Any pointers on improving my new 1998 TJ?
- Thread starter RubytheBeepJeep
- Start date
I see your profile says it has a lift and big tires...that kind of leaves it wide open as far as death wobble. Post some pics of your setup... In the meantime, you can do a dry steer test with a friend and check for any loose steering components. Also bad tires and/or out of balance tires can also cause it.
OP
I have no clue, the person before me got the tires and i wasnt given any information on any of it. I will also get pictures when i can, currently cannot.
N_CARRERA_
TJ Enthusiast
just look at the tire and the size and if you want to do a build you can address the death wobble a few ways depending on your build goals
Helpful tip to find gear ratio is to jack up the rear end and see how many times the driveshaft moves per tire rotation. So if the driveshaft turns a tad over 3 times per tire rotation, it would be 3.07 gears, close to four turns on driveshaft per tire rotation would be 3.73, etc
How would you like to improve it?
In regards to the death wobble, see these threads:
Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!
Jeep Death Wobble: How to Properly Handle Diagnose and Fix
Jeep Wrangler TJ Death Wobble Diagnosis & Fixes
In regards to the death wobble, see these threads:
Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!
Jeep Death Wobble: How to Properly Handle Diagnose and Fix
Jeep Wrangler TJ Death Wobble Diagnosis & Fixes
Step 1: Never and I mean never, even in the most dire of circumstances refer to your Jeep as a car. If you do it will summon the wrath of the Jeep gods and you will be destined to walk the earth endlessly searching for the root cause of driveline vibes and death wobble.
note: made a little stealth edit here for humor.
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OP
K well sorry for referring my vehicle as a car, yes its a jeep but i called it a car, i call anything cars, trucks, whatever, their all vehicles.
OP
About when i get around 50 it starts to shake really bad, so im not sure if its a true death wobble but it does tend to shake pretty bad around there so i avoid freeways unless i have to because i feel like something is gonna break.
OP
Alright, i will have to find a jack that will lift it up, im yet to get one, odd but as soon as i get one ill check
Do you basically have to come to a stop to clear it up or does it smooth out when you slow down a bit? Typically you'll know if it's death wobble... Check out this links Chris posted
Read the linked posts @Chris sent above. Shaking at that speed can be caused by something as simple as poorly balanced tires or being out of alignment. Death Wobble will leave you thinking you bought a Jeep possessed by Satan before you can wrestle it to a stop. The good news is that what you have going on is usually easily curable. Educate yourself as to what steps you need to take to diagnose the issue. Don’t make the mistake of just throwing money at it in hopes it will go away. There’s a lot of hard earned knowledge in those threads.
Also, besides calling it a car, calling it a rig is also a Jeep etiquette faux pax. Fair warning.
I'd tend to think you may not have Death Wobble. If you did it wouldn't be the last sentence you wrote. And definitely not following a 'how do I improve my ride' type of post. Death Wobble will make you likley pee a bit the first time it happens to you. Seriously. Get some good pics of your front end components posted. It is possible a crappy lift using a poor choice of steering parts is a lot of the problem. As said, do a dry steering test. Post pics showing left, left/center, right/center and right of your lower steering setup below the steering box. That will help folks find out if everything looks to be right. Also, tire balance problems are often a main cause of vibration at higher speeds. Not saying what yours is without seeing it.
Does is stop shaking by going down to 45 to 40? If so tire balance. Also if it stops in the low 40s it will also stop in the high 50s. Not saying you have to speed up, that's just the way tire balance works.
As for your automatic transmission, you have the best of the TJ bunch. There's a couple potential issues here, the main one is whatever gearing is in your axles the other could be so many miles and abuse it's on its death bed but I'm kinda doubting the miles and abuse on this one. At the very least changing the transmission fluid AND filter could help the "shifting pretty hard sometimes".
OP
It does tend to stop when i slow back down from 50 or around there, ill definitely check out the links Chris posted.
Surely you have a phone. Go take some pics already. You are missing out on these guys knowledge of Jeeps. Probably an easy fix on those vibes your having.