JeepsAreForSpeed

yup my ball joints are shot and causing my death wobble. funny if you jack it off the ground and and do a normal inspection you would think they are fine.

GTvert90

This is probably my problem too.. been chasing it for a while. How did you check? wiggling the tire didn't do anything. Did you stick a bar through the tire? what did you pry on?

PDXJ

Just to Clarify, the Guy who is apparently an expert on vehicle safety and thinks removing swaybars=death is recommending slapping a band aid known as a steering stabilizer on a jeep to mask worn out front end parts is a safe alternative to finding and fixing the issue?

Fester2572

Cured the death wobble before I changed the stabiliser. I wasn't being a dick , running a vehicle without a swaybar that was designed to have one ( without any other suspension mods ) is dangerous and stupid. You obviously have experience and know a fair bit about this so I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from. Just making a point that you can have the best of both with disconnects. You know this but didn't seem like he did from the previous posts.

Black89

I never told the OP to remove his sway bar. I simply stated that it's not the cause. And to be honest doing what you stated to do by swerving at a high speed is gonna end up with the same results sway bars or not. You need to remember these are SUV's not race cars. The sway bars whether on or not are not going to stop an XJ from rolling over so your whole comment was pretty much pointless. Trust me I've put my share of roofs on these thing from rollovers and everyone of them had a sway bar on it.

As for testing, a bar in through the wheel or with the wheel just slightly off the ground under the tire and simply lift. through the wheel is better because you can lift and then flip to the top side and pull out on the top of the wheel.

Black89

Fester2572

I wasn't claiming to be an expert on anything. Stabilisers do help and can improve the jerking around of the steering . They are not a cure for death wobble or any worn out parts . You don't sound clever pointing out this very obvious point. Didn't say anything about safe alternatives or band aid solutions , they come out with them standard. So for the sensitive guy who likes misquoting people , check everything else first. Whew.

Black89

Yes that is all a Stabilizer does. (note: Stabilizer spelled correctly) You came in here suggesting that it may cure his issue. It won't. You also jumped on me about the sway bar thing even though I never told him to remove his. Lets just do this so that the OP can have a chance to look his front end over, you stop replying all together and after the OP responds back with some test results we will then move on and help him if he needs it.

Black89

HatonXJ

I would like to point out one small thing I learned being the lead tech in my shop, when doing a steering evaluation you need to keep the tires on the ground while checking tie rod ends because you need the resistance of the tires to show play in the tie rod ends. If you are able to see the free movement of a tie rod end with the tires in the air then it should have already broken and put you into a tree or car or something.

Black89

That is true. But with the steering wheel locked either by the column lock (which has a bit of play) or by using a steering wheel lock that goes from the floor to the wheel (friction type of tool used when doing alignments) you can have the wheels off the ground or on a slip plate (another alignment tool that the tires sit on) you can grab the tires and force them right and left. If they move then yes tie rod ends are bad. You can also use the seat belt to loop through the steering wheel and back into the buckle, this is "in a pinch" method two lock the steering tight.

Black89

Mr_Grimm13

Interesting development, left for work this morning and driving on the highway was all good until I hit a good size bump or hole and I hear a grinding noise coming from the drivers side wheel. I pull over and check it out and inspect the front end and see nothing. Am I going crazy or am I looking at the wrong things?

Black89

Grinding noise could be hub bearing going bad. Also check your front U-joints for play as well. I would suggest you get under that thing and start inspecting parts sooner rather than later.

Black89