Jeep Cherokee Death Wobble Trouble Shooting
One of the scariest problems that occurs on Jeep Cherokees is know as death wobble. Death Wobble is when the front tires start to shake violently. Think of a shopping cart wheel that flutters and having two of them on the front of your Jeep.
Death wobble is very common on lifted Jeeps but can occur on stock vehicle as well. The root cause is the instability of the inverted Y steering linkage on the Jeep.
When every thing is working well, this type of steering and suspension works very well. However, when things go wrong, the shake can be very scary and can potentially damaging.
The axle is located side to side by the track bar. The joint on the frame end is made like a tie rod and is susceptible to damage due to corrosion and over extension. Just a very sight amount of wear in this joint can allow the axle to move side to side and can lead to the death wobble shake.
Another base cause of death wobble is the caster angle. The caster angle changes slightly when the XJ Cherokee is lifted due to the unequal length control arms. This angle can be corrected with shims. Very often death wobble can be eliminated by altering the caster angle. More or less caster than the factory recommended settings may be required for your suspension so you may have to experiment. Read more