Am I imagining things or does this happen for everyone?

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:18 pm

Topic: Driveline wobble/bounce

So, as long as I've had the jeep (since early '06) I've experienced a wobble in the drivetrain, usually when coasting between 10-20 mph is when it's most noticeable, and I don't coast at that speed much, but when I do, it's in stop/go traffic and it's driving me nutz-o. The symptom feels more like a lump on the tire that lifts one corner of the vehicle up on every rotation. Once I'm over 25 mph, It seems to go away, until about 65/68 mph, where there's some normal "you're out of alignment" shake. They might be related, but I don't know.

The tires on now are AT Revos and they have about 5k miles on them. The stock tires did the same thing. I'm hoping that there's either something in the jeep that makes it simple wobble like this normally, or there's a simple explanation (wheel not mounted straight or something).

Any thoughts as to what could be causing this?

Dan

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:21 pm

HHMMM........

I haven't experianced anything like that,then again my tires are not balance and not worth balancing at this point.Never felt any type of driveline wobble/bounce while on normal roads with balanced tires that were aired up correctly either.

gone_jeepin · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:27 pm

I haven't experienced this either, but it might be a slightly bent rim.

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:49 pm

gone_jeepin wrote:

I haven't experienced this either, but it might be a slightly bent rim.

err.... I hope not. Would I just get the run-out measured at the next balance? I've never done anything serious off-road or had them "aired-down" for traction, etc, just simple trails and the occasional mud hole. I suppose it may have been bent when I bought it. Anyone have a mint 05/06 Aluminum CRD rim for sale

gone_jeepin · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:52 pm

It may not be bent, just an option.....the reason I say it might be bent is my girlfriend dinged the inside of her rim on a pot hole and it only dented the inside of the rim the size of a quarter. But it does what you described.

DryBones · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:34 pm

have you narrowed it down to one corner of the KJ? If so, then I suggest a tire rotation to see if the bounce follows a tire or stays in the same corner.

USPLibby · **Joined:** Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:29 am **Posts:** 377

I had a chunk of cow poop on my rim a few months ago. I got a pretty good wobble from it until it fell off. I was surprised how just a little extra weight stuck onto the rim makes such a difference.

JNJ-Z · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:09 pm

take the wheel off that you think it might be, and roll it on a flat surface,it should roll straight,if it wobbles theres your answer!!!!

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:24 pm

USPLibby wrote:

I had a chunk of cow poop on my rim a few months ago. I got a pretty good wobble from it until it fell off. I was surprised how just a little extra weight stuck onto the rim makes such a difference.

Exactly what I was thinking, as well. Maybe you lost a balancing weight from a wheel?

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:52 pm

You could try this out.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... hp?t=34343

dgeist · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:59 am

So, thanks for all the ideas. To answer questions, it's not something stuck in it and it's not a thrown weight (as the same symptom was present on a previous set of tires with completely different weights and completely different set of dirt). It could be a crazy asymmetrical brake rotor... but I dunno if I would be the only one with that kind of problem. I have tried to narrow down the suspect wheel and don't know a good way to do it. The wobble is only at a particular speed range and unfortunately, the CRD has a bit of rumble to it at that speed anyway and it's hard to tell if one side's going up or the other is going down. Front-to-back I feel it in my seat, so it's kinda ambiguous. I may be able to find a place with powered rollers that would help me find the culprit. More than anything, though, I just need to find time to do it. Weekends are jam-packed with watching an infant. Perhaps he'd like the auto shop :wink:

DryBones · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:35 am

if you have a matching spare you could swap that with 1 tire at a time until you found the culprit if it is a tire issue. Time consuming but still time spent with the Jeep! :wink:

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:49 pm

If you feel it in the seat more than likely coming from the rear
If it is not felt when braking you can more than likely take that out as a possible problem
If you just installed new tires 5000 miles ago and it did with the new ones and old ones you can remove the tires as well.
I would be checking driveshaft balance or something in the drive line more than anything else.
It could be a bent wheel but they should of picked up on that at the time of installing the new tires

bugnout · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:52 pm

What Tom said,

Check the U-joints on your rear drive shaft. They are fairly cheap and easy to replace.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:02 pm

I'm sure it's not as bad as the death wobble you get on Wranglers. That is some scary Sh*t.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:44 pm

Maximum Carnage wrote:

I'm sure it's not as bad as the death wobble you get on Wranglers. That is some scary Sh*t.

or early 70s model 2 wheel drive Ford pickups with 50,000/60,000 miles on them and some worn parts. Some would jerk the wheel out of your hand no matter how hard you hung on :lol:

Am I imagining things or does this happen for everyone?

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