'96 GC front end starting to shimmy

maleemi did pass the time by typing:

It's called deathwobble and it only gets worse. Eventually it can get to the point where your front wheels are dribbling down the road. Generally what sets it off is uneven pavement similar to hitting a speed bump diagonally. Although just one pothole or unbalanced tire can set it off.

A few questions to start this off.

How old are the shocks? How old are the tires are are they properly inflated? How old is the steering stablizer (shock looking device on the steering linkage)? How long has it been since you ballanced the tires?

They are the original shocks that came with the car (125,000 miles). FWIW even though they have a lot of miles on 'em they seem to be in pretty good shape, when I depress each corner of the jeep and release, they stablize quickly....no excess bouncing.

The tires have 40,000 miles on 'em and are showing a little more than

1/8" of tread. I realize they'll need to be replaced in the next 5,000-10,000 miles. They are properly inflated.

It's never been replaced (125,000 miles)

I had them balanced when I bought the tires (40,000 miles).

Should I rebalance the tires first and see if that clears things up or should I replace the steering damper first? Is it possible to test the damper without replacing it? How difficult is it to replace the damper on a '96 Grand?

Thanks for the prompt replies!

Track Bar Bushings Worn Tie Rod Ends Worn Drag Link Bushings Worn Tire Balance and Roundness Front End Alignment Steering Stabilizer

Dick

maleemi did pass the time by typing:

I'd bee thinking new shocks. My originals only lasted about 50,000 miles. New shocks will help loads in crosswinds.

Any "cupping", "feathering", or odd wear patterns. ref:

but actually for big-rigs On solid axles you will see cupping on the tire opposite of the weak shock. Think of it this way. One tire is going up/down which is acting on the axle to cause the other tire to scrub side-to-side.

Also up for replacement. It's hard to tell with the unit in place.

I'd have the tires rebalanced/rotated and replace the damper.

Far as I know it's not possible to test the damper before removing. Replacement is fairly easy if you have the tools. You need a pitman arm puller

to press thestud out. The rest is just basic nuts and bolts. Most AutoZone,PepBoy, Canadian Tire, etc will loan tools. Some tire shops havereasonable rates to replace the damper. All depends on how muchwork you want to do. While your looking under the front end you should go ahead and check the CV boots and sway bar/track bar mounts.

I've had problems with the antisway bar mounts breaking on my ZJ. It usually sounds like creaking/popping on turns and when it lets loose the vehicle tends to dive more to one side than the other on turning or under braking.

Before I started wasting piles of money tossing parts at it I would get down under and watch the moving parts while someone else turns the steering wheel pin to pin.

I would first be looking for the whole axle moving side to side because of a worn out track bar bushing on the axle end or a dead ball joint on the frame end of the track bar.

I then would be checking the tie rod ends for movement up and down as the steering pins side to side.

I then would look closely at the steering damper shock to see if it looks like the fluid has leaked out.

If all this passed, I would jack up each front tire and give it a good shake to see if the bearings are going out and spinning the tire to see if it has gone out of round.

And then, just because it can make the strangest shimmy, to the point I thought I was going to have a tire fall off, I would grab the radiator fan with a cold off engine to see if it was floppy or loose feeling. I had soft engine mounts and the shimmy drove me nuts for a while until the fan finally started eating the shroud.

Mike

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