushings, or broke leaves) but usually that presents itself as pulling to one side or wandering.

I was running a stabilizer on my jeep with WJ steering, and it will mask alot of the DW problems out there so it's not a bad thing to have, but it is defiantly not a requirement for WJ steering. Your set up looks as good as you can on an XJ with your DL and TB angles.

Here's what I did for a Stabilizer.

 

[75SV1]

I like the above stabilizer than the Ruff Stuff one. A lot more room. Also, Just add steering box tightness to the list. Bushing in the UCA and LCA. Length of control arms.

 

[tradisrad]

Jeepedo, thanks for your reply. I like how you did the stabilizer, and I may copy it.

For the 1 ton tie rods I reamed the knuckles on an end mill and carefully checked the depth. They are solid. The rear suspension is in good shape.

It looks like you are using the Stinkyfab track bar bracket on the frame. Why does he have it angled forward? It does not make sense to me unless the axle is pushed forward.. I want to cut mine, move it out as far as possible and rotate it back a little.

I had the alignment check and the wheels balanced. The caster is at 5.4*, it was slightly toe out and they added a lot of weights to the wheels. I adjusted the toe again and then drove the jeep 30 miles into work this morning, hitting every bump and pothole I could see, and had no signs of death wobble. I "think" the problem is solved.

 

[Jeepedo129]

Yeah I used the stinky fab bracket for the TB. It was a temporary install until I could get my D44 set up.

My Frame side TB is pushed forward about an inch to prep for the D44 and so I had to rotate the bracket forward to clear the pumpkin at full stuff. TB was smacking the top on a previous set up.