Hi everyone,
First time posting here. I've had a TJ for a few years but it's not heavily modified. I just bought a 2017 JKU with 40k miles that has a 4" lift and 35" tires a few months ago. I got bad death wobble for the first time a few weeks ago, and after following Planmans inspection tips, I replaced the track bar with a Terraflex HD adjustable one, as well as the drag link with a Synergy HD adjustable link, and the AEV geometry correction brackets. I did this an got an alignment done and all seemed well. We just came back from a weekend road trip on it and during the road trip I got death wobble again (not quite as bad) when hitting a bump going highway speeds, but ever since it has had a slight wobble or shimmy when hitting bumps that is making me nervous to drive it. There isn't much else I can find that is obviously wrong so I am looking at replacing the entire tie rod and/or the ball joints, and possibly all of the front control arm bushings. But now as I read about fixing it, it seems like a lot of the blame can be laid the previous owner putting on a lift over 3" without all of the corresponding upgrades being made. The track bar, drag link, and control arms were all stock. After the trip I've realized it's hard to handle at 60+ mph and I'm getting some bump steer, so now I'm going down the rabbit hole thinking now I need to do the drag link flip and maybe look at adjustable upper control arms at the least.
Anyway, my question is: can I just replace my 4" lift coils with 2.5-3" lift coils, and solve some of my problems? I was looking at AEV's 2.5" lift which I saw people say is actually closer to 3". I found a place that sells just the coils for less than half the price of the entire kit. I think it looks a little too tall for the tire size anyway, and I'd prefer it to be a little lower. I figured out it has a 4" lift by measuring the coil springs and comparing to stock height. It's got some Falcon shocks on it, not sure which ones, but as far as I can tell nothing else was upgraded with the lift besides what I've done personally. Or would it be best to get the whole AEV (or similar) lift kit with the rear track bar and all of that? I'd rather not do this as I'm already about $800 in to trying to fix it and it's still happening. I haven't touched the rear end. Unfortunately, the Jeep will mostly be a daily driver. I do live in the Four Corners area so we go camping in the summers and I go to the Alpine Loop in Colorado to run trails up there every summer, but it's not hard wheeling. Regardless of the lift question I will most likely still put a new heavy duty tie rod on it.
Any feedback or advice is appreciated.
TLDR: My jeep has a 4" lift + 35" tires and I'm having death wobble and slowly replacing parts to try and fix it, but also having bump steer and it doesn't handle as well as I'd like. I'd prefer how the jeep looked with a 3" lift and it seems like it would reduce strain on the front end as well as fix some of the handling issues. Can I just change out the coils from 4" to 2.5" or 3" springs?
First time posting here. I've had a TJ for a few years but it's not heavily modified. I just bought a 2017 JKU with 40k miles that has a 4" lift and 35" tires a few months ago. I got bad death wobble for the first time a few weeks ago, and after following Planmans inspection tips, I replaced the track bar with a Terraflex HD adjustable one, as well as the drag link with a Synergy HD adjustable link, and the AEV geometry correction brackets. I did this an got an alignment done and all seemed well. We just came back from a weekend road trip on it and during the road trip I got death wobble again (not quite as bad) when hitting a bump going highway speeds, but ever since it has had a slight wobble or shimmy when hitting bumps that is making me nervous to drive it. There isn't much else I can find that is obviously wrong so I am looking at replacing the entire tie rod and/or the ball joints, and possibly all of the front control arm bushings. But now as I read about fixing it, it seems like a lot of the blame can be laid the previous owner putting on a lift over 3" without all of the corresponding upgrades being made. The track bar, drag link, and control arms were all stock. After the trip I've realized it's hard to handle at 60+ mph and I'm getting some bump steer, so now I'm going down the rabbit hole thinking now I need to do the drag link flip and maybe look at adjustable upper control arms at the least.
Anyway, my question is: can I just replace my 4" lift coils with 2.5-3" lift coils, and solve some of my problems? I was looking at AEV's 2.5" lift which I saw people say is actually closer to 3". I found a place that sells just the coils for less than half the price of the entire kit. I think it looks a little too tall for the tire size anyway, and I'd prefer it to be a little lower. I figured out it has a 4" lift by measuring the coil springs and comparing to stock height. It's got some Falcon shocks on it, not sure which ones, but as far as I can tell nothing else was upgraded with the lift besides what I've done personally. Or would it be best to get the whole AEV (or similar) lift kit with the rear track bar and all of that? I'd rather not do this as I'm already about $800 in to trying to fix it and it's still happening. I haven't touched the rear end. Unfortunately, the Jeep will mostly be a daily driver. I do live in the Four Corners area so we go camping in the summers and I go to the Alpine Loop in Colorado to run trails up there every summer, but it's not hard wheeling. Regardless of the lift question I will most likely still put a new heavy duty tie rod on it.
Any feedback or advice is appreciated.
TLDR: My jeep has a 4" lift + 35" tires and I'm having death wobble and slowly replacing parts to try and fix it, but also having bump steer and it doesn't handle as well as I'd like. I'd prefer how the jeep looked with a 3" lift and it seems like it would reduce strain on the front end as well as fix some of the handling issues. Can I just change out the coils from 4" to 2.5" or 3" springs?