06 Jeep Wrangler X - Problem with Shimmy in Steering Wheel....

It is not nice to have 'The Death Wobble' in a new Jeep! That's nasty.

I would check the track bar ends out closely first. One way is to sit and line up something on the ground with a crease in the hood, then turn the steering side to side. If the nose of the Jeep wiggles side to side with the steering, you have track bar issues. One end at the axle is a bushing, the other end at the frame is a 'tie rod end'. Either can be sloppy.

Did they check the toe in? That can cause wobble, but not the 'tacking into the wind' a loose part causes unless it is way out.

You can check that yourself with a tape measure. I measure from the tire seam on one side to the seam on the other side's tire in the front of the tire and then do the same at the back of the tire as far up as you can go on each and see the measurement. It should be slightly less across the front, 1/8" or so.

Does the steering come back to straight after a turn or do you have to pull it back?

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > Hi all,

Hi Larry, Tell Daimler to fix it:

Tire may just have mud caked on it causing it to be out of balance. Oryou hit something breaking the tire carcass, causing a bubble, throwing itout of round, Or it just could be a bad tire casing that distorts atdifferent speeds, causing a "death wobble" If you lifted it than your castor alignment is out of whack with thetype of coil spring suspension Daimler uses, and you just live with. Maybebuy stronger steering stabilizer/dampener, or a Real Jeep with leaf springs: God Bless America, Bill O|||||||Omailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

Did this start happening after you rotated the tires at 6,000 miles as specified in the service interval? If so, rotate the tires back one at a time and see if this "cures" the problem. Rotate through your spare if you only have the jack that came with your Jeep (and thus can only lift one wheel at a time) and use an X-type lug wrench available at Sears or etc. rather than the pathetic thing that came with your Jeep. On an unlifted Jeep often the "shimmy" is nothing more than an out-of-round and/or out-of-balance tire. The OEM tires in particular are notorious for being pathetic.

I had a bit of vibration in my (2" lifted) TJ's steering wheel at speed, though nothing as bad as what you describe. New tires solved it. But balancing would have solved it too. (But I wanted 32" tires on my Heap :-).

-Elron

Yep, poor tire balance is the biggest cause. The bigger the tire, or the bigger the imbalance the more magnified the pucker factor. You may have slung your weights.

tw

As has already been suggested, tire balance, or tire with a slipped belt. Balance your tires every time you rotate. Wearing rubber off changes the balance. Balancing is part of normal maintenance, as are alignments and rotations. Steering wheel shake means front tires probably. Seat of the pants means rear tires probably. Spdloader

You may also want to check your track bar bushing.

99 wrangler 31 inch good year mtr tires warn M8000 winch 2.5 lift skyjacker shocks a lot of lights (winch,hood,bumper, wind shield) Even more toys to come

Some people have an addiction to drink... Some people have an addiction to drugs.... I just have an addiction to Jeeps and their accessories....

Here are a few pictures of my rig I will update soon as I get new batteries for my cam

I took my Jeep to the dealer today, and they replaced the steering dampner/linkage at no charge. It took two trips, but it looks like this was the problem. They did not find this problem, the first time around. Finally, the steering is much much better. I'll run this jeep on the freeway later today, to give it a good test run.

All I can say...my THANKS!!!!, to this group and their suggestions. The "Technical Service Bulletin" made the difference. It's amazing what a little piece of paper can do.

So, if you have a 06 Jeep Wrangler X, > > > > > get this "Technical Service Bulletin" service done on your vehicle.

Thanks, : -) Larry

Thanks for the followup!

That sure is strange for a new vehicle to need a damper to keep it tracking. It must be running on the borderline for alignment to set off the shimmy.

I have managed to keep the alignment good enough on my CJ7 for the last ten years that I didn't even realize I don't have a functioning damper and never had. It is an empty tube with a rod sticking out.

I just got a dual shock setup for it that I need to install, it aught to drive wicked on the trails with a steering shock on my 33's.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > I took my Jeep to the dealer today, and they replaced the steering

Thanks. God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com