kjeeper10

Tires can cause shakes but only contribute to DW. If everything is tight up front -no wear. The tires are not the cause of DW.

jeep-o-cache

Hello all,

I have been a Jeep owner since the early 90's and wheelin' is here to stay. One of my boys has even inherited the gene. I have also been a fleet mechanic on various vehicles and commercial vehicles, so I have some mechanical ability (although I know many people know waaaaay more than me).

Every Jeep I ever owned experienced DW, including my first which was a Cherokee. I did complete suspension rebuilds to only have it return before too long. Everything said above is true, in my experience, however, one thing that is being overlooked is the steering stabilizer. With bigger tires, you stress the components. Everything has play in it...even if you can't see it, flex occurs to some extent. The purpose of the stabilizer is to stop the cycle of stress (which appears in the form of wobble or bump steer). Its kind of like when a microphone gets to close to a speaker and squeals really loud...the cycle of feedback gains momentum until grandma blows a hearing aid. Same principle in DW. The stress (or kinetic energy) gets directed one way, then the other, each time building because it is stressing further, until you get scared and think your Jeep is trying to kill you.

All of the above ideas need to be checked out. A stabilizer is not designed to compensate for bad parts. However, it is designed to break that cycle of energy being tossed from side to side. Here's the catch... the OEM stabilizer or aftermarket OEM spec stabilizer is no match for those awesome big tires! Many people experience success after initially replacing the stabilizer, but the DW eventually comes back. I highly recommend an oversized stabilizer from a truck (im not going to get into how to do that somewhat simple mod) or better yet, a dual stabilizer setup.

Those are my two cents, and I think if you double check your parts (ie: everything in this thread) and verify they are good, try the stabilizer swap. You will be amazed. And yes, badly balanced tires can contribute to the problem. As they wear, their balance changes as well. Get 'em checked every spring so you are ready for summer wheelin'/

Good luck!

mker

Got my Jeep new and from factory and had lift put on before I ever drove it. Wobble started with 27000 miles on it. I have checked everything but the bushings and need take a look at my steering stabalizer again.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I get a lot of bump steer too.

tribulation138

I just started getting a DW but i know what the it is. My passenger side unit bearing (ujoint) is f##KED. I might do a write up about it.

D_engel

Post up a picture of your front end (steering linkage, trackbar, etc) as well as a little info on your setup and we will tell you why you are getting bumpsteer

U joints and unit bearings are completely different things. Which one is actually giving you trouble?

tribulation138

The cross looking thing that has needle bearing and 4 end caps. Im installing it tomorrow.