Death wobble after replacing wheel bearings

[bobthetj03]

Another reason I worry about this is mine happened at 55 mph. From what I have read that’s about the speed it usually happens, that’s also the speed I drive my coach while towing most of the time.


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Got mine at 52mph and was heading straight for a bridge at the time. Definitely had to change the undies after that episode!
You would think though that with enough of us towing jeeps you would have heard of an instance of this happening, but I have not. I wonder if it is a matter of how the jeep is being propelled down the road? In a flat towing situation, the front end is being pulled, but in a standard driving situation, the rear wheels are pushing the front.

 

[Boinked]

You are never gonna know its doing it.

Doesn't look the the guy towing can even feel it

 

[BendLarry]

Got mine at 52mph and was heading straight for a bridge at the time. Definitely had to change the undies after that episode!
You would think though that with enough of us towing jeeps you would have heard of an instance of this happening, but I have not. I wonder if it is a matter of how the jeep is being propelled down the road? In a flat towing situation, the front end is being pulled, but in a standard driving situation, the rear wheels are pushing the front.

You might be correct about that being pulled might be different somehow. My experience was so violent I’m convinced I would immediately feel it with my coach.


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[Robert Gessler]

I’m not sure you are getting what we are saying. We are not worried about our motor home getting a death wobble, we are worried about the Jeep we are towing having one while being towed.


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Sorry I didn't phrase that right. I ment to say that it would be hard to notice if your jeep got a dw while towing it with your motor home. That just sounds like bad news.

 

[05 Blue Unlimited]

...I did not have this before I did the bearings....

IDK. it seems very coincidental that you did not have the issue prior to replacing the WB's. If that is all you did I would still suspect the tires in some way.

IMO-Bobthejt03 makes a reasonable suggestion in rotating the tires front to back esp since you work at DT

 

[Robert Gessler]

IDK. it seems very coincidental that you did not have the issue prior to replacing the WB's. If that is all you did I would still suspect the tires in some way.

IMO-Bobthejt03 makes a reasonable suggestion in rotating the tires front to back esp since you work at DT

That's what I was thinking. But I checked for any play in them and they're good. I double and triple checked the torque before I put everything back on.
HOWEVER, I forgot to note there was a slight wobble before doing the bearings and now maybe since they're stiff now it puts more stress on the steering linkage?
I just find it hard to believe that tires can be the sole cause of the DW, I know they can act as a catalyst though.

 

[rickcj7]

I've had death wobble with slightly cupped tires, shocks were bad.

 

[Jack72]

You are never gonna know its doing it.

Doesn't look the the guy towing can even feel it

I cringed watching that. When a Jeep has DW it should not be driven. Not just because it scares the life out of you but because that violent shake tears everything loose in the front end. It compounds the problem.

I chased my DW for over two years. Luckily my Jeep isn’t my DD. But it finally ended up at a Jeep mechanic and it took them over three weeks to figure it out. Turned out I had several things worn out all at once. Needless to say I now have a Jeep with mostly new front end (my doing) and a new suspension system (the mechanics doing).


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[Robert Gessler]

I cringed watching that. When a Jeep has DW it should not be driven. Not just because it scares the life out of you but because that violent shake tears everything loose in the front end. It compounds the problem.

I chased my DW for over two years. Luckily my Jeep isn’t my DD. But it finally ended up at a Jeep mechanic and it took them over three weeks to figure it out. Turned out I had several things worn out all at once. Needless to say I now have a Jeep with mostly new front end (my doing) and a new suspension system (the mechanics doing).


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Dang dude that sucks. Mine is my DD so I just took the plunge and got all new ZJ parts so hopefully that will fix the problem. We will see next week when the parts arrive tho.

 

[Dave Carpenter]

Death Wobble is seldom due to one cause, but to a combination of several. Most track to worn items in the steering... bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. It sounds like you've pretty well looked over all of that. Here is a basic chart on how to track down DW. Good luck.

 

[Phil Younger]

My only time I experience DW was after I had new brakes installed and it occurred violently at 45 mph. When I got it pulled over I felt each wheel hub and I had a hot brake. The mechanic had set the ebrake too tight and the side pull was just enough to trigger DW. Of course the real cause was very slight play in nearly every bushing, ball joint, and steering link. I discovered this after laying under it for 15 minutes with a hand on every joint while my wife cranked the wheels. Not one of them would have caused it alone but cumulatively they all contributed.
I changed absolutely everything and it has been perfect ever since. Best money I've ever spent to have peace of mind. Mind you my DW occurred after a supposedly complete inspection by the same mechanic I had told "I'm going on a 2400 mile trip with offroading included and I do not want any issues- so you find it you fix it"

 

[MaloStapalo]

I've been fighting minor wobble when I go over a specific bridge/highway bump near my house. So far, a loose track bar axle bolt and unbalanced tires have been the biggest factor to this.

 

[AndyG]

I had it on my 2012 f250- track bar I believe was the issue .

It's basically tires , or one thing very loose , or the cumulative of several things slightly loose.

This original post was interesting...I'd love to know what he found out .

 

[Robert Gessler]

SOLVED! I decided to refresh my entire steering linkage and do the ZJ tie rod upgrade but also replaced my drag link and steering stab (I broke the old one trying to get it off lol) and the DW is gone! Thank you all so much for your help.

ZJ upgrade:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/zj-tie-rod-conversion.2373/

 

[05 Blue Unlimited]

Great..thanks for the update. So about 2 bills and you're done?

 

[Chris]

SOLVED! I decided to refresh my entire steering linkage and do the ZJ tie rod upgrade but also replaced my drag link and steering stab (I broke the old one trying to get it off lol) and the DW is gone! Thank you all so much for your help.

ZJ upgrade:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/zj-tie-rod-conversion.2373/

Thanks for the update! I'm happy to hear you resolved the issue.

 

[AndyG]

Awesome Robert , glad you got it exorcised ...foul demons of death wobble come out!

 

[ElectricWizard]

Glad to hear you've got it sorted out!

 

[Robert Gessler]

Great..thanks for the update. So about 2 bills and you're done?

Yup. One for a crown HD steering kit which includes the ZJ tie rod, drag link and ends. And another for a new track bar

 

[JJinQC]

When you got your wheels balanced did they make tire rotation or re-installed the wheels in their original position. I experienced this problem after a tire rotation caused by a bad tire. Switch rear wheels with front wheels and see if problem is still present.