Violent shake from front end!!!!

[SJPruett]

I have an 88 Cherokee Larado. While driving if I hit any bump or tar mark on the road @ 55 mph or more the front end starts to bounce from side to side until I slow down to about 50. This bounce seems almost like the front wheels are off the ground and may fall off. I have replaced my tires, so its not a broken belt. I have had the front end looked at and everyone says it looks fine (not much play in any of the parts). I took it to a mech, and he said that this body style of jeep is notorious for this behavior but he did not know how to fix it. He had put over $400.00 worth of parts in his own jeep and it did not fix it. Please could someone help me, even though my Jeep has a few "beauty marks" I love it and want to feel safe when I drive it.

Thank you

[MagicRat]

This is the dreaded "death wobble"
Search this forum under the term death wobble and you will find dozens of posts on this subject.
It seems there is a new death wobble post on this forum about every 3 weeks.

Just about any worn front end component can cause or contribute to this, so the remedy can involve literally any front end component.
People have fixed death wobble by doing one or more of the following:
Balance tires
rotate tires
new control arm busings
new steering damper
new tie rod ends/drag link
adjust front track bar
new steering damper
new shocks
new ball joints

In this list, there may be one component that needs to be fixed on yours; there may be several.
Since there is nothing obvious wrong, start with the tires, track bar and control arm bushings first.

Finally, many Cherokees go for hundreds of thousands of miles without ever getting the wobbles, so not all jeeps are susceptible. I have an '84 Cherokee which has never had this problem.

Here is what another forum says about this:

What is death wobble?
You'll know it if you experience it. Death wobble is when your jeep suddenly, and violently, begins to shake back and forth. It often comes after hitting a bump, and USUALLY at higher speeds. It is truly frightening. This is not to be confused with tire shimmy, where the steering wheel gets a shake in it at certain speeds.

What causes Death Wobble?
Death wobble is typically caused by
A) Out of balance tires or out of round wheels.
B) Loose track bar.
C) Worn front-end joints. (tie rod ends, track bar, ball joints, etc)
D) Bad alignment.
E) Bad caster angle.
F) Bad steering stabilizer.

Good luck.

[Edbrooks]

Originally Posted by SJPruett

I have an 88 Cherokee Larado. While driving if I hit any bump or tar mark on the road @ 55 mph or more the front end starts to bounce from side to side until I slow down to about 50. This bounce seems almost like the front wheels are off the ground and may fall off. I have replaced my tires, so its not a broken belt. I have had the front end looked at and everyone says it looks fine (not much play in any of the parts). I took it to a mech, and he said that this body style of jeep is notorious for this behavior but he did not know how to fix it. He had put over $400.00 worth of parts in his own jeep and it did not fix it. Please could someone help me, even though my Jeep has a few "beauty marks" I love it and want to feel safe when I drive it.

Thank you

A new track bar and damper cylinder fixed my 88 Cherokee. The cylinder was, I think, about 30 bucks, maybe 20, and the track bar about 60. And yes, those two items fixed it. But I already had lifetime light truck shocks on there.

On my 89 Cherokee, I have noticed the DW has hit me a couple of times. Since I live on a rough dirt road, I have also discovered that this vehicle needs shocks. I have not yet done any of the repairs, but do have a new set of shocks and the damper cylinder in the garage. Have to get a track bar. I found no loose components (including the track bar) so I may not replace the track bar. The bushings are tight, with almost no play. So I suspect the damper cylinder and new shocks will fix it. Just have to find time to do it.

Ed

[SJPruett]

This may be a stupid question, but one person in the post said that they like the dw since thier GF wont drive thier Jeep any more but they still do. Does this mean that this is not a Dangerous thing? I mean could the front tires actually fall off (or something equally bad)?

[Dansjeep89]

I am currently trying to solve the same problem with my 1989 jeep cherokee. So far, I have had the track bar, tie rod ends, and rotors replaced along with new front tires. No difference. Still does the same thing. I am think about having my steering gear box replaced soon...

I hope you have better luck then I am. let me know if you get yours fixed.

Good luck,
Daniel

[DarkShadow]

replacing the steering stabilizer with an offroad one (MOOG brand) fixed my wobble problems, i believe it was $60 from parts city

[rocc49]

Has anyone asked JEEP about the problem?

[89ltd]

the track bar was 75% of the problem with my 89, now , to fix the rest, the only part I can think of is the steering damper, will post results when I get to it. Everything else is tight.

[Saudade]

SJPruett: Other may disagree but it depends on how severe the wobble is. IMO, anything that causes you to make a quick and significant change like hitting the brakes to quickly slow down is potentially dangerous.

My 88 had a slight wobble that went away if I just let off the gas, changed lanes or even sped up a bit. Changing the steering damper fixed it.

A violent wobble (extreme shaking like you're in a paint mixer) can result in failure of a variety of steering components.

You may not have one component that's "bad". In your case it could all of the parts that have even a little play adding up together.