by: Nathaniel Long
If you drive a Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee and are considering a suspension lift, you may want to think twice. Unfortunately, I was forced to learn this the hard way. I bought a brand new 2001 Jeep Cherokee a couple years ago, and almost immediately stacked on Pro Comp?s 3? lift kit with some 32 x 11.50 r 15 Super Swamper TSL tires. After a couple months of good riding, I started to experience what jeep enthusiasts have come to know as ?the death wobble.?
The death wobble is basically when you are driving your lifted jeep down the road and the front end starts to shake violently. It can happen at virtually any speed, though mostly above 40 mph or so, and is a frightening experience, especially for those witnessing it for the first time. Now it doesn?t throw you off the road or anything ? the front end just shakes. And the only way to stop it is to slow down and pull over. So it wasn?t that hard to get used to at first. But as it happened more and more, it seemed to get more and more out of control.
After driving with at least one death wobble per day for about three months, I decided to take it into the shop and see what the problem was. Being of course that off-road shops are primarily in the business of ripping people off, they gave me a list of ?everything that was wrong with the front end that is causing the ?TJ shimmy.?? Their proposal included the rotation and balancing of my tires, new front (and rear ?cause you might as well?) shocks, new and stronger track bar, new and stronger drop pitman arm, new and stronger lower control arms with some special urethane bushings, and new sway bar links. Basically, with the exception of my original lift springs, the reinstallation of the entire Pro Comp lift kit with ?better? components.
The bill was just over $1000.00. But to fix my death wobble, and hence my daily fear for my life, it was worth it. And even better, the new components would be strong enough to support a 6? lift if I ever wanted to go that big. The words of the salesman still ring in my ears: ?Dude, you could totally run 35s with this setup.?
For the next couple months, everything ran fine again and I just assumed that my former Pro Comp parts just sucked. I even took the kid?s advice and jumped up to 33 x 12.50 r 15 tires. My new components were working brilliantly. Then one day, riding down I-70 toward the mountains, I hit a pothole and back came the death wobble. For the next couple months, I experienced the death wobble every time I hit a pothole, crack, or even merged onto a simple uneven lane.
Back at the shop, the guys, obviously not recognizing me from six months before, gave me the same proposal as the first time ? almost word for word, too. My shocks, track bar, pitman arm and control arms were all shot again and needed replaced with their ?better and stronger components.? The guys didn?t even take the time to see if my components were the same ones they had sitting on the shelf. In fact, the parts they wanted to give me this time were likely the same Pro Comp components they had replaced initially. At this point, I realized that I?d have to take matters into my own hands.
I had a buddy sit in the driver?s seat of my jeep and shake the steering wheel back and forth in an attempt to recreate the death wobble so I could view it from the other side. After not even two minutes, it became clear to me what the problem was. All my components were fine. The shaking was coming from the frame rail, which is connected to the axle.
What was happening was simple: My tires, as off road tires tend to do, kept going out of balance. Therefore, when I hit a pothole or uneven pavement, or too high a road speed, the tires would start to wobble and fight back and forth against each other. This is probably how Fred Flintstone felt driving around with those rock tires. The fighting tires would cause the axle to shake back and forth, which in turn caused the frame rail to shake. Hence the death wobble. Now the wobble could have been stabilized by the bar attached to the frame rail; if only it was attached to a real frame.
See, Jeep Cherokees and Grand Cherokees have what is referred to as a unibody design. This means that they don?t have frames like a real vehicle, just a combination between a frame and a body. It?s kind of like a tin can on wheels. And if you put tires under that tin can that are too big and heavy for it to handle, it?s going to shake all over the road.
Now I?m not saying don?t lift your Cherokee, I?m just saying don?t lift your Cherokee too high. It can handle 31s or 32s, but if you get any bigger or heavier tires, it won?t be strong enough to consistently support them. If you want to lift a Jeep vehicle for off road purposes, I?d recommend a Wrangler. It has a frame, meaning it can handle big and heavy tires, not to mention a roll over.
If you?ve already got a Jeep Cherokee and are experiencing death wobble, don?t listen to the guys at the shop. They?re just trying to get your money! Test each of the components of your front end yourself. Most of them are rock solid and rarely need replacement. Instead, just get your tires balanced. It should fix the problem right away, at least until the tires go out of balance again. To end it permanently, unless you can somehow fabricate a stabilizer bar to strengthen the front-end frame rail, the only thing you can really do is switch down to smaller tires. Or buy a normal road car ?
About The Author
Nathaniel Long now drives a Chevy Prism. To avoid his local automotive shops, he currently purchases all parts and accessories for his car online at http://www.4wheelonline.com/.
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The Heavenly Vehicle
The Heavenly Vehicle
by: Mark Clarkson
The Toyota Celica?s name is actually a Spanish word that means ?heavenly? or ?celestial?. This vehicle was originally crafted and designed for those people who were young at heart and also for those people who desired and longed for simple transportation. Planning for this vehicle started in 1967. This vehicle lived a ripe age up until 2004. During the time of its planning and design, the Toyota Celica sported a style that was considered to be revolutionary for that time. It also became quite an influential vehicle as per the establishment of the sporty subcompact market segment.
Originally, this vehicle was equipped with a 1.6 liter four-cylinder engine. It was made available in only one trim level which was the ST form. This vehicle was a sport coupe that held two doors. It was rather an image car, not a high-volume car. It sold well during that time.
Through the years, the Toyota Celica underwent...
The Heavenly Vehicle
Atv tires > The Heavenly Vehicle
Demystifying The Tire Sidewall Code
Demystifying The Tire Sidewall Code
by: Debbie Pettitt
So, you need new tires for your car or truck, but how do you know what to buy?
What do all those alphanumeric codes printed on the tire sidewalls mean, anyway?
If you're in the market for new tires, you may simply want to replace your worn tires with exactly the same tire it came with.
But you MAY want to consider an upgrade.
If you know how to read the tire sidewalls, chock full of valuable information, you've got an advantage over most people and are prepared to make an informed decision.
So let's get underway!
Tire Size Markings (example: P215/65R15 89H)
Broken down:
P = Passenger
Other designations are
LT = Light Truck
T = Temporary (spare tire)
215 is the width (in millimeters) of the tire from sidewall to sidewall.
A wider tire has more grip but the bad news is that you lose fuel economy,...
Atv tires > Demystifying The Tire Sidewall Code
How to Obtain Better Gas Mileage
How to Obtain Better Gas Mileage
by: Ken Reno
During the early years, ten dollars per barrel was just the price of oil, but nowadays, it has reached a staggering price that makes ten dollars per barrel prehistoric in proportion.
Everybody has heard the news, (if really it's considered news at all), that gasoline price is continually increasing,
which brings us to the question: ?Can we do something to prevent gas price hike??
The world can?t do much to control the gas price increase.
But being frugal and wise in consuming gas could help. Gas conservation not only safeguards our environmental resources, it will also keep our almost-empty pockets filled with few silver coins.
There are various ways that one may employ to help alleviate the discomfort that the increase of gas price brings.
The least that one can do is to maximize the gas his or her little amount of money was able to afford. So how does one...
How to Obtain Better Gas Mileage
Atv tires > How to Obtain Better Gas Mileage
Remote Control Cars - Handy Do-it-yourself Tips for RC cars
Remote Control Cars - Handy Do-it-yourself Tips for RC cars
by: Clive Chansa
If you're not from an engineering background but pursue driving remote control cars as a hobby, it's always a good idea to learn as much as possible about remote control cars. We all want some kind of help on how to keep unwanted particles from coming into the car. A quick and simple solution to this problem would to secure your air filter. Alternatively, you could buy du-bro body clip retainers and make sure that they remain clipped at all times and do not get loose.
Sometimes your car may not work properly. Like if you turn on your car and you find that it keeps steering to one side. This may happen even if you keep the wheels straight. A good remedy in this case would be to check if your car has a ?steering trim? knob, wheel or button option. If there is none then may be adjusting steering servo armature length should do the trick.
A lot of dirt gets accumulated...
Remote Control Cars - Handy Do-it-yourself Tips for RC cars
Atv tires > Remote Control Cars - Handy Do-it-yourself Tips for RC cars
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