Death wobble immediately after installing 4 inch lift

[hayley_8989]

I put a rough country 4 inch lift kit on my 02 jeep tj. I just finished it and took it for test drive and got up to the speed of 45 and started getting death wobble. I’m kinda stuck as what to do next as it was immediately after finishing put the lift kit on. Any suggestions?

 

[BC Moto]

Did you install drop pitman arm? Does it have a track bar drop bracket?

 

[hear]

What all did you do as part of the lift? Front/rear track bars? Adjustable arms? SYE? Etc.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Same tires in the same locations as before the lift?

All the bolts/nuts torqued to spec when the jacks/stands were removed and the Jeep was sitting on the ground?

... got up to the speed of 45 and started getting death wobble.

Need some more info on that part.

Mainly, did the DW continue until you practically stopped the Jeep from moving (somewhere under 10 or 5 mph)? If so, it is death wobble and that usually starts from tire issues. Usually balanced "good enough" for the average vehicle but not "good enough" for the TJ.

 

[bbaldwin237]

Did you install drop pitman arm? Does it have a track bar drop bracket?

Looking at the RC kits I'm guessing no and yes. The low end 4" kit doesn't have a drop pitman arm included but it does have a TB bracket (or so it appears).

The more expensive "X Series" looks like it has a drop pitman, but (sorry OP) I'm guessing that most are buying RC because it's cheap, so if they were going to spend $1200+ they would go with a different option.

 

[wigsajumper]

Double check torques and do an alignment.

Had DW after installing my 3-4" lift. Ended up being my torque wrench was busted AND my tires were out of alignment. Once I fixed those two I havent had any issues with DW

 

[JMT]

I put a rough country 4 inch lift kit on my 02 jeep tj. I just finished it and took it for test drive and got up to the speed of 45 and started getting death wobble. I’m kinda stuck as what to do next as it was immediately after finishing put the lift kit on. Any suggestions?

You always do an alignment after a lift change. All you can adjust is toe and caster (with adjustable control arms). A toe adjustment is easy peasy and can be done in under 30 minutes. There is a How-To on this forum someone can link you too. I'm just in a hurry.

The other thing is tire balance or irregularities such as cupping. Tires are what set DW in motion. Insist on getting them perfectly balanced. If you're running bigger tires like 33's or 35's then it is important to find someone who balances larger tires regularly and will ensure you get a perfect balance. PERFECT is the key.

These are always the first two things you should do when diagnosing DW.

Don't throw parts or money at it. Be patient and find the problem.

No, a steering damper will not fix it, can't fix it, isn't a fix for it, et. al. Stay away from FB mechanics.

 

[hayley_8989]

This is the kit I bought, has a bracket to raise rear track bar and for the front track bar it said to drill a hole 3/4 of a inch from the old mounting hole, re installed the track bars with the jeep on the ground on its own weight.

 

[hayley_8989]

Also has not been aligned since installing the lift kit, it is visibly out of alignment looks like it has toe in, would alignment or out of balance tires/wheels cause my DW or is that just contributing to another mechanical problem

 

[CMBD]

Also has not been aligned since installing the lift kit, it is visibly out of alignment looks like it has toe in, would alignment or out of balance tires/wheels cause my DW or is that just contributing to another mechanical problem

Theres only one way to find out. Get it aligned. Get the tires balanced. Check the torque on all the fasteners you touched and go from there.

My first drive after the lift was to the alignment shop.

 

[LONGJP2]

would alignment or out of balance tires/wheels cause my DW or is that just contributing to another mechanical problem

Improperly torqued trackbar and tire balance are the 2 big ones.

 

[bbaldwin237]

Also has not been aligned since installing the lift kit, it is visibly out of alignment looks like it has toe in, would alignment or out of balance tires/wheels cause my DW or is that just contributing to another mechanical problem

Bad alignment could certainly make things get rowdy. You can look up on here as someone else mentioned to do a garage toe adjustment to get it right (or close) and see if that helps. But it's typically not terribly expensive for an alignment at a shop (plenty of $79-99 options near me). At least then you can rule that out.