i have a violent shaking from the frontend of my tj. seems like the trackbar and draglinks are ok. i don't see any broken welds from the steering box, just rotated the tires. i get tons of feedback on the steering wheel, and it happens above 35 mph. any ideas??

97 tj, 4" lift, 35" mtr's, 15x10's, 4:56 gears, 4.0 straight six, manual tranny

Sounds like maybe a wheel not balenced right or a broken belt in the tire.....  

First thing I would do is check the tires. Look and feel over the entire surface for any lumps or knots that would indicate a broken belt. Listen while you are driving, below 35 mph and and see if you can hear a "thump-thump-thump" from the defective tire striking the pavement.

If thats not the case, check and make sure none of your wheel weights have fallen off.

If that doesn't check out, try rotating the tires off of the front to the rear one at a time and see if you can find the one tire or wheel that is bad.

Also, if you have had the vehicle submerged in water, make sure there is no water in the tires. Air down on of the front tires all of the way and see if any fluid squirts out.....this happens once in awhile and will cause serious balance issues. Don't worry about this unless you have aired down to 5 to 10 psi and been in the water. A fully aired up tire is not likely to have this happen.

Last with the tire issue double check and have your tires balanced at a shop to make sure they are balanced.

This may seem like a lot of trouble if you don't think the tires or wheels are to blame, but it is a lot cheaper than replacing parts one at a time until you accidentally find the culprit.

thanks for the ideas. i have made sure the tires are in good condition. i have rotated them all ways possible. to me, it seems like the track bar might be the problem, but it appears to be ok. i am going to do an alignment to make sure the toe-in is correct, maybe the tires are just fighting themselves? ball joints are good too.  

Yea i would look to make sure the tires arnt missing any weights. Also, have you moved them back to how they were before the rotation? if ya can do that and it goes away then the tires will be to blame. If ya still have the shake, it could be some thing else that just came about when you rotated them. A worn track bar wont make it shake, mine is and has been worn out for some time. It does seem that its probably a tire outta ballance. depending on how clean your rims are and were when the tires were put on and if they only put weights on the inside one may have come off.  Hope you fix it.

Also i see your in the Mapple Valley area, where abouts you wheel at? im in Renton

look at the axle joints. also raise the tires and try to move them around by hand  

i have replaced the steering stabilizer and that has helped quite a bit. but i still have a small shaking over 35 mph.

Ajustable HD front track bar? if not get one! with a new mount like the one from rusty's offroad or Kevin's  

try and describe the symptom fully.

does the vibration occur ALL the time from 35mph up, or 35-45mph? does it vibrate no matter the road condition? or, once above 35 mph, upon striking an abnomality in the road (rut, ripple, expansion joint, etc) the front end begins to shake violently. the violent shimmy ocntinues at speed, and only subsides after slowing down a great deal... to anywhere from 15mph to 30 mph...

Death Wobble is VERY VIOLENT. ... and believe me. If you got it, there is NO doubt in your mind that it is there. While I have never heard of anyone loosing control because of it, it will make you think that you will or are about to. if it is NOT violent, then it is likely a tire or wheel balancing issue. Possibly a bent wheel. The less likely thing could be a warped brake rotor. if you feel a pulsating brake pedal when light to medium pressure is applied, and a heavy vibration with heavy brake pressure, then change or turn the rotors. DO NOT confuse that with engaging the ABS if equiped.

b1pig

PPL seam to use the DEATH WOBLE term for anything front end related these days........  

the wobble does not occur 100% of the time. i have changed to a heavy duty rancho stabilizer and that has been better, but i still feel a wobble in the wheel. i have not experienced the actual death wobble since i changed the stabilizer. it started out only violently shaking when i hit an abnormality in the road, but now the less violent shaking occurs when going straight, and into corners. it does not happen when under 30 mph. i have not checked the rotors, but i haven't experienced any of those symptons you talked about.

as 96zj commented, sometimes the term Death Wobble gets over used and attached to any vibration or shimmy.

Death Wobble is often triggered by an abnormality in the road. ANY worn or misaligned front suspension part can CONTRIBUTE to the problem, but there may be more than one faulty part.

Look at it this way. I had DW. At 5.5" of lift, with a worn trackbar bushing, I got DW. replaced it, it went away. I broke a cheap steering stabilizer mount. Got DW. I could hit a strip of tar on the road at 30 MPH and the shimmy would start. I had to drive 120 miles on back roads to get home. If I disco'd my front swaybar, I could still get DW when driving over bridges at 50-55 mph.

I recently changed to the Teraflex Hi-Steer kit. I have yet to construct a new passenger side swaybar mount... or to attach a steering stabilizer. I HAVE NO DEATH WOBBLE! NONE...NADA...ZILCH. I have tried to induce it with NO success. Now.. I just have to get the stabilizer reconnected and the swaybar hooked up. :-)

My primary couse of the DW on my ZJ? steering linkage angles. problem resolved. Since you have a TJ, the kit is designed for your application directly, so the swaybar options that Teraflex provides for the kit are viable. For me... it's another fabrication job.