Why does my vehicle shake violently at 50+ mph after I hit a bump?

Question

My 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport starts to violently shake if I hit a bump at about 50+ mph. I have to slow down to less than 40 or so to stop the shake.. any help?

Answer 1

I am a back yard mechanic and have the same model car same problem it was a broken shock. and a bent tie rod end. Parts 100 bucks and took about 2 hours including Cigarette breaks,

Answer 2

Hi, Josh, welcome to the land of the Jeep "death wobble". I have it happening to my '94 Cherokee, it is a common problem with high mileage jeeps. Your front suspension is worn, and there are a few suspects to check on - your Stabilizer bar, or the anti-sway bar, believe. the mounting holes get worn out, you can't see it because of the bolt heads, you will need to remove the Stabilizer bar to check the holes, to see if they've gotten bigger or elongated. 9 times out of 10, one mechanic said, it's the Stabilizer bar, the one mounted to the front of your suspension, the main part is on the right passenger side of the steering, where an Idler arm would be. It's just a straight bar, with a big rectangular section which bolts to the steering suspension.
I also asked this question awhile back, about costss, so it'll run around $200-300 for parts alone, more for labor if you don't do it yourself.
Get this fixed QUICK, or you will risk losing your Jeep, and hitting someone else. I will be working on mine this weekend, most likely, for the same reason. It's getting plain unsafe to drive this way anymore. Good luck! - The Gremlin Guy -

Answer 3

You most likely have a bad shock absorber. It controls and dampens suspension movement as you drive.

Jump on each corner of the car a couple of times then jump off. If the car continues to bounce at all you have a shock or strut problem. The shock or strut in this case can not control the energy stored in the coil or leaf springs. When you hit a bump the springs go spastic and can not control the suspension parts from hammering all over the place. It's an easy job to do replace them yourself. If you have over 50,000 miles in it the shocks are well past their usable life.

Answer 4

A couple of things to look for. One is the ball joints and tie rod ends. If you have a solid front axle with leaf springs, the leaf spring mounting points should be inspected for too much side-to-side movement. If you have over sized tires, the steering dampener should be replaced, or the original dampener should be inspected for leaks. Any way you look at it, you should just take it to an alignment shop and let them diagnose and fix the problem. This way you get the problem fixed by a professional and you get the vehicle aligned.

Answer 5

jeeps have this problem called the death wobble. inspect front steering linkage. balljoints and tie rods. by raising front end onto jackstands then shaking tires front to back then up and down. any stering joints that show freeplay must be replaced. now locate the front trac bar it comes from left side of body to right side of axle TIGHTEN impact wrench prefered the bolts at both ends.inspect bushings. replace front steering stabilizer (shock hooked to tie rods ) if you do not have a stabilizer add on kits are available

Answer 6

Wow, some human beings are genius's right here approximately vehicles. save on with something else in case you don't understand what you're talking approximately. First save on with what you recognize. you in basic terms have been given something replaced and if this may be a clean subject then that's a effect of what grow to be purely achieved. some places have severe-velocity tire balancers whilst others have sluggish-velocity ones. i pass to wager that your tires weren't severe-velocity balanced and that they are nice as much as a undeniable velocity. i've got had this take place extremely some circumstances. Take it to a dealership and have them rebalance the tires. And why might anyone advise rotating the tires? What the heck might that do?

Answer 7

That vehicle has rack and pinion steering. If the inner tie rod ends are bad it can do what you describe. Try hitting the brakes next time it shakes. If the shaking stops, it could be the tie rod ends.

Answer 8

dont know if its 4 x 4 but I would have the stearing gear box looked at along with a compleat front end check 4 x 4 could be stearing knuckles gear box

Answer 9

I am a back yard hack mechanic, so take this advice or not. You could have a number of problems. One is really bad tires, or you need shocks, struts, and springs. This is not a cheap fix.

Answer 10

Sounds like a bad tie rod or ball joint it is something you need to get checked right away you dont want it to break while you are driving it