Topic: ok...that was odd..steering Q

[jeepheap]

so i was driving along and went over a set of railroad tracks at about 30-35 and the front end went crazy.... like it felt like i had bent a axel or the wheel had come loose, wobbling back and forth real bad. i stopped off to the side, looked, saw nothing wrong bent/broken, pulled away, and nothing. any ideas why?

 oh and i had an alinment done maybe 3000 miles ago when i put on the new lift kit, 4" rough country,  and i have new front tires that were mounted and balanced at the same time. the guy who did it all is a local mech and four wheeler who looked it all over to make sure i didn't miss anything and it was all tight and right.

 

[DodgeMudder]

Sounds like death wobble, if thats the only time it happens I would just slow down more next time going over the tracks.  If it starts happening more often look into a new steering stabilizer.  Also are you still running a trackbar?

[jeepheap]

steering stablizer was replaced with the new lift and the track bar is a new adjustable that got zeroed in by the same guy who did my alignment. and yes he has experience with them.

[Jeffy]

Sounds like death wobble, if thats the only time it happens I would just slow down more next time going over the tracks.  If it starts happening more often look into a new steering stabilizer.  Also are you still running a trackbar?

Sounds more like jsut regular bumpsteer to me.  You don't usually find 'death wobble' on a leaf sprung Jeep.  The wheel turning is caused by the suspension compressing and rebounding which causes the drag link to pull on the steering box then it gets transmitted up to you.  Very common with lifted YJ's.

[aw12345]

Not necesarily a deadth wobble but defenitely a bad case of shimmy. An often ovelooked cause of this is the caster being on the high side of the specs. seems like Lifted jeeps like the caster as low as possible but still withing alignment specification of what it calls for, related to lift height and tire size. Also tire balance and play in steering components can have a big impact on this kinda shimmy. check the latter first if need be try the rear tires on the front to see if that makes a difference. If there is no play in the steering components and the tire balance is good then go over the alignement again and reduce caster, not would it hurt to find a heavy duty steering dampner from say ranco worked well on my TJ

[jeepheap]

there is some play in the steering box but i didn't think that could do it...could it?

[aw12345]

I kind of doubt that it doesn't help but its not what causes it. You would look more at tie rod ends, ball joints. wheel bearings, spring bushings and shackels on a YJ, trackbar on a TJ. would not hurt to rotate the tires either just to see if it affects it at all

[Jeffy]

I'm still gonna stick with bumpsteer.

Can you take a picture of your front axle with the steering arms?

[oldjeep]

I had a spooky case of death wobble on my CJ right after I got some new tires.  Took me a while to figure it out, but it turned out that they were inflated to sidewall recommended pressure (around 50 lbs)  which was way too high for my lighteweight jeep.  Airing down to about 20 psi took care of the problem.

[jeepheap]

i can take a pic but, and i am so what embarrassed, i have ever figured out how to post that stuff. just never had a need to. is there instructions like "posting pics for dummies" some where on the  page? or even jeffy i can email them to you, that i know how to do.

[Jesse-James]

Photobucket.com and follow their instructions.

[Jeffy]

i can take a pic but, and i am so what embarrassed, i have ever figured out how to post that stuff. just never had a need to. is there instructions like "posting pics for dummies" some where on the  page? or even jeffy i can email them to you, that i know how to do.

Either use photobucket, make the picture small enough that you can attach it here or email it to me.

[jeepheap]

what is this attach you speak of? i have trouble working this thinking box my roommate put on my desk. i makes with info, but pictures anf all that i suck with. can i email you jeffy and whats your address?

[Jeffy]

If the image is small,  under 256KB then you can attach it.

When you make a post you'll see at the bottom "Additional Options..."  Click that and then see "Attach:"  Then click browse and look for the pict on your computer.  Otherwise email it to me.

[garydubf]

I'll agree with the bumpsteer.  I've experienced the same problem with my buddies YJ.  We corrected the problem with a simple caster shim.  Then  when we converted to SPOA we se the caster at min spec.  No more bump steer!