Death Wobble

How common is death wobble on a bone stock 2WD XJ?.

I have a friend who was trying to describe the XJs recent reaction to
crossing the railroad tracks and all I could make of it was death
wobble......

Am I missing something or what should I be looking at tomorrow?

What I know:
'96 XJ Classic 2WD, ~90k miles, 4 liter 3 speed automatic,. Kelly Celebrity
tires mounted and balanced 2 years ago, not aligned at that time (old
tires had no odd wear), condition of shocks unknown, condition of suspension
unknown. Brakes and rotors new - DW existed before the brake job)

Jeeps seems to be otherwise in good shape the 'dw like' sensation only
mentioned as an afterthought within a different conversation last night. I
don't know if this is the first instance or a recurring problem. (I suspect
it is not a common occurrence on this Jeep as it has never been mentioned
before)

I will be looking at this over the weekend. Anything in particular, other
than the above, that I should look for?

rebalance the tires before you waste time on anything else..Rubber wears off
and it changes.When i worked in german car shops we balanced the wheels as
part of the 15K service.
--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

"Stupendous Man" > wrote in message
...
> rebalance the tires before you waste time on anything else..Rubber wears
> off and it changes.When i worked in german car shops we balanced the
> wheels as part of the 15K service.


....I think you will find, if you check balance of the tires even more often,
like every 6000 miles, or every other oil change, they will need balancing
then too.

Spdloader

Spdloader wrote:
> "Stupendous Man" > wrote in message
> ...
>> rebalance the tires before you waste time on anything else..Rubber wears
>> off and it changes.When i worked in german car shops we balanced the
>> wheels as part of the 15K service.
>
>
> ...I think you will find, if you check balance of the tires even more often,
> like every 6000 miles, or every other oil change, they will need balancing
> then too.
>
> Spdloader
>
>
and rotate every 6000 miles. :-)

--
FRH

Or three thousand miles with each oil change:
http://www.billhughes.com/lubeSchedule.pdf
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O


"Frank_v7.0" wrote:
>
> and rotate every 6000 miles. :-)
>
> --
> FRH

Aw heck Bill, *my* tires need to rotate roughly every hunnert inches or
so. It sure beats draggin the durned things down the street.


L.W.(Bill) Hughes III proclaimed:

> Or three thousand miles with each oil change:
> http://www.billhughes.com/lubeSchedule.pdf
> God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
>
>
> "Frank_v7.0" wrote:
>
>>and rotate every 6000 miles. :-)
>>
>>--
>>FRH

I took a look at the '96 XJ 2WD with the DW today.

The front end alignment is definitely off, the passenger front tire has the
outboard edge well scrubbed and there is .... some .... evidence that a
weight may have been thrown off. (cleaner spot on the rim)

While the wheels were off I greased all the zerks and noticed that several
rubber bushings were in sad shape and there was an oily layer of dirt on the
steering stabilizer tube.

The tires were all at different pressures, 3 ranged from 25-28 psi and one
at 31 psi

The least amount of weight used to balance the tires was 1.75 ounces, 1 tire
at 2.25 ounces, one at 2.75 ounces, and the highest had 5.25 ounces on
215-75x15 tires and all the weights were on the inside rim , none on the
outside.

All 4 shocks work fine, Jeep settles during the first bounce

The DW first occurred a month and a half ago and last occurred yesterday
afternoon at 47 mph in a straight and smooth section of level road.

Today the XJ was greased and the tires rotated front to back

I recommended all the tires be broken down and rotated 180 degrees and
rebalanced and the front end aligned.

After that we would attend to the bushings and steering stabilizer

Any thoughts?


"billy ray" > wrote in message
...
> How common is death wobble on a bone stock 2WD XJ?.
>
> I have a friend who was trying to describe the XJs recent reaction to
> crossing the railroad tracks and all I could make of it was death
> wobble......
>
> Am I missing something or what should I be looking at tomorrow?
>
> What I know:
> '96 XJ Classic 2WD, ~90k miles, 4 liter 3 speed automatic,. Kelly
> Celebrity tires mounted and balanced 2 years ago, not aligned at that
> time (old tires had no odd wear), condition of shocks unknown, condition
> of suspension unknown. Brakes and rotors new - DW existed before the
> brake job)
>
> Jeeps seems to be otherwise in good shape the 'dw like' sensation only
> mentioned as an afterthought within a different conversation last night.
> I don't know if this is the first instance or a recurring problem. (I
> suspect it is not a common occurrence on this Jeep as it has never been
> mentioned before)
>
> I will be looking at this over the weekend. Anything in particular, other
> than the above, that I should look for?
>

"billy ray" > wrote in message
...
>I took a look at the '96 XJ 2WD with the DW today.
>
> The front end alignment is definitely off, the passenger front tire has
> the outboard edge well scrubbed and there is .... some .... evidence that
> a weight may have been thrown off. (cleaner spot on the rim)
>
> While the wheels were off I greased all the zerks and noticed that several
> rubber bushings were in sad shape and there was an oily layer of dirt on
> the steering stabilizer tube.
>
> The tires were all at different pressures, 3 ranged from 25-28 psi and one
> at 31 psi
>
> The least amount of weight used to balance the tires was 1.75 ounces, 1
> tire at 2.25 ounces, one at 2.75 ounces, and the highest had 5.25 ounces
> on 215-75x15 tires and all the weights were on the inside rim , none on
> the outside.
>
> All 4 shocks work fine, Jeep settles during the first bounce
>
> The DW first occurred a month and a half ago and last occurred yesterday
> afternoon at 47 mph in a straight and smooth section of level road.
>
> Today the XJ was greased and the tires rotated front to back
>
> I recommended all the tires be broken down and rotated 180 degrees and
> rebalanced and the front end aligned.
>
> After that we would attend to the bushings and steering stabilizer
>
> Any thoughts?
>
>
> "billy ray" > wrote in message
> ...
>> How common is death wobble on a bone stock 2WD XJ?.
>>
>> I have a friend who was trying to describe the XJs recent reaction to
>> crossing the railroad tracks and all I could make of it was death
>> wobble......
>>
>> Am I missing something or what should I be looking at tomorrow?
>>
>> What I know:
>> '96 XJ Classic 2WD, ~90k miles, 4 liter 3 speed automatic,. Kelly
>> Celebrity tires mounted and balanced 2 years ago, not aligned at that
>> time (old tires had no odd wear), condition of shocks unknown, condition
>> of suspension unknown. Brakes and rotors new - DW existed before the
>> brake job)
>>
>> Jeeps seems to be otherwise in good shape the 'dw like' sensation only
>> mentioned as an afterthought within a different conversation last night.
>> I don't know if this is the first instance or a recurring problem. (I
>> suspect it is not a common occurrence on this Jeep as it has never been
>> mentioned before)
>>
>> I will be looking at this over the weekend. Anything in particular,
>> other than the above, that I should look for?
>>
>
>

That's a good start. Get the bushings and stabilizer replaced and I'll bet
the problem goes away.

Spdloader

I've got an 04 Rubicon and it goes nuts too when I cross RR tracks or a
weird bump. Seems it only happens when I'm doing 50 - 60. I have to slow
down to 30 go keep it under control. The wobble stops, then I can continue.
I've only got 15K on it, and I took it back to the dealer and he said he
couldn't find anything wrong. I'm thinking about replacing the steering
damper with a bigger one. Do you think that would help? If so, any
recommendations on what damper to get?

Thanks
Lloyd


"billy ray" > wrote in message
...
> How common is death wobble on a bone stock 2WD XJ?.
>
> I have a friend who was trying to describe the XJs recent reaction to
> crossing the railroad tracks and all I could make of it was death
> wobble......
>
> Am I missing something or what should I be looking at tomorrow?
>
> What I know:
> '96 XJ Classic 2WD, ~90k miles, 4 liter 3 speed automatic,. Kelly
> Celebrity tires mounted and balanced 2 years ago, not aligned at that
> time (old tires had no odd wear), condition of shocks unknown, condition
> of suspension unknown. Brakes and rotors new - DW existed before the
> brake job)
>
> Jeeps seems to be otherwise in good shape the 'dw like' sensation only
> mentioned as an afterthought within a different conversation last night.
> I don't know if this is the first instance or a recurring problem. (I
> suspect it is not a common occurrence on this Jeep as it has never been
> mentioned before)
>
> I will be looking at this over the weekend. Anything in particular, other
> than the above, that I should look for?
>

Tire balance and the steering damper are the causes. I wouldn't think twice
about changing the damper, then go to a reputable tire shop. Have them
check the tires for out-of-round, and spin balance and rotate.

Frequent tire rotation is an absolute must for Jeep owners. I do it every
three months, and have them spin balanced too. It's been worth the money.

The stock damper is pretty lame. You'll be changing it sooner or later
anyway and they don't cost that much.

If your dealer didn't know what was wrong, find somewhere else to take it.
This is a very common problem.

Paul Nelson
http://www.kerygma.org/nelson


in article , Lloyd Hanning at
wrote on 10/8/06 5:35 PM:

> I've got an 04 Rubicon and it goes nuts too when I cross RR tracks or a
> weird bump. Seems it only happens when I'm doing 50 - 60. I have to slow
> down to 30 go keep it under control. The wobble stops, then I can continue.
> I've only got 15K on it, and I took it back to the dealer and he said he
> couldn't find anything wrong. I'm thinking about replacing the steering
> damper with a bigger one. Do you think that would help? If so, any
> recommendations on what damper to get?
>
> Thanks
> Lloyd
>
>
> "billy ray" > wrote in message
> ...
>> How common is death wobble on a bone stock 2WD XJ?.
>>
>> I have a friend who was trying to describe the XJs recent reaction to
>> crossing the railroad tracks and all I could make of it was death
>> wobble......
>>
>> Am I missing something or what should I be looking at tomorrow?
>>
>> What I know:
>> '96 XJ Classic 2WD, ~90k miles, 4 liter 3 speed automatic,. Kelly
>> Celebrity tires mounted and balanced 2 years ago, not aligned at that
>> time (old tires had no odd wear), condition of shocks unknown, condition
>> of suspension unknown. Brakes and rotors new - DW existed before the
>> brake job)
>>
>> Jeeps seems to be otherwise in good shape the 'dw like' sensation only
>> mentioned as an afterthought within a different conversation last night.
>> I don't know if this is the first instance or a recurring problem. (I
>> suspect it is not a common occurrence on this Jeep as it has never been
>> mentioned before)
>>
>> I will be looking at this over the weekend. Anything in particular, other
>> than the above, that I should look for?
>>
>
>