burkett.j

Hey everybody. I am driving a stock 99 XJ and I am getting a steering wheel vibe from about 60mph and up. I replaced the front axle a few months ago and that's kind of when it started. I was getting a front driveline vibe before that because the u-joints are bad, but it is currently removed until I can replace them.
Other things I have replaced are the steering stabilizer and just recently the track bar with a bigger adjustable RC bar. I've had it aligned a couple times by two shops (the first shop was a ****ty chain). And I have balanced the wheel a couple times in the past few months as well.
What should I look at next? I couldn't see any worn parts so I took it to a shop and the mechanic couldn't see anything obviously wrong. He was stumped but did suggest it was a far chance the driver's side u-joint was bad.
Where should I look next? Any help is appreciated!

PatHenry

You can pull the axle and check the u-joint if you want - the problem is if it's just a slight vibe at 60+, it could be any of the parts just starting to go, it could be a slight issue with the tires.

What I'd do is swap the front tires to the rear and see if that affects anything - if so, you know it's tire specific, if not, it's front end.

Then go from there. Bear in mind a 20 year old Jeep with a solid front axle isn't going to drive like a cadillac (or even an F150 for that matter).

Fortunately replacing everything in the front end is not much money in parts if you do it yourself.

Consider also the axle could be slightly bent.
Also, since the vibe started after the swap - I'd look at axle related parts (after swapping tires) like u-joints and axle side upper control arm bushings.

lawsoncl

Shaking that tracks with wheel speed, yes? Before pulling the axle shafts to check u-joints, I'd jack it up and see if the wheels turn smooth with the steering turned. If they have grease fitting pump some grease in. Also give the wheels a spin and make sure the rims and tread look to be running straight (because even a crooked wheel can be balanced). I recently helped figure out a weird shake that the owner had already done the driveshaft u-joints chasing the problem. I jacked it and up saw a rear tire had about 1/4" run-out. 5-minutes with a wire wheel fixed it. When I bent my front axle housing, the diff got real loud but no shaking.