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Wobbly wheels at low speed on tight corners

Discussion in 'Suspension' started by JoergM, Sep 22, 2018.

  1. Sep 22, 2018 at 6:14 AM
    #1
    JoergM

    JoergM [OP] New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2018
    Member:
    #2602
    Messages:
    1
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Joerg
    Vehicle:
    2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ
    4 inch IRO lift kit with critical long arm, 32 inch tyres.
    Hi,

    sorry I am new here and please excuse if this has been posted already.

    I have a 2002 WJ Right Hand Drive (I am living in Australia) and I have a very particular issue which I have not been able to solve for the last 12 month.

    When I got my Jeep it had already an Iron Rock 6 inch lift kit installed, incl. critical long arm kit in the front. I also had 35 inch tyres on it. Already then my Jeep started to shake when I was turning (steering wheel all the way to the left or right but right in particular). I could manage it when I was going very slow. Funny things was, it never showed up when I was driving quite fast. The wheel moves east / west when it shakes (I took once a video, just for information).
    I then moved from Queensland about 2000 KM down to Victoria and I was sending my Jeep with a car transporter. Once it arrived I realized that the shaking is worse to a point where I can't drive the Jeep anymore.

    What I did so far:
    - tie rod endings exchanged (all 4)
    - new wheel hub (left and right)
    - new brake rotor and brake pads
    - new ball joints (upper, lower, both sides with heavy duty ball joints)
    - new bushings on track bar (flex joints on both ends)
    - new bushings on the control arms (all of them, most of them with flex joints)
    - cleaned the front diff (Dana 30) and installed new inner seals
    - new axle tube seal for Dana 30 axle
    - due to road regulations in Australia I also had to lower the lift from 6 to 4 inch and reduced the tyres from 35 to 31.5 inch. This includes new springs and shocks (Billstein 5100)
    - new steering damper as well as a second steering damper from Iron Rock
    - checked all screws of the conversion kit if any of these may be lose.

    Some of my spec:
    - WJ 2002 Limited
    - 4.7 Engine
    - before 6 now 4 inch with Billstein shocks, critical long arm kit from Iron Rock Offroad (the y-shaped one)
    - before 35 inch AT tyres now 31.5 MT tyres
    - Dana 30 with ARB air locker differential
    - double cardan drive shaft front and real
    - U-Joint axle conversion kit from Iron Rock Offroad

    I basically touched every part of the front suspension incl lowering the lift but still the wobble is the same as before.

    I am running out of options and I wonder if anyone of you had similar issues. I certainly need to do an alignment but I am not sure if this really fixed the issue I have.

    The only thing which is left is the steering box, the alignment and the U-Joint axle. Since the Jeep was in such bad shape I also order the joint for replacing the x in the U-Joint axle (not done yet since it seemed to be ok, when I took the axle apart.

    When I sold my 35 tyres, a Nissan Petrol driver mentioned something about the shims in the differential that they may cause this issue if they are loose or not sitting tight enough. Not sure if this is the case. When I had the diff apart it looked ok to me.

    Thanks for any input.
    Joerg
     
  2. Sep 22, 2018 at 7:39 AM
    #2
    chris4x4

    chris4x4 With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2016
    Member:
    #2
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    4,068
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    Male
    Welcome to the site! I cant help at this time, but we have a bunch of knowledgeable folks that should be able to soon.
     
    Bob likes this.
  3. Sep 23, 2018 at 11:20 AM
    #3
    boondoc89

    boondoc89 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2017
    Member:
    #912
    Messages:
    772
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    alex
    Vehicle:
    08 JKU
    3 inch zone lift. Fox 2.0 shocks. 35 inch nitto ridge grapplers. Bushwacker flat fenders. No name steel bumpers front and back for now.
    Could it be possible your long arms are now too long since you cut 2 inches of lift off your WJ? this may not be the case but I'm wondering if your long arms need to be shorter to regain the correct geometry to the front axle. This could potentially throw your steering box into a craze and create the east and west wobble. Since you already replaced every other suspension part on your rig that's about the only thing I can think of. An alignment and the new U joints will definitely help get you closer to your goal. Anybody got any ideas??

    Also... welcome aboard from Ohio!!
     
  4. Sep 23, 2018 at 12:05 PM
    #4
    aggrex

    aggrex Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2016
    Member:
    #203
    Messages:
    4,831
    DE
    Vehicle:
    Backcountry '16
    Tuffy>AEV>TTO>JW>STech>EVOcage>MagnaFlow>SpiderTrax>RockHard>TF>SpringTail>67design>Bolt>GPCA>Curt>
    Welcome! Have you reached out to Iron Rock for any suggestions? I'm not familiar with their kits but your issues started with the 6" and didn't worsen or improve when you reduced to 4".
     
  5. Sep 24, 2018 at 6:59 PM
    #5
    OFFGRID

    OFFGRID Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2016
    Member:
    #317
    Messages:
    2,018
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Peter
    Houston
    Vehicle:
    1979 Jeep CJ7, 258, TH350, NP208
    Howell fuel injection, header, HEI distributor, TH350, NP208, SOA lift with YJ springs in the front & GW springs in the Rear. AMC20 with G2 1 piece chromos trussed, Dana 30 with G2 chromos and 760x ujoints and MM Stainless Hubs, Geared 4.56. Tom Woods shafts, Metal cloaks, Caged, 37" Toyo MTs.
    Those bushings are near impossible to replace in the trackbar even with a 20ton press. I once tried the replaceable bushings from Moog and they did not work (did not fit tight enough). I ended up buying the whole trackbar with bushings already inserted to fix my Death wobble. It almost sounds like your lug nuts are backing out. Good luck.
     

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