Death wobble

PNW Nick

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Nov 8, 2019
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Greenville, NC
Pretty sure y’all beat a dead horse when it comes to this but, I replaced my track bar the other day, made sure it was secured properly and tightened to specifications, yet my help still wobbles above 55mph, but it seems that the wheels are shaking and not the steering system. my steering wheel stays still while the wheels shake, could this be just bad tires or alignment?
 
Your tires... Especially if they are oversized... have to be perfectly balanced.

you can put the front tires on the back and back on the front and likely you will see what's going on.

Here's the conundrum...the larger the tire the more critical it is that it is in balance... And the larger the tire the harder it is to get it balanced.

There is also such a thing called a road force balance.

Find someone that is experienced with the tires you have or a good reputable offroad shop.
 
Are you using aftermarket wheels? Are the center holes bigger than 71.5mm? If so, you have lug centric wheels. Stock Jeep wheels are hub-centric. Lug centric wheels work best if you use a specific pattern to tighten the lugs. The WRONG way is to tighten done one lug and then do the other 4. The wheel can easily end up off-center. Some guys don't buy into my conclusions, but knowing this has made a big difference for me. Here is my post of a couple of months ago. https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/hub-centric-wheel-questions.26958/#post-434810
 
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Your tires... Especially if they are oversized... have to be perfectly balanced.

you can put the front tires on the back and back on the front and likely you will see what's going on.

Here's the conundrum...the larger the tire the more critical it is that it is in balance... And the larger the tire the harder it is to get it balanced.

There is also such a thing called a road force balance.

Find someone that is experienced with the tires you have or a good reputable offroad shop.
I use 235/75/15r, they were cheap tires off of amazon, I’m pretty sure they are just bad tires. But I’ll see about the balance. Thank you!
 
Are you using aftermarket wheels? Are the center holes bigger than 71.5mm? If so, you have lug centric wheels. Stock Jeep wheels are hub-centric. Lug centric wheels work best if you use a specific pattern to tighten the lugs. The WRONG way is to tighten done one lug and then do the other 4. The wheel can easily end up off-center. Some guys don't buy into my conclusions, but knowing this has made a big difference for me. Here is my post of a couple of months ago. https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/hub-centric-wheel-questions.26958/#post-434810
I use these aluminum bullet hole rims, 15 by 5x4.5. I was told these are good for jeeps. I’ll definitely look into the lug pattern

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Hub-centric is definitely a better design to decrease the chances of wheel balance issues. Especially if you have a garage doing the tire install. Try loosening all the lug nuts up (jack it up first) and then retighten the lug nuts a little bit at a time going in a star pattern. This should help the wheel center on the hub better. It should take 3-4 times around to get to full tightness.
Getting hub spacers so the rims are forced to center on the hub will help in the future.
Any short wheelbase solid axle vehicle (a Jeep) is the wrong place to put cheap tires.
 
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Pretty sure y’all beat a dead horse when it comes to this but, I replaced my track bar the other day, made sure it was secured properly and tightened to specifications, yet my help still wobbles above 55mph, but it seems that the wheels are shaking and not the steering system. my steering wheel stays still while the wheels shake, could this be just bad tires or alignment?
It’s has also come to my attention while I was poking for parts that I’d like to replace my unit bearings, what would I be looking for in this area?
 
Couple things.
Vibration/shake at 55+ is tires most of the time

Death wobble is not a shake/shimmy/vibration. Death wobble is unstoppably intense shaking until you slow to almost a stop.

Lug centric wheels need to be tightened very..very carefully. I just got new tires a bit ago and had a vibe. Ends up I just jacked up each corner, loosened the lug nuts, and tightened by hand in star pattern while rotating and wiggling the wheel. Then moved on to a socket and just tightened till snug while rotating and wiggling, taking up the slack as I went around. Then finally tightening up completely. This got rid of most of my vibes.
 
Couple things.
Vibration/shake at 55+ is tires most of the time

Death wobble is not a shake/shimmy/vibration. Death wobble is unstoppably intense shaking until you slow to almost a stop.

Lug centric wheels need to be tightened very..very carefully. I just got new tires a bit ago and had a vibe. Ends up I just jacked up each corner, loosened the lug nuts, and tightened by hand in star pattern while rotating and wiggling the wheel. Then moved on to a socket and just tightened till snug while rotating and wiggling, taking up the slack as I went around. Then finally tightening up completely. This got rid of most of my vibes.
With the spacers as well, would I have to star pattern tighten them too?
 
With the spacers as well, would I have to star pattern tighten them too?
Yes, especially if they're not hub centric. Be very careful not to over torque them either. Use a torque wrench versus a torque stick on an impact if possible

Edit: misinterpreted "spacer". Above logic applies to wheel spacers that provide new lug studs.
 
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The spacers are not those thick hunks of aluminum that move your rims outward. They are steel rings measured to fit between the hub and the oversized hole in the center of the wheel so the two fit snugly when mounting the tire to eliminate any movement off center when the rim is tightened down
You will still want to use correct star pattern when tightening to proper torque.