TJ having a worsening "shimmy" problem

You know... Posts like this make me want to keep my stock height and stock tires except for the fact that I got stuck offroading this summer, but I might just put 33's with no lift if thats possible. As for your shimmy - My 2002 pulls a bit to the right, but i attribute it to the punishment I put it through (my first summer '06). Were you bad this summer?

silberj wrote:

The first place I'd look at is your Toe-In, you might be toed out too much. Get that correct, then I'd look at your 33s for wear and being out of balance. Borrow a stock set from someone to try. Just because to take them to get balanced does not mean they were balanced.

tw

I will give the toe-in and balance a check. I have rotated them myself, but never had them balanced. I did check the wear, and nothing jumped out at me, but I'll take a closer look. I was not "bad" this summer, I haven't had the opportunity to go offroading, although that is definitely in the plan later on down the road. Hopefully the toe-in/balance will do the trick, and I'll be sure to report back with results.

twaldr> > I'm a first time jeep owner, having bought a 99 TJ 4x4 just under a

The first place I look on a TJ for shimmy is the track bar bushings.

Mike

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

I have gotten advice to change the tires out to see if that is the problem. I don't have that luxury right at the moment, but I have something else to throw in the mix for all you jeepheads out there that know much more about this than me. I drove around today and it was pretty significant, but on the way home from work today, I decided to put it 4WD for no good reason. I noticed that on the trip home (short ride, about 6 miles), that after I put in 4WD, the shimmy and the steering jerk were much less significant (although still there). How does that figure into my problem? I really appreciate all the feedback, I will definitely do what I can to get to the bottom of this, this activity is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance.....

John

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

You are 'soooo' lucky you didn't explode anything!!!!

I have seen a transfer case blown in half from doing that......

With your part time 4x4 system, the front and rear wheels are locked together. When you corner, the wheels travel different distances so one wheel has to scuff the ground or the drivetrain winds up and something breaks....

I would for sure be looking close at the track bar bushings. You can do it sitting in the seat. Put your head stable and eyeball something on the ground that lines up with any crease or mark on your hood, the cut the wheels side to side and watch. If the object moves, the track bar has issues. That means the nose of the Jeep is moving side to side with the steering, not the wheels just turning left to right.

Mike

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

With a TJ, you can go into 4Hi at highway speed even on the highway. The owner's manual says as much. A shift into 4Lo requires a speed of less than 3MPH.

If his rear diff is a limited-slip, that would account for the reduction in "shimmy" since the LSD tends to resist a change in direction favoring a a straight line instead.

What drugs are you on these days Bill? I think you might want to have the affects checked out.....

He stated below he recently changed the steering damper and that didn't help...

Mike

"L.W.(Bill) Hughes III" wrote:

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

Sure you can 'shift on the fly into 4 high' on almost any Jeep on the road these days including my 86 CJ7, the problem is the wheels 'must' scuff the ground in order to not explode parts on the TJ's 'Part Time'

4x4 system if you vary from dead straight ahead.

Driveshafts turn into pretzels doing that if you are only lucky. If you are 'very very' lucky you only explode a u-joint, not take out the yokes too, my old roommate blew his t-case in half, literally, doing that.... Too much traction!!!

You only are supposed to go into 'Part Time' 4x4 when the roads are slippery. Dirt or snow works fine, dry pavement doesn't...

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

Make sure that your lug nuts are tight. Look for missing wheel weights. Have someone drive behind you and see if one wheel is wobbling worse than others. Have you hit anything like a rock or curb that might have bent a wheel? (I was dreadfully hard on wheels when I was younger) Try rotating the tires and see if the problem changes.

Check the front hubs for play by jacking up each front wheel and attempting to wiggle it by hand.

i'm a real novice who owns a TJ, but... this sounds a lot like when my old jimmy had damaged cv joint... it would try to yank me into next lane !!!

Well, I tried the rotate and balance all of the tires, they were all done by a computer. 3 were a little off and one was still on. Didn't do a damn thing for the problem. I guess I could refine the description of the problem as more of a steering thing. The vehicle will at times try to change course on me without notice. It's currently manageable, but becoming unsafe. My next step is to check the steering rods underneath, can anyone be specific on what I need to look at first? I sure appreciate all the help.

mike wrote:

I can't tell you how many times I took my tires in to get balanced, probably somewhere around 8-10 times at various NTBs in Texas.

Each time, I thought I HAD to have a front end problem (they WERE just balanced, ya know). I tore everything apart, put it back together...same problem. Had to be the tires...went back to NTB to get balanced. (re-read paragraph #2 eight times).

Finally found a SEARS in Sante Fe that balanced them correctly. Rode like a speedboat on a glassy lake. So, what I'm saying is, just because you had your tires balanced, does not mean they are. Also, with a tire that big, if there is ANY uneven wear or balance problem, it will ride like a mofo.

Did you get an alignment? A toed out front end will wander like a drunken nun. It will also follow every dip in the road. Lay under the front of your Jeep and have a husky beer drinking buddy rock the steering wheel back and forth, hard. Look for what gives under there. Put your Jeep on jackstands. Grab each component of the front end and yank on it for looseness.

tw

silberj wrote:

I'll try the the alignment next, and then do my best to work the rest of it out. I'll follow up soon Thanks!

twaldr> I can't tell you how many times I took my tires in to get balanced,

UPDATE!! Ok, got it fixed. I am now a smarter jeep owner and learned a lot through this experience. I took it to a specialty 4WD shop and here's what they found. Apparently, when the lift was put on, it was done half ass and kind of jury rigged, notice I say kind of. The rear arms top bushings were completely gone, and after they came off, the other ends were frozen up, so replaced those. It turns out that the front uppers were stock, i.e. not adjustable, so you can imagine how assed up that was. needless to say, those got replaced by adjustable uppers. All of that to the tune of a little over $500. Also found that on my front springs, there are spacers at the top, where there are none on the back. Apparently this was done to level the vehicle off. It looks level now, I left the spacers alone. At any rate, it drives like a champ now, and I appreciate all the help and feedback I got from all of you. Thanks!!!

silberj wrote:

Twaldron, I just want to say thank you for this very descriptive terminology to describe my experience. My jeep did "drive like a drunken nun", and is now a part of my vocabulary. I love it. I've sobered my nun up and am much happier now, much appreciated.

twaldr> Did you get an alignment? A toed out front end will wander like a

:) Glad you're OK after having no upper control arm bushings. I'm surprised it was such an extreme solution. Wow! That's really scary and dangerous. No wonder you were swaying. It makes me wonder what was going through the previous owner's mind...usually these problems are much less dramatic!

Also, thanks for updating us on your solution.!

tw