Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
SUVs Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee Jeep Cherokee Grand Cherokee Steering Stability and Suspension
222 messages, Last post on Nov 04, 2009 at 7:46 PM
You are in the Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
| This is the 2nd Cherokee w/4 wd that I have had this problem with. At anytime on a highway the front end will go into a violent shake that sends me to the shoulder to slow down. Once I slow to about 30 mph it goes back to normal. It happened on my 1999 Chrokee 4 wheel and now on my 1997 Limited. If anyone has had this experience please help. Scarey to drive. | |
|
Replying to: teberts (Aug 19, 2006 1:51 pm) If they aren't lifted and/or "death wobble" is not your problem, then I'd look at the steering/suspension. First off, check your tierod ends. If they are worn/loose, replace them. Make sure the drag link ends are not loose as well. Check for worn hubs and ball joints. Basically, jack up the front end and check for any movement in the front tires. To check for a worn hub or bad balls joins, grab the top and bottom of the tire and try to rock it up and down. If there is ANY movement at all, then the hub and/or ball joints need to be replaced. Next grab the left and rigt side of the tire and try to manually turn it. When you do this it is normal for there to be a little movement side to side. Just make sure the other front tire and steering wheel are moving with the tire you are turning. If the tire seems to move rather freely for just a little without the other tire or steering wheel moving with it, then you've got a bad tie-rod end/ends or drag link joint. You can grab the tie-rod itself and try to rotate it. It will rotate a small amount, less than 1/8 turn. If it seems to rotate freely, then the joints are bad. The same holds true for the drag link. Finally, check that track bar. Make sure it is absolutely tight. I do know of one situation on a late model lifted Cherokee where it came loose. The guy was driving down the road and did the "death wobble" shake. Once he got it straightened out, he hung his head out the window and got it up to speed again. This time he saw the front axle literally moving from side to side. When he got home, the track bar was ready to fall out. He recentered the axle and tightened the track bar down, with some LockTite this time, and he hasn't had any problems since. Good luck. I hope I helped.
|
|
|
Replying to: mullins87 (Aug 20, 2006 5:49 am) Track bar bushings Tie rod at the knucle Steering stabilizer Let me know what else. Thanks for the help. This is a bad wobble.
|
|
|
Replying to: teberts (Aug 20, 2006 10:35 am) Caster is what makes the front end stable at high speeds and what makes the front end track straight when no other forces are acting upon it. If the axle were to be rotated forward, then the caster has been reduced or eliminated. This will cause the front end to lose their natural tendancy to "find" neutral and could cause them to wander rather violently. |
|
|
maybe I can explain it in a succinct manner. Imagine a vertical line drawn through the center of the axle. Next, imagine a line drawn through the center of the steering knuckle. The steering knuckle line will hit the ground in front of the point where the vertical line hits. The difference in these two lines can be measured in degrees of the angle or in inches between the two points and is referred to as caster. The greater the angle, or greater distance, the more stable it will be at high speeds. The tire, of course, will contact the ground where the vertical axle line hits the ground. It is the steering knuckle line that will "lead" the front tire. This is how you can pull a car around and the front tires will turn as the tow vehicle turns. The most obvious examples of this principle are two motorcycles. The first bike being a racing bike, while the second is a cruiser - such as a Harley. The racing bike's fork is nearly vertical while the Harley's fork is stuck way out in front. The racing bike is very agile and the Harley is rather heavy by comparison. However, the racing bike is not very stable at high speeds and requires the total attention of the rider while the Harley is very comfortable and stable at high speeds. I hope this helps. 
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: teberts (Aug 19, 2006 1:51 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: humahuma10 (Aug 27, 2006 7:02 pm) The replacement of the track bar cost me about $375 including labor. If your mechanic wants to do other things that cost more tell him your friend has had the same problem with 2 different Jeeps and both times it was the track bar. Don't let them just start fixing stuff. Long story but I am becoming an expert with this problem. Good luck. |
|
|
|
I own a 2001 Jeep Cherokee sport 2 wheel drive. I bought it used in 2002 with 30,000 miles on it. It seemed in perfect condition. The day i test drove it I noticed a slight shimmy on the steering wheel at around 50-55 mph. It drives smoothly at lower speeds and also gets smooth once you pass 55 mph. I thought it just needed a wheel balance so after purchasing the vehicle i took it to Discount tire for balancing. This did not correct the problem. The Dicount Tire mechanic told me I had bent rims so I bought a new set of aluminum wheels. This did not fix the problem either and he suggested new tires because the ones on the Jeep has a lot of cupping. I replaced the tires and this did make it better but over the course of 4 years since I have owned the Jeep I have continued to have this problem recur about every 3-4 months after I have the tires rotated and rebalanced. I have completely replaced all 4 tires 4 times in 4 years. Let me also say that during this time I have had the Jeep dealership check out my front end and they said everything was tight. I replaced the shocks myself and I have had the front end aligned several times as well. I have never had these kinds of problems with any other vehicle I have owned! Last week i had Discount Tires try to balance the tires on a new high tech machine and the steering wheel continued to wobble again around 55 mph again smoothing out after you pass 55 mph. They put yet another set of new tires on my Jeep and this time I took it directly over to Jeep to resolve the problem once and for all. The have had my Jeep 5 days. First they replaced all the tie rods and bushings and stabilizer bar etc, they said was worn. the cost was $600 as soon as I drove off their lot the wobble continued...the problem was still there! I did a U-turn and took it right back. Since then 4 days later they still cannot find the problem. The Service Manager is now involved and he has been on the phone with Chrysler. their suggestion was to replace the sway bars at a cost of around $300 more. I authorized them to do it but I get the feeling that they are just throwing darts at the wall. I have lost confidence in them to find the problem without replacing every part up there and costing me a fortune. If anyone else has had a problem like mine please let me know and how you solved it or not. It's quite frustrating to drive it this way on the highway and it is wearing out my tires much earlier than normal.
|
|
|
Replying to: teberts (Aug 19, 2006 1:51 pm) 
|
|
|
|
Hi...here is an update to my previous post titled "Vibration or wobble at 55 MPH" I finally got my 2001 Jeep Cherokee back from the Jeep dealership. Almost $1000 later (all tie rods, bushings,sway bars etc replaced) and the problem continues. I have done everything except switch out the axles and the to no avail. I have given up and I will dump this Jeep the first opportunity I get. I have a very strong suspicion that the problem is inherent in this model Jeep. Or at least in mine...very possibly a design flaw that Jeep has ignored. Wehn you have a wobble that always occurs at around 50-55 mph and you have replaced all 4 rims and tires, balanced them and had the fron end aligned, replaced all worn steering and front end stabilizers, bearings checked etc and the problem persists...what else could it possibly be? The dealership said it checked the driveshaft (it's fine) The jeep is not lifted and it's not a 4 wheel drive. You guys tell me....I'm at a complete loss.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
SUVs Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee Jeep Cherokee Grand Cherokee Steering Stability and Suspension
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2001 Jeep Cherokee
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
