Steering wheel shakes

[Desert Jewel]

Tires were just balanced, but the way DJ drives, that front driveshaft has prolly spent more time bangin' into rocks than my whole jeep...

Very funny!! I haven't hit the front drive shaft on any rocks.

[Desert Jewel]

if the vibration is about 3 cycles a second I'd say tires. about 10 cycles a second, I'd say driveshaft. :2:

How do I rate the vibration?? Why would it only happen between 35-40 mph?

[Elusive]

How do I rate the vibration?? Why would it only happen between 35-40 mph?

because almost all death wobble is between 35-40 MPH.
check in this order:
1. tire balance..sometimes wheel weights get tossed off or are peeled off by rocks
2. track bar tightness..make sure there is no lateral play in it
3. jack up the tires individually and check the ball joints, and tie rod ends
4. get the alignment checked again. ever wonder why the steering wheel was a little left till you went wheeling and now it's a little right?
5. make sure the caster angle is about 6 degrees positive..some lift kits have adjustable arms that will allow you to really jack up the caster angle. also check that the arms are the same length or your jeep will crab down the road..though the alignment shop should have caught this.
6. make sure the caps aren't walking out of the u-joits in the front axle shafts, though this would vibrate all the time.

[blkTJ]

How do I rate the vibration?? Why would it only happen between 35-40 mph?

when a tire or drivesharft is out of balance or a cv ball is tweaked, there is critical speed at which the vibration will be the most severe. above or below that the problem will be less noticable.

[Desert Jewel]

Thanks guys!! I'll get someone to help me do all the checks you have suggested.

[irishjeeper]

im telling you, and i know it doesnt make sense. the track bar is loose at the top bracket.im betting the reason it shakes between 35 and 40 is because its not that loose yet . it gets progressively worse.i had to way over tighten mine to stop the "shake".i guess on the top of the bracket its not totally flat and the aftermarkets come loose after some descent bounces.i tightened mine way past torque specs and it can still go further and it probably needs too, to be honest.

[Desert Jewel]

im telling you, and i know it doesnt make sense. the track bar is loose at the top bracket.im betting the reason it shakes between 35 and 40 is because its not that loose yet . it gets progressively worse.i had to way over tighten mine to stop the "shake".i guess on the top of the bracket its not totally flat and the aftermarkets come loose after some descent bounces.i tightened mine way past torque specs and it can still go further and it probably needs too, to be honest.

Thanks! I'll try to find some guy who will tighten the crap out of it for me....and then see if that works.

[cjsteve]

well mine did the same when i put the Hankook 33s on. It got so bad my wife almost fell out. Took it to other balancing shop. Road away there. Probs solved.

[Mandelon]

So what was it?

[miguelitojeep97]

I have been having these problems off and on for freakin ever. Unless its really bad I just leave it (i know its bad) I was told the slip yoke on my 3 yr old High Angle driveshaft was messed up and had to be re-built for like $200. I DONT THINK SO! new it was around 300. I have it strapped to my frame right now . but yea I have been getting my tires balanced every 3k. my trac bar does get loose. and my steering box is squirting fluid all the time.

would a bad steering box cause bump steer/wobble?

[Desert Jewel]

I'm waiting for Christmas....hoping Santa will bring me a new stabilizer

[Russ Chung]

I've had three episodes of death wobble.
The first happened at 27,000 miles, and it was due to a loose bolt on the axle end of my front track bar (it was so loose I could rotate it with my fingers). I now tighten all of the suspension bolts every time I change the oil.
The second episode happened at about 58,000 miles and was solved by replacing a worn rod end on the frame end of my (after-market) front track bar.
The third episode happened at about 65,000 miles. It was so bad that whenever I hit a bad bump on the freeway, it would start, and the only way I could get it to stop wobbling was to slow down to about 25 mph. It was so bad that I thought I was going to have to replace everything in my steering system, but FreewayDan figured out that it was caused by flat spots on my tires. I had about 40,000 miles on my BFG AT/KO tires, so I replaced them with a set of Goodyear MTRs, and I haven't had any wobble since I got the MTRs about 4,000 miles ago.