driveshaft angle or tire balancing??
 

ok so i am having a small shimmey in the steering wheel at around 40 mph. it stops after 40 and doesnt start until around 35 or so. it isnt deadly or anyuthing like that but if i let go of the wheel you can see it "sawing" back and forth a couple of degrees each way.. i know thats not much but if i can easily stop it i will..

my question is, do yall think that is more of a balancing issue of the front tires or is the rear driveshaft angle a little out? i am thinking it is more my tire balancing since i can feel it more in the steering wheel than the whole jeep? i have a tom woods rear shaft and adj. rear uppers so i can adjust things but if i can avoid that hassle i will.

thanks alot.

you would feel the DS in the seat of your pants.

Do you still have a stock front shaft?

Sounds like tire. D/S will be higher frequency since it turns 4.1 times to every tire rotation (if you have 4.1:1 final drive).

I had similar steering shimmy. Balanced the tires and it was still there. Turned out to be my front toe was out and caused the tires to wear funny. Took about a month of driving with the toe corrected before the tires wore even again. It's possible that it's not a balance problem either.

I also have some funny wear going on and a wiggle in the wheel, what is the best toe setting to start with?

Driveline and tire vibrations are easy to distinguish between IF you have the right comparison to use. A drive shaft vibration is unmistakable. It will sound and feel like a heard of pissed off bumble bees. That's the description I was given by the old guy who first taught me how to diagnose vibrations and balance tires. As PigInAJeep said, some vibrations will show up through the seats and floorboard. Vibrations occur at different frequencies. You can get a tool called a Reed tachometer to properly diagnose vibration frequencies, though they are not inexpensive.

herstich.thomasnet.com/viewitems/vibrating-reed-tachometers/vibrating-reed-tachometer

See what I mean? A tire balance problem will be at a much lower frequency than a driveline vibration on the Reed tach. It's a simple tool that makes it very easy to see the differences between the frequencies of different vibrations. You know if the frequency registers low on the tach, you know to look for out of balance tires, seperated tires, bent wheels, bent axles or the like. If the frequency registers higher on the tach, you know to look for things such as driveshaft problems or even transmission or engine balance issues. The "pissed off heard of bumble bees" thing though, has helped me more times than not, and without the expensive Reed tach.

hmmm. thanks fellas, i plan on getting my tires balanced soon and then getting my front end aligned.

i have the stock front driveshaft and a tom woods rear shaft.

i didnt think it was the rear shaft because before i replaced it, it felt like the tires were way out of balance and shaking the whole jeep.

i have a magnetic angle finder and will recheck the front castor...

i guess i will do the least expensive stuff first then work my way up from there.

thanks alot fellas.

Redneck, you learn all that in Vibrator Tech School??:D

Had this happen to me a couple of months ago and turned out to be a flat spot in a brand new tire!!! Took it back to the dealer and they said it happens once in a while. New tire and all was well.:eek2:

that is kind of worrisome because i have already had to get a new tire because of a bulge in the sidewall..

but the weird thing is that i got jks quicker discos put on and it started doing it, didnt do it before when i was running the stock length discos with my lift..

any different ideas or still on alignment?

Damn straight.