Glockman's Rubi LJ

DW sucks to track down. When I bought my latest XJ it had it bad at 55+. I immediately ordered a tracbar with no TRE because in my experience it’s usually that TRE or a wallowed out hole on the axle side. But I still haven’t installed the tracbar because I took off the stock 235’s and threw on the 285 take-off’s and the DW is magically gone. I’ve gone 75+ a number of times and it’s been flawless.

So you could definitely mess with tire pressure and/or rotate the rear tires up front just for the sake of curiosity.

I would get dw specifically at 63-65 mph for a long time back when I daily'd the TJ. Couldn't figure it out till I bought new tires and had them balanced. Solved it immediately. Could be something stupid like that, especially if you're not seeing it till you hit higher speeds (at least for a jeep).

N-Smooth said:

DW sucks to track down. When I bought my latest XJ it had it bad at 55+. I immediately ordered a tracbar with no TRE because in my experience it’s usually that TRE or a wallowed out hole on the axle side. But I still haven’t installed the tracbar because I took off the stock 235’s and threw on the 285 take-off’s and the DW is magically gone. I’ve gone 75+ a number of times and it’s been flawless.

So you could definitely mess with tire pressure and/or rotate the rear tires up front just for the sake of curiosity.

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I've usually been able to identify the loose component causing it. But with all the steering being new I'm a little stumped. Tires could be the culprit.

SoopaHick said:

I would get dw specifically at 63-65 mph for a long time back when I daily'd the TJ. Couldn't figure it out till I bought new tires and had them balanced. Solved it immediately. Could be something stupid like that, especially if you're not seeing it till you hit higher speeds (at least for a jeep).

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I'll try a tire rotation. It's an easy item to cross off the list. I'm running balance beads and have no balance issues so hopefully it's a tire wear issue.

WAG is that slight movement in the frame mount.

IMO, a tire should not be able to cause DW if all is right and tight. I drove my LJ 400 miles on a badly bent front wheel once and it shook the shit out of the rig but never went into DW. Again just my opinion but if doing anything with your tires fixes your DW you didn't fix it you just temporarily put a trigger lock on one of the triggers. The underlying issue ain't tires. Tires should be able to shake the shit out of you and not even come close to DW. It's something further up the chain allowing DW. Track bar has always been the Number One culprit in my experience. But the crappy thing is it can be a combination of components none of which are really worn out but which all have enough wear to combine in DW when the harmonics get to harmonizing.

Movement in the frame mount sounds like an obvious place to start though.

- DAA

And 5* caster doesn't sound like a problem. But I'd be happier wiith 4* on 37's. I have mine at 4.5* on 35's. Excellent return to center etc. I'm still on the inverted Y too though - it's never given me any reason to change.

- DAA

I agree Dave, Trackbar has always been the culprit for me too. I noticed the heims on the track bar weren't timed with each other, one was CCW against the mount and the other side was cw against the bracket. I lined them up with each other and snugged up the lock nuts. Then I checked caster again measured on the rib on the bottom of the knuckle. This seemed more accurate than on the top of the upper BJ. It was reading 6.5 on both sides. I shortened the lower control arms to get 5.3* on both sides. Rotated the tires for good measure and did the chalk test. 25PSI seems about perfect with these Maxxis Razors.

While I was at it, I pulled the TF Sway bar out, I mean beat it out with a 5lb dead blow. The outer shaft had rust where the bushings ride. I cleaned it all up and ran some sandpaper through the delrin bushings. Greased everything and put it all back together.

Just took it for a 30 minute drive. DW is gone, the sway bar seems to be much more compliant now and all is well. Reducing the caster also reduced my front pinion angle and it feels smoother at 65 now too.