Rundel

I appreciate those of you who responded to my previous entry on this topic. I thought I had this beat but today while driving secondary county roads that are paved but rough, I had the DW kick in 12 times in five miles. It usually occurred when the passenger side tire would hit a bump and at speeds greater than 30 mph. Tires, balance, alignment have been checked and a new trac-bar have been installed. The tie rod ends all have been examined. So where do I go from here?

You're not arguing, you're agreeing! The tires and wheels weren't marked for rotation and I'm willing to bet that when I bolted them on the firest time, it was in reverse to the past running direction. While there still is a bit of vibration, I now have actually been able to pass a vehicle and not had to worry about having the vehicle turn into a 4 wheeled paint shaker!

As for the running warm, I solved this by blasting the radiator free of six years accumulated fescue and other grass seeds that impeded the air flow. As for the wobble, I have cured the majority of the shakes and not incurred the DW by simple cross rotating the front tires. This was a used set of wheels and tires off of a Wrangler. The tire people want you to believe that modern radials can be criss-crossed but apparently there was an issue of belts attempting to reform or separate. I still will plan on replacing the bushings in the front end. Other that Quadratec, can anyone suggest other sources for these items. Thanks for all the suggestions. These forums are a lot of help especially to us new guys.

I had the alignment, still have the death wobble. Had the tires balanced and rotated, no help - maybe worse. The alignment guy suggested tightening up the steering box. He also noticed a sway bar bushing was worn out. He also suggested, based on past experience, replacing the steering damper with a heavy duty upgrade. So for those of you who have been there, done that, what do I do now? AS for the heating issue, I remembered the previous owner used this truck like an ATV to go through field and check cattle and horses. I used my air compressor and a needle blow gun and blasted a large quantity of grass, grass seeds and dirt from the radiator. It now seems to be running within normal parameters.

The mechanic called today, the alignment is way off, everything else appears to be mechanically ok. I will schedule an appointment

The MJ is back at the local shop, the balance will be checked and the easy alignment will be checked (toe in) My local guy has had experience with solid front axle trucks and has seen the death wobble before due to alignment issues. I let the forum know what I find out.

It has a new tracbar and the mechanic I trust said everything else seemed real tight. I have a new coolant tank but I've not checked the pressure cap as suggested. I appreciate all the advise so far. I'm also curious about what other parts others have had to replace to cure the death wobble. TIA

I have an 88 4wd long bed stock suspension, since getting it a couple of weeks ago, I have done the rear brakes, track-bar, recharged the air and replaced old ugly wheels and tires with a set of steels of a wrangler. Today when going down the road four times in five miles it began to shimmy so bad as to be nearly uncontrollable. I pushed the clutch in and hit the brakes gradually to slow it down from highway speed to around 25 mph at which point it stopped shaking so bad. Also, the previous owner hard wired a by-pass toggle switch to the electric fan. Despite running it, the temp guage still goes over the 210 mark when the a/c runs. On the plus side of things, it is almost rust free!!! So help me out here, what do I need to check on the front end/suspension etc to figure out what causes the shimmy and what do I need to do to help make it run cooler???

I got my MJ a couple of weeks ago and it is now in the process of being brought to a licenseable condition. Its an 88 4.0 longbed, 155,000 miles, no rust issues but some body work to be done. It needs a headliner and some plastic parts on the inside. I have had a TJ, YJ, ZJ and XJ and my wife just traded her Liberty. So I'm no stranger to Jeeps. I've already learned a lot by reading the info on this forum. I look forward to learning more. Now, where's the treasure trove of all the parts I'll need?