Shaking of steering wheel and front end

A common cause for the death wobble they develop is a bad steering stabilizer. The next is worn control arm bushings that allow the steering to shift around loosely. Where is the shaking felt the most? Steering wheel or in the seat? Normally steering wheel is front end and seat is rear tires or driveline.

Hey Steve,
Thank you for the reply.
The shaking is mostly in the steering wheel. Seems to shake worst between 40-50mph.

Have you tried rotating the tires front to rear just to see if you have a bad tire? 40-50 sort of fits in that range as would a bent rim, doesn't take much to throw them out of whack. Does it seem to track straight on a level road if you let go of the wheel? If you drive slow on pavement do you feel any wallowing motion or is it nice and smooth. Sometimes a bad tire will act up that way, but it depends on the tire.
The A-Arm bushing being bad would cause more of a wandering than a shake.
Beyond that, take it onto a dirt road or other low traction road and see if it shakes as bad or worse in 4WD. I had it's baby brother (Liberty) that the CV joint in the front drive shaft failed, On a good road it would shake the wheel but no real noise, drop it into 4WD and it sounded like someone was beating a box of bolts under the truck and you would lose teeth if you drove it long!
Oh and replacing the bearing won't throw off the alignment, neither will changing the front axles.

It drives pretty straight when I let go of the steering wheel. When I bought it a couple months ago it came with a new looking set of snow tires.
I will try The 4 by 4 test today after work and rotate the tires this weekend when the wife can keep a eye on the kiddo's.
I have heard that bucket of bolts sound last time I put it n 4 wheel drive. But from what I got from it was when I put it back into 2 wheel it didn't totally switch back. I had it to but it back in N and kinda jam it back up to 2 wheel drive a couple times for it to catch. But that's probably different from what you speaking on.

Sounds like the typical issue with 4WD, they don't get used regularly so the transfer case parts are still tight and bind up when used. To check the front shaft isn't hard, get the front of the Jeep on ramps or block it up so you can slide under it. Then just grab the shaft and see if it moves in any direction. Does your Jeep look like the one in the first picture? I forget that the Liberty in the US was called the Cherokee everywhere else. I ask because you show a 3.7 which was used in the smaller Jeep but the 4.7 was the common engine for the larger Grand Cherokee. Just want to be sure of the vehicle.

It's the 4.0 - 6 Cylinder.
Picture enclosed is what it looked like in it's better days. I plan on getting the vehicle in the garage today after work and will switch out the tires and check on those things you touched on.

Nice looking ride.

Well mine is not that pretty. Rust on rear fenders,smaller snow tires and plenty of dents but thank you. I bought it just to get through the winter. I drive an 2013 Mustang and wanted to garage it this winter. Give it a break from all that salt they pour down here in New Hampshire.

I'm over in upstate NY. Number one salt using state 30 years running. You can hear the cars rot away during the night LOL. By the time I got rid of the Libby it had flintstone floors in it..

Yea pretty much the same In Ct. They do more of a mixture of sand/salt here in Nh. Would figure it would be the other way around.
So back to the nitty gritty.
I did the tire rotation and check the tire pressure(I know I should of did that right off lol)and 2 of em were at 50 and the other around 25-30 so I figured that was the problem all a long.
But nope, i took her back out for a 20 min ride and still doing it. Seems a little better but that’s probably just some wishful thinking on my part.
Put 35psi on all tires. Is that a good psi for snow tires?

Depends on the tire and the vehicle. Snows are a different compound that is supposed to stay flexible in colder temperatures. I normally start with the door number and see how they feel and adjust from there.

Thank you.

If the rotation didn't make much of a difference then I would check the front drive shaft. A fast test to maybe track it down better. Get up to the speed it shakes at, drop the transmission into neutral. Does the shaking get better or worse? Is there any change in it if you swerve left right? For the shaft, you could mark both ends and drop it out and see if it stops shaking. It has a flange on one end and U-Joint straps on the other, a binding U-Joint can be just as bad as a worn one, but they usually make some noise if they are binding.

Tried it out to work and the shaking was still there. I think i am going to just take it to a tire place when i have the capital to do so.
I will post what they say just so if others are having the same issues it might help them. I have other questions regarding the jeep put will make a new thread.
Thanks for your time and help Steve. It is appreciated!

It could be an out of round tire, or one that has something in it but that should have changed with the rotation. You mentioned a LCA boot? Did you mean the bushing itself is damaged, Is it the front one or the one at the body? What shape is the steering dampener in? To test it you can unbolt the shaft end, then try stretching it and pushing it together. It should be stiff in both directions and have no play between directions, even as little as 1/4 inch can cause unwanted problems. I've seen those fail in a month if the roads are real rough. I normally upgrade them if there is even a doubt, the MOOG SSD107 is a larger unit than stock and seems to last a bit longer if you'rs fails testing.

Thanks Steve, and i will look at that as soon as i can. I notice in 4wd that the shaking was a lot less.
There a garage not far that offered to look over the whole jeep for nothing. I already know most the stuff that is wrong but at least the things i am having trouble with they can diagnose.

If it's a lot less in 4WD then it is likely a bad front drive shaft or a bad steering damper. The front tires under load can act like a buffer in the front end as they are linked together. It can hide things like worn parts because now they cannot flex or move easily.
Have them look it over and see what they find.