Help, PLEASE ! I have a 99 tj w/ 2"spacer lift and 31" mt's... Last fall I developed a "death wobble " in the front end at speeds of 35 mph or less. Only happened on smooth pavement when one of the front tires would hit a small bump or even a crack in the road. I rotated the tires and put approx. 10k miles on it . Wobble was gone....until i rotated the tires front to back a couple of weeks ago. The day I rotated, the wobble came back at all speeds. It became progressively worse so I rotated and balanced all four. The death wobble was better, but still there. I replaced the tires today with new 31" at's....Wobble is still there as bad as ever.... no bent wheels, everything under front and rear is either new or in good shape... I'm an ase cert. mech and i've had everyone I know look at it and nobody has any answers..( I work at a Nissan dealership) not much Jeep experience at the shop obviously... Any help will be greatly apprec. Thanks all !

just a stab in the dark, but if it's happening at low speed when you hit a bump or crack ... check your sway bar links.

when they wore out in my '97 it made for some 'weird' front end movement.  i had to remove them to actually figure out that they were worn.  sitting in the driveway, i couldn't tell that they were worn.

don't know if that'll help, but maybe you can eliminate 1 more thing.

Pete

first of all. inspect ALL suspesion bushings and all tie rod ends. Once all that is done, check to see if you have the cam-bolts on the axle end of the front lower control arms. Some cam with plain round washers, and not the off-center washers for adjusting caster. If you need offset bolts, check the dealer, or check the wrecking yard under any ZJ or TJ. (XJs are different) This includes the steering stabilizer. If it is leaking, replace it.

You need to add a bit of caster. Adjust the bolts so that the lower ball joint moves forward - toward the front of the Jeep. Do it in incrememts, say 1/8 turn at a time.  Death Wobble can be caused by mearly any worn part in the suspension. Alignment and badly or unevenly worn tires can also do it.

If everything looks good, adjust the caster. It is also one of the most overlooked adjustments on Jeeps. The last time I had my ZJ aligned, I had to insist that the guy check the caster. HTH.

Also check your tires you may have a broken belt in one or one thats not balanced right.  

"death wobble" is often used to describe different things... from what you describe i would suggest looking into steering system like rods, steering shaft or sector shaft on steering box.  if i had to guess your steering box or shaft is showing some signs of wear... common problem is sector shaft has excessive play causing the jeep to "wander" on crowns or bumps in the road.  try having someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while jeep is parked and you under watching the shaft connected to pitman arm coming from steering box... ANY "play" that you can observe in the shaft as it rotates means time for new box.

Hi I have had this problem with my full size Dodge diesel. The 1997 dodge trucks run the same style front end coil spring's etc . I checked everything and all I could find any play in was the upper track bar tie rod so I changed it out and solved all my Problem's .I to am a certified mechanic and found it frustrating that it took me that long to find the problem .I hope this helps you out.  Thanx Chuck  

Is the Axle housing bent?  Also check the Toe. Acouple lines on the tires & a tapemeasure will tell ya.

I had the same problem with my  90 cherokee.  It was expensive but I fixed it, I replaced every thing! ball joints, tie rods, track bar (most important!), links, bushings, tires, wheel bearings. It seemed every time I would fix the problem it would just come back later.  Also make sure all the tire pressures are equal, I think you would want to run about 28 lbs for your rig depending on how you are loaded.