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TJ bump streer issues

1434 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  oneyedjeepguy
Check it out, I read alot about track bar problems here so help me figure this out. I have a 2003 TJ 4" trailmaster lift, 31" BFG's. All was good then one day I hit a patch of ice on a bridge, did a 180 spin right into the guardrail. The front bumper cleared the rail and it snaped off my streering gearbox arm(from the box itself) and slamed the wheels all the way to the left snapping off the turn stop bolt and busting the mount. After the auto shop my insurance sent it to was done. It' seemed fine. Then it slowly began to shake around 40mph.. No big deal. Then if I hit a dip or a hole with the left front tire at speeds above 40mph, the whole front end would go nuts. The tires will alternate traction. One on the ground while the other is at least 3 inches off the ground. The steering wheel goes nuts. I have to hit the brakes hard, hold the wheel and hope nothing snaps. I've had it looked at by supposed "pros", and I thought I knew about this stuff, but no clue. Everything is tight, in line, and seems normal. I run a 4wheeldrive hardware trac bar. Do you think a JKS may help? Anybody? It's driving me crazy, and I'm gettin too old for this stuff.
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That's not a bump steer issue, bump steer is something else entirely. What you're experiencing is commonly called "Death Wobble" which is generally caused by no single cause, more a combination of problems.

A common cause is a combination of any several of the following: imperfectly balanced tires, loose trackbar (lower trackbar bolt should be tightened to 55 ft-lbs), bad/loose bushings, bad ball joints, bad/loose control arm bushings, improper toe-in (set it to between 1/16" and 1/8"), caster angle grossly off (it should be somewhere close to 4.5 to 5.5 degrees for your 4" lift), loose shocks, bent wheels, etc.

Death Wobble is a problem that exists with any solid axle so it happens with Jeeps, Fords, Dodges, etc. :eek:
can it be bent/warped axle shafts Jerry?
a bent or warped axle shaft will wobble at any speed and get exponentially worse as the speed increases.
My solution

I had the same problem at the same speed. My problem was fixed by putting in a new steering dampner (skyjacker) and balancing my tires. They were so bad, that one took 225 grams of weight to be balanced. The best one took 85 grams. After that, my problem went away.

Sandman...4" Lift, 33X12.50 (2006 TJ SE)
I'm doin' it all

I'm changin' ball joints, the steering joint, I'm havin' the tires balanced, again (higher speed, different shop). If it's replaceable, I'm replacing it. (except axles of course) This s**t is going to stop. Thanks for all the input.
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