Front driver side bouncing

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Wjoe7890

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Hello, I have a 03 Wrangler X and when im going over 30 and hit a bump my whole driver side front end bounces violently. A mechanic told me my shocks were fine(bilsteins 5100s with 15k on them) Just started happening recently and didnt change anything to my jeep. All of this has been installed for years.
My Jeep:
4 inch lift and 1 inch body lift
33s
Dropped pitman arm
Dropped track bar

I can include a picture when i get home
 
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Wjoe7890 said:
Hello, I have a 03 Wrangler X and when im going over 30 and hit a bump my whole driver side front end bounces violently. A mechanic told me my shocks were fine(bilsteins 5100s with 15k on them)
My Jeep:
4 inch lift and 1 inch body lift
33s
Dropped pitman arm
Dropped track bar

I can include a picture when i get home
Click to expand...
How do you know the other side isn't bouncing?
 
mrblaine said:
How do you know the other side isn't bouncing?
Click to expand...
I can only feel it on the driver side. It seems like only that side is bouncing up. Last time i had a shock go on the passenger side and had the same feeling but only on the passenger side, so i replaced all 4 shocks that was about 15k miles ago
 
Check those bar pins in the rear.
Also just check all 4 shock mounts.

Then look at your springs take your fingers and rub them around then entire spring like your holding a tiny sausage....and look for any cracked/broken spring. see if you come up with anything. ive broken plenty of bar pins in the rear and best to use an eliminator
 
Jeffseven777 said:
Check those bar pins in the rear.
Also just check all 4 shock mounts.

Then look at your springs take your fingers and rub them around then entire spring like your holding a tiny sausage....and look for any cracked/broken spring. see if you come up with anything. ive broken plenty of bar pins in the rear and best to use an eliminator
Click to expand...
Thanks, Ill see if i can notice anything. Ive never messed with shocks thats why i had a shop look at them. I bet they missed something with the shocks or the mounts.
 
You can also have a buddy push up and down on the corners while you look at the parts to see if there is anything obviously broken.
 
So I went under and checked all spings and found no issues, i replaced the 2 front shocks and it still bounces when i hit a bump at 30, it bounces really bad and you have to brake to about 15 until it stops. How do my angles look in the pic? It has the dropped pitman arm and droppes track bar bracket but those have been on for years with no issues.
20210706_162157.jpg
 
Are you talking bouncing or is the steering wheel shaking - as in death wobble?

Also your dropped pitman will cause bump steer and the track bar axle end bolt is not familiar, I’d want to know the condition of that joint as larger bolts sometimes indicate 2 piece urethane bushings are used-

keep us posted
 
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Wjoe7890 said:
So I went under and checked all spings and found no issues, i replaced the 2 front shocks and it still bounces when i hit a bump at 30, it bounces really bad and you have to brake to about 15 until it stops. How do my angles look in the pic? It has the dropped pitman arm and droppes track bar bracket but those have been on for years with no issues.View attachment 267261
Click to expand...
The Pittman Arm and nut looks new, but you said it's been on there for "years"? Did something happen that it needed to be replaced?
Like @AndyG says, sounds like you might be experiencing death wobble if your breaking to slow down getting it to stop.
 
AndyG said:
Are you talking bouncing or is the steering wheel shaking - as in death wobble?

Also your dropped pitman will cause bump steer and the track bar axle end bolt is not familiar, I’d want to know the condition of that joint as larger bolts sometimes indicate 2 piece urethane bushings are used-

keep us posted
Click to expand...
The front end bounces hard , you can see the whole front end bounce when it happens. Ill take a look at that bolt but i do believe its a oem bolt as i replaced the track bar about 3 years ago.
 
Farmergreg said:
The Pittman Arm and nut looks new, but you said it's been on there for "years"? Did something happen that it needed to be replaced?
Like @AndyG says, sounds like you might be experiencing death wobble if your breaking to slow down getting it to stop.
Click to expand...
Its about a 2 months new, i replaced it with the same 1 that was on there. The old ones teeth wore out for some reason and it had a ton of play. I thought death wobble was felt in the steering wheel? What im experiancing isnt felt in the steering wheel at all. Imagine your front end boncing and maxing the shocks thats what it feels like. It slams so hard its not funny, and it only does it if you hit a bump first.
 
Wjoe7890 said:
Its about a 2 months new, i replaced it with the same 1 that was on there. The old ones teeth wore out for some reason and it had a ton of play. I thought death wobble was felt in the steering wheel? What im experiancing isnt felt in the steering wheel at all. Imagine your front end boncing and maxing the shocks thats what it feels like. It slams so hard its not funny, and it only does it if you hit a bump first.
Click to expand...
Weird symptoms.
How long have you had the TJ?
Was the suspension set up like it is now when purchased?
Tires good and balanced?

When I test drove mine on the stock suspension but 195K miles it would death wobble. It didn't feed back very much thru the steering wheel but I had a Ford with the "Twin Traction beam" front end that would go nuts and you felt like the steering wheel would come off in your lap, that was solved by renewing all the ball joints and steering ends.
 
Since you said it’s the driver side an easy thing to test would be to switch the shocks side for side, since that’s what should be dampening out that movement. In any case, it sounds like your shocks are toast.
 
First understand what death wobble is and looks like. A vibration felt a certain speeds,and the ability to drive through it without slowing down, is not death wobble.

Example of death wobble.

Start by inspecting the front end components for play turning the wheels lock to lock with a helper or a camera and looks for movement in the tie rod ends and track bar. Get the tires road force balanced (if possible) and see if it improves.
 
Wjoe7890 said:
Just started happening recently and didnt change anything to my jeep. All of this has been installed for years.
Click to expand...
1054BF36-CA6A-4858-AA3B-83F532763240.jpeg

Hard to tell From the picture, but it looks like maybe a new unit bearing and ball joints on the drivers side? I see a clean unit bearing bolt while the rest of the underside is pretty grimy. Also, the ball joint nut looks like it could use a few more turns? I would get the torque wrench out and just double check everything is torques to spec and that the ball joints and knuckle are fully seated.
 
Farmergreg said:
Weird symptoms.
How long have you had the TJ?
Was the suspension set up like it is now when purchased?
Tires good and balanced?

When I test drove mine on the stock suspension but 195K miles it would death wobble. It didn't feed back very much thru the steering wheel but I had a Ford with the "Twin Traction beam" front end that would go nuts and you felt like the steering wheel would come off in your lap, that was solved by renewing all the ball joints and steering ends.
Click to expand...
Ive had it for about 6 years now and only replaced what the original owner had on it. Im getting it alligned and tire balenced this week to see if that does anything. . Sounds funny but can a bad lower control arm cause what im experiancing?
 
Lax22 said:
First understand what death wobble is and looks like. A vibration felt a certain speeds,and the ability to drive through it without slowing down, is not death wobble.

Example of death wobble.

Start by inspecting the front end components for play turning the wheels lock to lock with a helper or a camera and looks for movement in the tie rod ends and track bar. Get the tires road force balanced (if possible) and see if it improves.
Click to expand...
It felt like bouncing to me, with that said I guess its possible for it to be death wobble as i cant see my tires while im driving. I watched that video and it looked nasty.
 
Wjoe7890 said:
Ive had it for about 6 years now and only replaced what the original owner had on it. Im getting it alligned and tire balenced this week to see if that does anything. . Sounds funny but can a bad lower control arm cause what im experiancing?
Click to expand...
Bad lower control arm would set off death wobble.
Edit...misread that was thinking lower traction bar!
 
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