Jeep Cherokee Death Wobble?

[HEADHUNTER]

Got the :2thumbs: from the wife to get a vehicle - my son turns 16 and he's taking my car and that leaves me an Expedition to drive back and forth to work - a bit much for a guy with an office job.

Anywho - looking at a Jeep Cherokee, but my bud says "watch out for the death wobble". I looked it up on the net and from what I gathered it's related to lifted Jeeps and too large of tires and those tires going out of balance.

So - if I get one and only throw a 3" lift and 31s or 32s should I be okay and avoid the death wobble?

Also - it'll be used, so I'm sure it'll have been taken off road - is there anything to look out for in buying used? I have a mechanic lined up to look it over, check the engine, pressure, tranny, etc... but need to know if there's more to it than that.

Thanks!

[Sombeech]

It's basically from the tires being unaligned. This happened to my 2001 wrangler when I put 35" Super Swampers on it.

I was warned that it wasn't aligned yet right out of the shop. On the way home, it started violently wobbling back and forth.

All I had to do was align them myself with a tape measure, adjust the tie rods, and problem solved.

[fourtycal]

I have driven a few trucks that had this happen, they were all lifted and all by backyard mechanics :haha:

Alignment is key, I would suggest that anyone that buys a used vehicle drive it right to alignment specialists and get it checked (The 05 F150 I just bought from a dealer went right there and was 3/4" out) it's $55 that I will spend at least once a year on both my daily drivers. Any time a vehicle is lifted or you have any steering or suspension work done that should be your first stop.

Tire balance is also crucial. The bigger tires are harder to balance and offroading may throw them off. Get them checked often.

And finally, on any lifted vehicle the steering stabilizer becomes more important. Replace the stock unit with a heavy duty one and your truck will track way better. http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/scsubs_ss.html

[JP]

This maybe something you might be interested in. Around these neck of the woods, the lead weights tend to be torn off rims when wheeling the terrain around here and the bigger the tire, it seems the more of those lead weights are needed. This product eliminates the need to externally balance the tire :2thumbs:


EQUAL (http://www.imiproducts.com/equal/index.aspx)

MORE ON EQUAL (https://www.expeditionexchange.com/equal/)

[greyhair biker]

well, MY cherokee's only been lifted for a week but I drive it to work..25 miles of I-80...and it has no problem at 80mph, even with the torsion bar removed from the rear...what a great rig!

[HEADHUNTER]

Glad to hear it's not a default with the Cherokee - that's how I interpreted the problem.

So now, I need to find something compatible with my budget.

Any specific years? A friend of mine said nothing older than 1993.

[Sombeech]

This maybe something you might be interested in. Around these neck of the woods, the lead weights tend to be torn off rims when wheeling the terrain around here and the bigger the tire, it seems the more of those lead weights are needed. This product eliminates the need to externally balance the tire :2thumbs:


EQUAL (http://www.imiproducts.com/equal/index.aspx)

MORE ON EQUAL (https://www.expeditionexchange.com/equal/)

Yeah, I've heard about this stuff, but I don't know anybody who uses it. I thought about it when I was running those 35"ers on my wrangler

[greyhair biker]

Glad to hear it's not a default with the Cherokee - that's how I interpreted the problem.

So now, I need to find something compatible with my budget.

Any specific years? A friend of mine said nothing older than 1993. Id heard the same thing.
Id just look for the style/year between 94 and 01 that you like, which seems to be the years for finding all the right parts you need too...that doesnt have body cancer...that is a 4.0L inline 6cyl...under 200k miles...etc. I paid $5200 for mine..97, 4.0L, body in great shape, has all it's teeth, etc. :gap:

[JP]

Yeah, I've heard about this stuff, but I don't know anybody who uses it. I thought about it when I was running those 35"ers on my wrangler
Works well. And the big rig guys use it too :haha: