Front end wrangler vibration out of control

[surftaco]

well i got it back from firestone today. They said my wheels were not balanced correctly. It seems to have done the trick for now. I still get a little bit of steering shimmy when I hit some bumps at high speed but not nearly as bad as before.

do you guys think it will help when im running 31s instead of the stock 30s? Would the 31s absorb the bumps better with my 2 inch lift?

[scorpio_vette]

no......

find out what is worn or mis-aligned and you'll fix your vibs/shimmy
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[vicejha]

Hi Scorpio its vicejha ... just got back from my Dodge dealer service department and I am so steamed I am ready to a death wobble without the Jeep ... seems this used Jeep I bought last July (less than a year) with 39,000 miles on it (now has 63,000) needs a new STEERING BOX ... WHAT? They say it has all kinds of play in it and is the likely cause ... they checked the tie rods, bearings, shocks, etc ... everything they say is tight ... Cost to me they say $1000 .... up front.

A new stearing box ... Scorpio is this possible as a cause ... and after 60,000 miles? $1000?

Just for info ... have off roaded twice ... hit nothing underneath ... so i have caused no damage ... ok my mirror hit a tree squeezing through ... but no other damage ... do I have reason be be angry. I have bought 15 cars from this guy over 20 years (me and two kids) ... most new ... a few used ... last two lemmons ... one a demo Saab. Thoughts?

[vicejha]

Oh and one more thing ... if it is possibe ... can this part be ordered on-line and let my mechanic install it if I don't get satisfaction? And a suggestion for where? Thanks again.

[JLS]

Did you get an alignment? if so then rule that out.
Do you have a stock pitman arm? If so rule that out, I had a dropped arm with 4" lift and it caused death wobble.
My last cause of deathwobble is my track bar. I have a relocation bracket but it is still not where it needs to be.
If your tires are balanced and your alignment is good, then I would suggest looking at your steering geometry. Your track bar and drag link should be parallel. If you want to see this geometry then look at Rusty's Offroad Steering page http://rustysoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=rustys&Category_Code=ste
I would also check the tie rod ends just to be safe but they are most likely fine.
Check all of this out before fixing the steering box, I doubt that this is it.

[vicejha]

Have never had it alligned or the wheels balanced. I assumed that was done by the dealer when I bought it last July ... but I will have my mechanic check it.

Yup, everything on the Jeep is stock ... the Jeep is stock "X" ... no lifts.

Funny you should bring up the track bar. My buddy who's a good off road guy checked my Jeep out just last week pointing out the geometry to me ... pointing out that mine was in nice allignment ... whereas his (because of modifications) was not (off center).

According to the dealer ... tie rods are fine.

Sooo ... its off to my mechanic (good guy and honest) and have him allign and balance and take another look at the steering box for himslef.

In the meantime if anyone else has ever heard of a "loose" stearing box causing this let me know. I will report back.

[scorpio_vette]

offroading can mess up your alignment and balance. you don't have to do it every month, but i wouldn't go a whole year without at least a balance.

the steering box should be $450 or less from the dealer or anywhere else.

the labor time is about 1.3hours. so at a rate of $90 an hour that would be about $120ish something like that.

yes it's possible that the box could be bad. the steering box hangs low under the frame and can easily be hit without knowing it. a buddy of mine damaged his steering box in a parking lot.

i would recommend that you get yourself a nice steering box skid plate. you may not need it, but i've seen it save a few boxes already including mine.
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[vicejha]

Scorpio ... thanks so much ...

I figure I will head off to my mechanic and get the wheels balance and alligned ... and have him check out and replace the steeering box if he agrees and thanks for the prices ... what a rip off these dealers are $1000.

My mechanic said he would put the part on if I wanted to order it ... I do a lot of business with him (my Jeep and the two kids cars) ...

Got a place where I can ode one? Thanks in advance

[scorpio_vette]

yours was a 2003 wrangler right??? what engine??? that price i quoted you was wrong. aparently there was a design change in 01 and the new steering gears aren't that readily available.

i believe you can special order the steering gear/box from autozone. the part# should be ATSCO 7813. $327.99+$85 core charge. but you might want to call your local autozone and verify that first.

you can also try this site. http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/
this is a dealer site that sells for a little cheaper than your local dealers. i couldn't find a part number, but if you do a search under your year make and model and then go to steering&suspension and then steering gear, you'll find it. it's listed for $555.14.

also try calling some of your local parts stores such as carquest, napa, bumper-to-bumper or any other shops you have there.

good luck and sorry for the mixup.
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[TJgirl]

I had deathwobble in one of my other jeeps, 2003 TJ and first I tried a new stablelizer, then found out it was my tires! they were worn unevenly and not the same air presure in them, got new tires, made sure all presure was the same in each tire and the problem was salved!!
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[scorpio_vette]

did you end up figuring out what it was???
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[Christopher]

hi guys...

I had the same problem as well...

there are many many many many causes of the "DEATHWOBBLE" ...

google it, and there are a lot of solutions out there...

I solved mine. I found out that my brake discs were warped.. this happens when you break suddenly, or have it car washed after a very long use...

basically the heat in the discs make it warp.. somethin like that..

i had mine machined and leveled out.. and problem solved.. deathwobble gone...

check this solution as well.. you might have the same case.. and it costs less..

[scorpio_vette]

while i'm not saying it's completely impossible, i still doubt it. while working at the dealerships, i've seen tons and tons of vehicles come in with brake pulsation due to warped rotors, but never anything that would be considered death wobble.
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[ehirner]

[Christopher]

im not that of an expert.. but from my experience the "shimmy" or vibration was more than enough to throw my body in the car side to side, in which case rendered the car uncontrollable as well... maybe it was or it wasn't the death wobble... the stealership told me that they fixed the warp rotors, im not sure if they did something else..

i guess i stand corrected..

good luck on your problem man.. hope it gets solved soon.