Jeep Shimmy

[highlandraceteam]

I got a 98 jeep cherokee and it has a pretty mean shimmy at 50 mph. Just at 50 not above or below. Ive changed the tie rod ends, balanced the tires, teh only real problem is that the previous owner tried to make the trac-bar mount adjustable, at least it looks like that, now every once in a while it comes loose. Does anybody know why its doin this. It was a salvage title, i dont know if that might have somethin to do with it.

[SPONSOR]

Membership in the largest desert racing community has its advantages - Participate in Forum Discussions - Send and Receive Private Messages - Maintain Public Photo Albums - Access to Groups - User Profile in our Social Network - Increased Access to more Sub Forums - Reduced Online Advertisements Join our community today

[er7383noc]

it sounds like and unbalanced wheel. also the allignment could have a big role in this too. have you had the allignment checked? and your positive the wheels & tires are balanced? if your sure of these things you might have a seperated tire. the track bar thing though, i highly doubt that has anything to do with your shimmy problem. especially if its tight and your jeep still does it.

[er7383noc]

oh yeah forgot to ask: do you feel the shimmy in the steering wheel or in your seat?

[highlandraceteam]

The steering wheel, shifter, seats, the whole car shakes. I went to teh alignment shop and the owner just told me to weld the bolt and it will fix my problem. I did that and it didnt even fix it. So i just rotated the back tires to the front and the shimmy went way down. So im thinkin if i get these tires balanced then it should go away.

[BajaFand]

It could also be that you have too much castor. What tire are you running? My buddy had BFG Baja T/A's on his truck and when they started to wear down they had a horible shimmy at a certain speed range. He put brand new Goodyear Wranglers on that solved the problem. I don't know if it's because the tires were wearing down or that a BFG Baja is about the worst tire you could have for street use (awesome in the dirt though). Now my Wranglers are starting to get low so I am going to check the alignment and balance again before I rule that it's time for a new set of tires, these still have some miles on them.

[1450-ranger]

We had a crazy shimmy in our race truck. The cause was the snout of the spindal pushing farther through then intended, causing the bearing and mounting assembly to be perm. loose. Don't know if it's a jeep problem, but we didn't expect that to happen on ours.

[Bryan_D]

Its called death wobble and its from the trac-bar or steering being worn out or bent. When the previous owner tried to make it adjustable, it didnt work.

[highlandraceteam]

I got those goodyear wrangler TD's, I gotta just go get some new ones i guess, cuz there awesome tireson dirt and the road.

[movindirt]

If it happens at the same speed everytime on a smooth road (no bumps to start oscillations) then it is something out of balance. Could be a tire or wheel or ???. The death wobble at least how I understand it is something different.

[highlandraceteam]

yah it happens anywhere, it doesnt even take a bump to get it started. I welded up the track bar so it wont shift, i hope, when i rotated the tires the shimmy went way down. So im just going to buy some bfgs when i get the money. Thanks for all ur guys input.