De Soto Frank Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 So, I bought a "new" vehicle this spring... friends were trading-in their '97 Grand Cherokee Laredo, and I wound-up buying it. They take excellent care of their vehicles, had owned this one since it was a year old, no mods, no off-roading, hot-dogging, thrashing or trashing. It is a stocker, with 4.0 liter straight six (AMC 258), auto tranny, four-wheel discs. 83,000 miles. No suspension lifts or any of that nonsense. Occasionally, between 40 & 50 MPH, if I hit a bump or tar-blip, the steering begins to shake violently - feels like the front wheels are going to fall off. If I can slow the vehicle down, it goes away... Some cruising around on Google tonight told me there is a name among Jeep-ers for this behavior : they call it "Death Wobble". Nice name for it. Most of the Jeep forums I went to looking for answers went on & on about how this happens after lifts and serious suspension mods ( none of which have been performed on my vehicle), and there was usually a laundry list of parts that get replaced - rotors, ball-joints, shocks, track-bars, etc. Has anyone here been through this with a 1990-2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and resolved it ? Thanks, De Soto Frank Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 two quick questions comes to mind..is it 4WD and second does it have R&P or is it conventional draglink? Quote
De Soto Frank Posted July 31, 2007 Author Report Posted July 31, 2007 Hi Tim, It is 4 WD (select-trac), and I usually run it in 2 WD. I don't know if it is rack & pinion or not... will have to have a look. Frank (Tuesday, 7/31 - Took a look at the steering box: Saginaw-type worm & sector.) Quote
greg g Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 I don't know about the GC but the cherokees with the solid front axle have a shock absorber type steering stabilizer to damp this type of motion. I used to have a Datsun pickup with those deep offset spoked style after market wheels that would do the same thing, especially if there was any weight in the back. Stab the brakes and it would go away till the next bump. Was fione with the stock wheel and tires. Did they happen to put after market wheels on it? Any way check the stabilizer if so equipt, and it may be time for new front shocks if they are the original. Also what tire pressures are you running? I have 34 all around in my current cherokee. Quote
Normspeed Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 Only car I've owned that did that had real loose ball joints and tie rod ends. Quote
PatS.... Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 My old '49 Chrysler did that. It turned out to be bad tie rod ends mostly, but the kinkpins were worn a bit as well. Replaced both and the "death wobble" was gone. Quote
TodFitch Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 Drove my 1991 Cherokee with the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder for 200,000 miles and never had that problem. The two biggies for me on that vehicle: 1) The hydraulic clutch slave cylinder design was junk and the unit needed to be replaced several times which required pulling both drive shafts, the transfer case and the transmission to do. I'd recommend staying away from ones equipped with the manual transmission for that reason. 2) Any water in the gas and the engine would have a fit. Other than that it was a reasonably good car about 25 MPG highway, 20 MPG city with my driving style. Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 Back in college days, had a 53 Chevy that would do that wobble thing. I imagine some front end parts needed replacing. It stopped doing it when I put reversed rims on it. Not a real fix....just set the wheels farther apart. Quote
De Soto Frank Posted July 31, 2007 Author Report Posted July 31, 2007 Thanks guys for your input thus far... The only other vehicle I've experienced "Death Wobble" in was a '66 Impala that was 20 years old at the time; I had just adjusted the front brakes and was driving on a city street at about 35 mph, gently applied the brakes to avoid a vehicle entering the street ahead of me, and "it" happened. Scared the you-know-what out'n me... I 've had all manner of vehicles since then - I-beam axled buggy-spring pick-ups, older MoPars with very worn front-ends, etc, but other than that Impala, none of them have pulled this trick. I got out the floor jack this morning and went looking for loose stuff under the front end of the vehicle... first checking tie-rod ends and any other ball & socket joints... no obvious culprits there; everything seemed reasonably tight. Then I started looking for rubber bushings... track bar, anti-sway bar, and finally the control arms ( I was calling them radius rods, because they reminded of the radius rods on '48 & earlier Fords). The rubber in the lower control arms ( they run parallel to the long axis of the vehicle, two pairs, one pair between the lower part of the front axle ("solid") and the frame, and the other pair between the upper part of the front axle and the body, higher up on the cowl), looks pretty tired: big cracks large enough to stick a pencil point into ( not forced!)... These are the usual rubber bushings in a steel shell ;surrounded by plenty of rust (imagine that!); they oughta be a real treat to change... looks like I'm finally going to get a chance to use my Harbor Freight HD ball-joint press ! The track bar has only one rubber bushing, at the lower end where it attaches to the axle; that one will come after the control arms. These Jeep suspensions have come a long way since my last Jeep: '61 6-226 Utility Truck ! I appreciate the replies... these "modern" vehicles are pretty "furrin'" to me... De Soto Frank Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 that is spelled fuURin.. U R stuck in the middle Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 31, 2007 Report Posted July 31, 2007 This is where I would start..basically this does the same job of the idler arm on most suspensions of this type... http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/45/81/0900823d80154581/repairInfoPages.htm Quote
toddbracik Posted August 2, 2007 Report Posted August 2, 2007 This is where I would start..basically this does the same job of the idler arm on most suspensions of this type...http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/45/81/0900823d80154581/repairInfoPages.htm My 96 grand cherokee recently started doing the death wabble. Quote
De Soto Frank Posted August 2, 2007 Author Report Posted August 2, 2007 Tod, How many miles on your '96 ? Any mods to suspension, wheels, tires, etc ? Mine has pulled this stunt about three times since I bought it at the end of April; I've put about 3,000 miles on it, including a couple of 500-mile highway trips. But it's something that needs to be corrected... if it pulled this trick while my wife were driving it, she'd probably insist that it be crushed at the earliest opportunity... I've got to wait for pay-day to get my lower control arm bushings... guess I'll have to drive something old in the meantime.... De Soto Frank Quote
TodFitch Posted August 2, 2007 Report Posted August 2, 2007 Tod,How many miles on your '96 ? Any mods to suspension, wheels, tires, etc ? <snip> De Soto Frank Actually it was a 1991 and it had a little above 200,000 miles on it when I got rid of it in 2003. Stock suspension, stock wheels, stock size tires. Quote
toddbracik Posted August 2, 2007 Report Posted August 2, 2007 Tod,How many miles on your '96 ? Any mods to suspension, wheels, tires, etc ? Mine has pulled this stunt about three times since I bought it at the end of April; I've put about 3,000 miles on it, including a couple of 500-mile highway trips. But it's something that needs to be corrected... if it pulled this trick while my wife were driving it, she'd probably insist that it be crushed at the earliest opportunity... I've got to wait for pay-day to get my lower control arm bushings... guess I'll have to drive something old in the meantime.... De Soto Frank The double-d todd is the one with the 96 jeep grand Cherokee. Its got 145,000 on it. No mods. Stock everything. its full time 4wd too so it likes the gas pump. Mine is not so bad yet so I can still drive it. I will probably take a look at it after work though to see what I am dealing with. Quote
De Soto Frank Posted August 2, 2007 Author Report Posted August 2, 2007 Sorry, Todd Mine is Selec-Trac, and I 'm running in 2WD all the time... I've been soaking the control-arm bolts with Kroil... things are a bit crusty up front... Frank McMullen Quote
Jim Saraceno Posted August 3, 2007 Report Posted August 3, 2007 This just happened to my son's 92 Cherokee. He said it turned out to be the control arm. Quote
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