Re: Vibrating front wheels
Do a google search on 'Death Wobble' as this is what you're getting. If the bushes etc are in good condition the most likely cause is the caster angle, basically the caster is now less than it was and the front end is getting a shimmy much like a shopping trolley (they have 0% caster). To fix it you will need to push the lower control arms forward. There are shims on the body end of the lower control arm mounts and room for some adjustment, shim the control arms a little more than they are now to get some caster back and hopefully the wobbles will go. Oh, and it gets worse the higher you get because the caster is reduced the higher you go, so when they put lower springs in the DW's weren't so bad.
Hope that helps :)
Cheers
Steve
Re: Vibrating front wheels
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradleyfutter
Now it was fitted by a reputable 4WD place in sydney.
Please tell me this can be fixed and that i havent just wasted 1500 and permenately wrecked my TJ !!
Which shop?
There's nothing quite like the "Death wobbles" for evacuating ones bowels. Don't sweat it, it happens all the time, just do plenty of research on line and work through the problems till you find the solution. Unfortunately there could be any number of contributing factors but usually it comes from play in ball joints or tie rod ends. If you get underneath your rig and get someone to move the steering wheel back and forth, you may spot where the play is. Good luck, be patient and welcome to modifying your jeep. ;D
Re: Vibrating front wheels
I would suggest having the guys at ProAxle look at it. They have all the equipment, shims, etc to correct the angles. They have a shop at Enfield (behind the bus depot) and a couple of others around town. The place looks like crap but they know what they are doing.
Re: Vibrating front wheels
I dont know if im going to get into trouble naming the shop or not... they are a great bunch, really helpful guys, and they are a BIG respected brand as far as im aware.
but im not particularly happy with the end result. I dont expect my car to be dangerous to drive after ive spent so much money for someone who is qualified to the job properly.
Also im not so keen on playing with the mechanics of my car, thats why ive paid top dollar for a well known shop to do it !!
Re: Vibrating front wheels
I doubt they would have done a wheel alignment, which is what will pick up the caster problem, tell then that you think this may be the issue (I'm assuming they've checked the ball joints etc) and then they may be able to fix it. Like I said it's just a few shims at the frame end of the lower control arms.
Cheers
Steve
Re: Vibrating front wheels
I don't know anything about TJ's but if you live in Sydney you should come to the meeting to night I sure a few of the guys would be interested to have a look and give you a better idea of what could be wrong.
December meeting (7:30pm Wednesday 2nd December) will be held at TJM Megastores premises 1/163 Prospect Hwy Seven Hills
Re: Vibrating front wheels
Not that my vehicle is a TJ, but when TJM put my lift in I asked about offset castor bushes. They said that they may be needed in a lift of more than 2 inches when the castor is altered too much - resulting in symptoms like you describe. As Steve F said, a wheel alignment (a MUST after suspension work) would have picked that up.
Dave
Re: Vibrating front wheels
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave
Not that my vehicle is a TJ, but when TJM put my lift in I asked about offset castor bushes. They said that they may be needed in a lift of more than 2 inches when the castor is altered too much - resulting in symptoms like you describe. As Steve F said, a wheel alignment (a MUST after suspension work) would have picked that up.
Dave
I would have thought that the caster an IFS vehicle like the KJ's wouldn't be affected by a suspension lift, due to the geometry of the arms. Camber would be a different story though.
The bigger lifts on the SFA vehicles often come with aftermarket control arms to allow caster to stay within specs, as you can only adjust so far with shims!
Re: Vibrating front wheels
Howdy mate,
Mine is a JK and had same drama after lift - same kit you got too. Alignment sorted it, but note what Steve says above, also, do you still have the same stock swaybar linkages from before the lift? The OME kit is a nominal 2", but is actually almost double that. I bought extended swaybar disconnect linkages and got another alignment. So, for now about 95% good, but need a few smallish tweaks for the elusive 100% score. Haha, like Wolfie says: welcome to the wonderful world of Jeep mods - tempremental game it is, enjoy...
...it never, ever ends...
CRB