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Inheritance Cherokee

neilconnolly79

neilconnolly79

CJ-8 Member
City
Mankato
State
MN
Picked up my wife's late uncle's Cherokee today, 92 Laredo, almost rust free, mint interior, but has the ever so awesome Death Wobble. My FIL said he was warned about driving it over 45 He had no clue why they said that, but I had an idea. Well hit 60 and the ugly old guy showed up, guessing trackbar from the little bit I was under it checking things out.
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Ironically, I just happened to be enjoying a few Rouge Dead Guy beers while I was looking things over...
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Nice score! I don't think it's "death wobble" as most folks enjoy as it's stock. Most likely it's simply a maintenance issue. Check the unibearings, ball joints, TREs, and as you know... the trac bar. Ya gotta love free jeeps in generally great shape that only need some minor love to make it great!
I scored a 91 Briarwood from some friends for free. It sat in their driveway for several years because the brakes went out. Removed the problematic ABS stuff, swapped in a regular booster/MC I already had on the shelf, and we drove the wheels off it for years!


 
jeepdreamer said:
Nice score! I don't think it's "death wobble" as most folks enjoy as it's stock. Most likely it's simply a maintenance issue. Check the unibearings, ball joints, TREs, and as you know... the trac bar. Ya gotta love free jeeps in generally great shape that only need some minor love to make it great!
I scored a 91 Briarwood from some friends for free. It sat in their driveway for several years because the brakes went out. Removed the problematic ABS stuff, swapped in a regular booster/MC I already had on the shelf, and we drove the wheels off it for years!
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It's a genuine case of death wobble, from what I've found the trackbar bushings are destroyed. Stock Jeeps can get death wobble too, it's strictly a matter of poor maintenance and up keep of the front end parts. If it had been just a slight shake, I wouldn't call it the DW, but when you can't see the road due to the shaking, I'd go ahead ahead and classify it as DW. I've enjoyed many a vehicle that has had the DW, so nothing new to me.
 
neilconnolly79 said:
It's a genuine case of death wobble, from what I've found the trackbar bushings are destroyed. Stock Jeeps can get death wobble too, it's strictly a matter of poor maintenance and up keep of the front end parts. If it had been just a slight shake, I wouldn't call it the DW, but when you can't see the road due to the shaking, I'd go ahead ahead and classify it as DW. I've enjoyed many a vehicle that has had the DW, so nothing new to me.
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Lol... I hear ya. DW, no matter the reason can still require surgery to remove the seat cover from ones rectum! Glad you got a grip on it. What's the plan for it? DD, mild build? Crazy beast??


 
A few years ago I looked at a Cherokee with my son-in-law. The frame was cracked behind the steering box. Turn the wheel and the frame and box moved to one side. He bought it, I had my neighbor weld and plate the frame and it was fine. Look for cracks, too.
 
Almost every wobble issue I've encountered (including a '97 XJ), has been corrected by a set of good new tires.

I'll bet you a six-pack, that new tires will solve your wobble problem! :cheers:
 
CJ7Pilot said:
Almost every wobble issue I've encountered (including a '97 XJ), has been corrected by a set of good new tires.

I'll bet you a six-pack, that new tires will solve your wobble problem! :cheers:
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I promised my wife I'd quit gambling, but I like beer too:cheers:
I can guarantee it's not the tires, it's only shown up once for me so far, it's not a constant wobble, it's a violent almost rips the wheel out of your hands wobble.
 
Know very little about XJs other than they catch fire occasionally. Rogue (rouge) DGA, on the other hand, I do know my way around. A great beer [emoji482]
 
I had an 87 with 205,000 miles on it when we bought the wife's LJ. I let go cheap, now I wish I had just kept it.
 
jeepdreamer said:
Lol... I hear ya. DW, no matter the reason can still require surgery to remove the seat cover from ones rectum! Glad you got a grip on it. What's the plan for it? DD, mild build? Crazy beast??
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For now a DD since the trans is taking a crap in the Suburban, lost OD already and now slams into and out of gears, so this will keep me mobile till I get that fixed. After that who knows, I'd like to do some mods, but the funds for that are in short supply as all "extra" is gong in to the guns and ammo fund.
 
I can relate to that. It may not be a bad idea (depending on its actual condition) to simply keep it stock and sorta restored. Who can say what value they will have in 10-20 years. Had we all been better stewards for FSJs in the past, perhaps there would be a better selection of nice ones today. Maybe keep it to teach any offspring to learn to drive? IDK... just kinda cool seeing stock stuff when most of my Jeep's have been molested and lost some of the original cool.


 
Odd to find full-on DW on a stock XJ. Great DD candidate and nice beer selection. :cheers:
 
bigwalton said:
Odd to find full-on DW on a stock XJ. Great DD candidate and nice beer selection. :cheers:
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It is unusual, but not unheard of. Back in my fullsize Chevy days, would get it quite often when I used el cheapo ball joints that would wear out in 6 months. I've found that the magic number is 62mph. I'll try to get a video of it when I run to town in a little bit. I have never had a stock truck go full DW like this one, always a fun ride:bacon:
 
jeepdreamer said:
I can relate to that. It may not be a bad idea (depending on its actual condition) to simply keep it stock and sorta restored. Who can say what value they will have in 10-20 years. Had we all been better stewards for FSJs in the past, perhaps there would be a better selection of nice ones today. Maybe keep it to teach any offspring to learn to drive? IDK... just kinda cool seeing stock stuff when most of my Jeep's have been molested and lost some of the original cool.
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That's not a bad idea either, it's over all in really nice shape for the year and being a salt-belt truck it's entire life. Only has 170xxx miles on it and almost no rust, interior is pretty clean other than the chain smoker smell. I'm gonna replace the trac bar this afternoon and get the interior cleaned out and vacuumed. I'll post up some pics after I get that done.
 
neilconnolly79 said:
It is unusual, but not unheard of. Back in my fullsize Chevy days, would get it quite often when I used el cheapo ball joints that would wear out in 6 months. I've found that the magic number is 62mph. I'll try to get a video of it when I run to town in a little bit. I have never had a stock truck go full DW like this one, always a fun ride:bacon:
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Not saying it's not true at all, just not something you hear much outside JKs
 
bigwalton said:
Not saying it's not true at all, just not something you hear much outside JKs
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Wasn't trying to imply that you were, was agreeing that it's not a common issue with stock vehicles. And yeah JKs have been quite prone to the good ol DW straight out the box.
 
So here's what I could get while driving this afternoon, not the best, the wife was gone with the car that has the phone mount in it, so...

[video=youtube_share;EjMdx3wgqpU]https://youtu.be/EjMdx3wgqpU[/video]
 
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