YJ high speed shakes

[ogilviexj]

Hey guys, I have a friend whos 94 YJ tends to shake at high speeds. Its coming from the front end and is felt through the steering wheel. Any thoughts?
Mounts?, Bearings? suspension? steering?

[Bnine]

Mounts?, Bearings? suspension? steering?

Yep

[JackstandJohnny]

YJs aren't very good at going fast..........................

what kind of speeds? is it only at certain speeds or always after a certain speed is hit? does it make any noise?

what kind of tires are they? bias or radial? are they balanced?  lift?

if its big and lifted, my guess is tires; my iroks SUCK at certain speeds but are just fine at others.  

check ur ball joints and tie rods too. could be a number of things!

[esi]

are the tires cupped?

[Pookapotamus]

is it a shake or a death wobble?

[jandh]

is it a shake or a death wobble?

noobie question, could someone explain what the death wobble is to me?   thanks

[Pookapotamus]

it EXPENSIVE! my death wobble happened at aroung 80 to 100 k, what happens is the front tires start toeing in and out in rapis ssucession

[jandh]

any way to fix it?

[JackstandJohnny]

noobie question, could someone explain what the death wobble is to me?   thanks

google it or this thread will get hijacked with everyones opinion on the subject. 

[The Machinist]

Death wobble (front end vibration) can be caused by so many things that there is no one way to fix it.  You just have to check everything until it goes away.

[w squared]

If it WAS death wobble, I'd wager that he'd use a description stronger than "tend to shake". 

[ogilviexj]

I havent had a chance to experience it as of yet. The YJ is a friends and she keeps it bone stock. Stock rims, stock type tires, suspension etc. From what she tells me, at high speeds she will get a tremendous shaking lasting 10secs to 1 minuite. Its hard for me to picture without being in the jeep when it happens.

[Bnine]

There's not enough info. People will only throw guesses at it.

The only way we can help is to either teach you how to diagnose, or get you to do a few checks and report back.

First check is always a the wheel shake with the tires on the ground. Watch for anything that moves. If you dont know how much movement to look for, look at the corresponding part and see how much it moves. If one part moves more then the others, there is a problem.

Watch the distance between the dust sheild and unit bearing. If it varies during the shake test, the bearing is shot.

If all that checks out (which I doubt on a YJ) inspect the tires and rims. Visually inspect the tires for cupping, out of round, or blown belts. All that checks out, do a runout test on the rims, most importantly if they are steel. Dont know what values to look for with a rim runout, do more then 1.

Still dont find anything

Jack the front end off the ground, and check the balljoints. Either a long bar directly under the tire and pry up and down, or hands at 7 and 2 oclock and pry on the tire.

Go through all that and cant find anything, bring it to someone else to take a second look to hopefully find what might have been missed.

Good luck

[BBD]

my 92 cherokee had the shakes at highway speeds when i hit the calf robe bridge. I would check the steering dampner for leakage. it is in the front of the vehicle generally next to the passenger tie rod. it looks like a shock absorber. if it is coverd in oil I would change it out.

[mike s]

Spin the tires in the air and look for run-out or wobble. Get them balanced if the spin pretty true. Swap them with the rears and see if it changes. If it's scary/dangerous have her get it checked out by a professional. Don't want anyone killed in/by a jeep. Slow down or is that too obvious?