Eagle

Shimmy is a far cry from death wobble. Death wobble is called that because when it happens, your life flashes in front of your eyes and you KNOW you're gonna die in about 2.37 seconds. Death wobble is like a demented djini has grabbed hold of the front of your truck and is doing his best to fling it forcefully off the road into the nearest ditch. Basically, if you don't wet yourself -- it isn't death wobble. Death wobble is generally unlikely in a vehicle with independent front suspension because you don't have that big, SOLID axle rigidly connecting both wheels, both steering knuckles, and everything associated therewith. It's hard for the harmonic feedback to get a toehold when there's nothing solid through which it can transfer.

1997 was the first year for the "new" Cherokee body style. Still a bit of a stretch, though. It wasn't an early, mid-year introduction. The '97 models hit the showrooms around September of 1996.

Cooper Discoverer A/T

Nah, they use "disposable" vehicles for the destructive stuff. Some of you must be fans of The A Team. There was one in which Colonel Decker's MPs were hot on the heels of the Team in BJ's cherished van. Now, y'all remember, BJ's van has alloy rims. So they're roaring through some kind of southern swamp or bayou territory, and they come to a river. So in the best Joey Chitwood tradition, BJ floors it, jumps the van off the remains of a collapsed bridge, and comes down "safely" on the other side. The pursuing MP sedan, of course, attempts the same gravity-defying feat and lands squarely in the middle of the river. However ... look closely at the van, and when it lands you can clearly see HUBCAPS popping off the wheels. And if you look more closely you'll see that it comes down a bit nose-heavy, and pretty well trashes both the front bumper (which does not look like the bumper on BJ's van) and the entire front suspension. There's no question that the truck that made that jump only did it one time. They typically have one or maybe two "good" vehicles they use for the close-up and normal shots, and then they use junks painted to look like the good one(s) for the destruction scenes.

Not to worry, Steph. The raw truth is, setting up a "poll" in a way that allows people to vote every MINUTE is a pretty stupid way of getting a valid vote. The people who set it up obviously knew when they made it that people would vote multiple times. They made it that way, and every time you vote they remind you that you can vote every minute. So ... if I vote every minute because that's the way the silly thing is set up, how is that cheating? They're just jealous that they don't have a handsome, intelligent, resourceful, popular "significant other" with as many clever obsessive/compulsive friends as your SO.

Pete, IMHO there is no question that if you eliminate the CAUSE, you eliminate the death wobble. What makes it complicated is that you can "fix" things that aren't the cause and cover up the death wobble. Yes, you "fixed" it in that you can drive down the road at 55 MPH ... but something is still lurking just under the surface. Despite the poll results, I remain of the opinion that the root cause is almost always tire balance, and that insufficient caster angle can result in the tire balance showing up as death wobble. However, caster angle itself doesn't cause tires to shake. We now routinely run 6 to 8 degrees of positive caster. Back in the late 50s and early 60s, 1-1/2 degrees of caster was a LOT, and yet tires weren't jumping off the road as soon as you hit 50 MPH. I don't know what real good this poll is. Ultimately, regardless of how it's worded, I think people voted for the things they have "fixed" as being the cause. So in that sense, I guess the final standings could be viewed as a probable hierarchy of what to check first if you have death wobble.

I also agree on the "Cheromanche" in the burn shot. The rear bumper wrapping around the corner is the giveaway for me (aside from "Cherokee").

The week is up, the polls are closed, and the results are in. If I can get this to format in a somewhat legible fashion, the following are the results: Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st # . . . 2nd # . . . 3rd # . . . Total Score ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worn Track Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . 15 . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 79 Tire Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 62 Worn Tie Rod Ends . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . .2 . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . 34 Worn Control Arm Bushings . . . 3 . . . . . .7 . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 31 Improper Caster Angle . . . . . . .4 . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 18 Incorrect Toe-In . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 11 Worn Ball Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . 10 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 7 So ... for whatever it's worth ... there's the collected wisdom of the Comanche Club. I'll leave the three piolls stickied for a few more days so y'all can refer back to them if you wish, then (if possible after the poll closed) I'll unstick them so they can disappear gracefully.

I regret that I'm not geek enough to have four machines running at once. However, every time I sit down at the 'puter now the first thing I do is fire up the voting link, then I just leave it open in a tab and jump back to it every minute or so. Not as prolific as Wade, but they add up. I guess now we know why his screen name is "Super" Wade ...

Well, a long time ago one of the original NAXJA stalwarts pronounced me older than dirt, so I take that as a kind of certification. Nobody has ever formally notified me of any "grande"-ness as yet, however ... unless an expanding waistline is what you had in mind.

See -- you youngsters never listen to the old men. What the hell does a certified olde pharte know about treachery and deception? Good job on the rebound, though, lads. Sorry I've been away from the computer this evening, but I'm home now and will endeavor to hold up my end of the stick.

I envy you. Maine is my favorite state for vacations. Take pics, please. Maybe when you get back we can connect, I can look at your pics, and we can talk about Jeeps (and ... other stuff of mutual interest).

The Jeep rims in the photo you linked are 15x6 -- the only factory XJ/MJ rim that wasn't 15x7 (or 16x7 for a couple of the last years of the XJ). The 31" tires you seem to be looking at are 31x11.5 -- that's too wide for 6" rims. The only way you'll ever be able to keep the tread flat on the pavement is to run the pressure so low it'll be unsafe. The rule of thumb is that tire width should not exceed rim width by more than 4 inches. 6-inch rims ==> maximum tire width 10". You can cheat on that by a bit for dedicated off-road tires that stay aired down and run at low speeds, but for a daily driver tire you need to be sure you get even tread wear at a pressure that's high enough to prevent overheating the rubber. For those rims I would suggest that you either stay with 235/75s or look at 30x9.50s. Interco doesn't offer a 30x9.50 in the tire you have in mind, so I guess your best choice in that tire would be the 29x10.50.

Are you sure on those factory calibrations? My understanding was that the 84-90 vehicles had the temp sender for the gauge rated at 0 to 88 ohms, and the one for 91 and newer was rated at 104 - 0 ohms. Are you sure those numbers you have aren't the ratings for the temp sender on the side of the block that inputs to the ECU?

Okay, you slackers, get back to work. I have managed to boost Steph's lead back up to 200 points, but that's not a comfortable margin IMHO. I'm signing off for the night, so I hope some of you west coast keyboard jockeys will pick up the slack. I anto to see a 300-point spread when I log tomorrow, got it? HOO-rah!

First, it's important to consider not only tires, but rims. Stock Jeep rims have 5-1/4" backspacing. There are NO aftermarket rims with that backspacing. The largest tire that fits a stock XJ or MJ on OEM Jeep rims with no rubbing is 235/75R15. Put those tires on rims with less backspacing and they may rub the flares when the suspension compresses. On OEM Jeep rims you can run 30x9.50s and even 31x10.50s. They will -- on stock OEM Jeep rims -- tuck inside the flares and fenders when the suspension compresses. They will, however, rub slightly on the lower control arms. However, they will still rub on the lower control arms even if you run 4 inches of lift. Switching to rims with less backspacing will solve the problem of rubbing the lower control arms -- but then you have the problem of the tire crashing into the flares and sheet metal when the suspension compresses. IMHO the optimum tire size for an UNlifted MJ is 30x9.50. I have run mine with the 31s after I took out the lift and it was okay, but it just didn't look right. The tires looked like they had been stuffed in there.

Is that the one with the disc brakes? There are a few ZJ's at the yard. I wonder, nah too much hassle to spring The 8.25 as used in the XJ did not have disc brakes. Dunno if they ever used the 8.25 in the ZJ. I believe the ZJs all got either the Dana 35 or the crappy aluminum "Dana 44"

You aren't talking to Jeep people. The rear main seal in my '88 XJ was changed in the vehicle -- no lift. I know several people from NAXJA who have done it ... including a few who also replaced all the rod bearings ... with the engine in the vehicle. Yes, it can be done.

"Coolant overfill"? What year is your MJ? Do you have the old style system with the plastic pressure bottle, or do you have the new style with a regular radiator cap?

Actually, there can be excessive "slop" that you can feel as vagueness in the steering when the movement is so slight you can't see it. I prefer to grap the bar and let part of my hand overlap the bracket (this works on both ends). Have your asistant turn the steering wheel and you feel for movement. If you can feel the bar moving relative to the bracket, the track bar is on its way south.

I have a $79 Actron from Auto Zone and a $39 one from Harbor Freight. They both work. The sequence and menu access is different, so if I go back and forth I have to read the instructions, but they both read the codes and clear the fault indication just fine. Skip the Harbor Freight one that looks like nothing but a digital read-out. That's all it is. It flashes the codes, three times I think, then AUTOMATICALLY erases them unless you abort by unplugging the scanner. Since they now sell the "real" ones with buttons for the same price, the other one is worse than useless.

You don't have to remove the engine to replace the rear main seal. It's a 2-piece seal. You can drop the oil pan, remove the rear bearing cap, punch out (carefully) the old upper half and snake the new piece in there with the engine in the vehicle. It's a MUCH easier job if you use the one-piece oil pan gasket for the new (95+ engines rather than the old three-piece set. Don't worry if they tell you it won't fit -- it does.

Ditto

They were still available from the dealer a couple of years ago. Doesn't matter if it's a Renix -- the factory one replaces a freeze plug in the block.

If you can determine which terminal on the gauge is negative, try running a separate, dedicated ground wire from that terminal to a known-good ground somewhere on the chassis.