05' LJ death wobble unexplained?????!!!!!

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Ok so my girls LJ still has an unexplained death wobble. We have now talked to rough country and gotten better specs for the 4 inch lift alignment and had it realigned with no luck. We took it to an old school alignment shop today where the guy does everything by hand and he said he could not find anything wrong with the alignment or make it better in any way. According to rough country the camber should be at -6 and its at +8 right now but the guy at the alignment shop said there's no way to adjust it with the current rough country setup to -6. I don't see how its possible that we would have to purchase the RC kit with adjustable control arms etc. just to have it aligned properly. Is there something i'm missing here? lol Also on a side note we just noticed today that the idiots that mounted and balanced her tires failed to tell us that her 33's on the rear were rubbing against the damn coil spring…BUT it's only rubbing on the drivers side, not the passenger side tire. Is it possible something has shifted and is causing the death wobble? Any help would be greatly appreciated since were at a loss here as to what is causing the problem, thanks guys!!

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

caster* not camber angle lol

 

[Jester32]

Tires rubbing probably due to track width change from the lift. The track bar will pull the axle to one side. As for dw you want caster on low side of spec and toe should be high like .25 degrees make sure your steering stabilizer and track bar are in good shape.

 

[Jester32]

Make sure the rear track bar bracket is properly installed.

 

[TerryMason]

I think Jesse's right about the trackbar bracket. Did you install something like this on the rear:
Rear Track Bar Bracket or a longer rear track bar?
If not, your tire is probably poking out more on the passenger side than on the drivers side.

What lift kit did you install? Did it come with adjustable control arms for the front?

As to adjusting the caster, I don't believe that 05 wranglers came with adjustable cam bolts (the easy way to adjust caster), the other way to adjust this is with your control arms - if they are fixed then you are out of luck. You can order some adjustable cam bolts from the dealer, or buy some online:
Amazon.com: Specialty Products Company 82380 Cam Bolt Kit for Jeep: Automotive
This should allow you to adjust your caster some (I don't know if it will make 14 degrees of change though).

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Factory caster specs are +5° to +8°, and you want to shoot for the +5°.

Grab some cam bolts online or the stealership for the axle end of the front lower control arms, they will allow you to dial in the caster.

I put that same lift on an LJ and had no DW issues, and that's with the included fixed-length lower control arms, no cam bolts.

Have you inspected the front trackbar ends while somebody cycles the steering?

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Ya the guy that did the lift installed the bracket for the rear track bar, but he had to relocate the hole to mount the axle end of the front track bar per the instructions that came with the lift. Unfortunately I wasn't there to make sure he did all this right since she had it installed before I was dating her lol
She bought the standard 4 inch short arm kit from rough country that bounty_hunter is talking about. Fixed lower control arms and it uses the stock uppers. I can order the cam bolts cheap so that no big deal but no I haven't checked the track bar while she turns the wheel yet. Supposedly the guy at the alignment shop had her do that but i'd rather see it for myself instead of trusting a "professional" lol
I'll check the track bar tomorrow and the rest of the suspension for any play, the professional said it was all fine but i'll make sure and repost then. Thanks for the leads guys!

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Ok so the front suspension looks good, no play or worn bushings, however, I think they may have shipped us the wrong rear track-bar bracket.
This is the bracket they sent us, the product description says it fits TJ's with 2.5" suspension lift ONLY.
Rough Country TJ Rear Track Bar Bracket

This is a rear track-bar bracket for TJ's with a 3"-4.5" lift. Notice the angles for the spot where the track bar bolts on is completely different then the one we were shipped. It's like a 45 degree angle instead of a 90 degree Rubicon Express TRACK BAR BRACKET TJ REAR W/CV RE1602 FREE SHIP

Would this angle being off shift the axle over to the passenger side and make the Jeep dog-track like it is?

 

[LilRedYJ]

She has the SYE /cv driveshaft set up, also?
Some rear trackbar brackets ( 3"-4" + lift) are designed specifically for jeeps w/SYE ....
is the dogtracking visually apparent? Or are you just able to feel it?
I may have missed some info from earlier posts... Have you posted a picture of the rear set up ?

[☠]lllllll[☠] 89 YJ ...SOA +6.5...44"Trxus' I Love my dirtYJeep! [☠]lllllll[☠]

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

i believe hers is non CV, the rear shaft just slips into the back of the t-case, it doesn't bolt onto a yolk. And I noticed the dog-tacking because the drivers side rear tire was rubbing the coil spring but the passenger side rear was not, put a wheel spacer on the drivers side and the gap between the coil spring and tire is about the same on both sides now so the axle has shifted to the passenger side by about 5/16".

 

[LilRedYJ]

Here is a link to an installation guide for a rear track bar bracket.... Most of it doesn't apply to your situation .. BUT at the bottom of Page 3 .... There is a paragraph of steps to accurately center your rear axle...
http://www.aev-conversions.com/pdf/isheets/AEV-Nth_TJ_Rear_Trackbar_Tower_Weld-on_Instructions.pdf

This way you can measure "as is" to make sure that the axle is in fact off center & by how much
From there you should be able to get a good idea of what needs to be altered/modified to regain centeredness(?)

Then go ahead and disconnect the trackbar and follow their suggestions on how to move the frame/body ...axle ... To achieve equal measurements ... And go from there...

Hope it helps..

[☠]lllllll[☠] 89 YJ ...SOA +6.5...44"Trxus' I Love my dirtYJeep! [☠]lllllll[☠]

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Hey man thanks a lot, I'm sure I can put it to good use. I'm just glad to have a lead as to what the problem is lol

 

[FloridaCherokee1988]

Ok so I now know I'm gonna have to reposition the rear track bar to center the back axle but I was looking at the front end again today, after talking to a local jeep guru lol here's a couple pics of the pitman arm and the track bar bushings. The angles not horrible but it damn sure aint straight like it was before the lift or like mine are on my XJ. Could these bad angles possibly be enough to cause binding and her wobble?

 

[LilRedYJ]

Post a pic straight on front so I can see the configuration, please....
The previous owner of my axles had awful DW and more... Looked like an escalator....

[☠]lllllll[☠] 89 YJ ...SOA +6.5...44"Trxus' I Love my dirtYJeep! [☠]lllllll[☠]