i got a jeep cj with militart 60 in the front on 42 inch tires, and ive had a serious wobble ever since i put the axle in. it doesnt happen all the time, but once it starts it can nearly shake the jeep so hard and almost flip it over. at first i thought maybe its a caster problem. but now i;m thiking somehting different. it doesnt start untill the front tires start to shake a bit and then they start shaking more and more violently. i have TOO much play in my steering wheel. i can turn the steering wheel left and right almost a half trun each before the tires start moving, and im starting tothink that this play in the steering is how the tires can have so much freedom to wobble so and me not control them. i think it has to do with somethign in my steering shaft, like bad u-jjoint or something(i dunno much about steering) but i do know that it would be harder to wobble if i had like almost zero play in the steering so that when i just barely turn the steering wheel the tires immediatly respond, that way if im holding the steering wheel tight the tires have to turn the wheel to wobble. should i jsut get a whole new steering shaft? what do yall think, i dont want to sink alot of $$ just narrowing down the problem? any advise?

You might also want to rebuild the kingpins if you havent... Cheap fix.. toss in a couple of washers to put more pressure on the spring inside the kingpin..

Ultimately people will say go hydo assist steering, it will probably solve a lot of your death wobble.. With tires that big, you will want to do it

Have you adjusted the steering box to try and take the play out of it? (Usually a hex nut with a slot screw in the middle of it)?

Ah yes the dreaded death wobble.

Anything loose in your front end could cause the problem.

-Have you had the tires ballanced recently? The more offset you have in your tires the worse it will be (more leverage).
-Have you had it aligned recently? Basicly the more return to center you dial into the setup the less death wobble. Also to much tow in or tow out will agrivate it.
-More than likely you have something worn in the new front end. Go through everything and make shure it is tight. springs, shackles, tierods, steering shaft etc....

It is amazing what little things can set death wobble off but almost everyone who runs a non hydro system will get it at some point.

My shopmate just got it after our moab trip. He went through his front end twice and swore there was nothing wrong. (absolutly everything had just been replaced 6 months ago) It ended up being a loose steering stabolizer bolt. Ounce he tightened that the truck rode great again.

You can boil it down to two factors: Excess play and wheel alignment. You need to fix both.

The excess play can be in anything that locates the wheel, from wheel bearings, knuckle bearings, TREs, box, U bolts, spring bushings, spring hangers, etc.

The alignment problems can be too little caster (too close to zero angle) and/or too much toe in or toe out.

That gives you a lot of things to look at. :D

thanks for the advise, but i never got the tires balanced because they were so big, and i havnt had an alignment at all cuz they are too big, should i take it to a wheel/tire place and get them to try?

To balance the tires, buy some centramatics (Bent and Twisted has them) and you will never need to rebalance or balance a set of tires ever again.

I align my rig myslef with a tape measure, held at the front and rear centerlines. It will get you close enough if that is your problem. Check your kingpins, TRE's, ubolts, etc.

I used to have some MADDDD wobbles... heres how i fixed it.

1. look for ANY looses peices in the steering system (you have some for sure, cuz you said you could turn the steering half a turn before they start moving)

2. Keep those 42" balanced, and go to the best aligment shop near you. keep the pressure low on the road, high pressure makes em bounce...

3. steering stabilizer does help, well it did helped me.

4. if you still have wobbles after that, do like i did, i took a 3/4" tube and welded it to the steering rod, now that things cant shake.

i never had wobbles ever sinces.

as some say... if you aint got shit on your underwear, it wasn't wobbles. :p

Originally posted by rcurrier44
Ah yes the dreaded death wobble.

Anything loose in your front end could cause the problem.

-More than likely you have something worn in the new front end. Go through everything and make shure it is tight. springs, shackles, tierods, steering shaft etc....



CJ-7's have a track bar as well? From a bronco/non-heep dood.
Just an additional thought. Luck with it.