Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Death Wobble on 04 LJ

myjeep3

myjeep3

TJ Enthusiast
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Joined
Jul 4, 2019
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724
Location
MA
I am having a bad death wobble, it is hard to pinpoint, I feel it mostly at around 45-50 if i let the steering wheel go, however this don't always happen. At times, I can go up to 65 miles without feeling it. Going over bumps seems to trigger it more. When it happens, the whole front end, and steering wheel would vibrate left and right badly as if things would come apart, very scary. have to step on brake.

The whole suspension is new, and all is tight. I was running the same wheels and tires on my 97 TJ with no issues. Tires are 35s.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Put your front tires on the rear.

If you notice a big improvement focus on the balancing work of the tires.

Research a dry steering test and even if everything is new it doesn’t mean it is properly torqued.

Start with that and keep us posted and we will help you get through it,
 
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When you say the "whole suspension is new", what does that mean? More details can be helpful.
 
Irun said:
When you say the "whole suspension is new", what does that mean? More details can be helpful.
Click to expand...

I mean that all the steering parts are new.

20241229_115200.jpg
 
AndyG said:
Put your front tires on the rear.

If you notice a big improvement focus on the balancing work of the tires.

Research a dry steering test and even if everything is new it doesn’t mean it is proply torqued.

Start with that and keep us posted and we will help you get through it,
Click to expand...
Follow Andy G's advise. Most death wobble issues involve improperly balanced tires. Run tire pressure in mid to high 20's PSI. You don't have a dropped pitman arm do you? Hard to tell for sure from the pic. If you do swap it out for OEM.
 
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JEEPCJTJ said:
Did the DW start to occure before the new suspension, right after the new suspension was installed or some number of miles after installing the new suspension?
Click to expand...

Mac57 said:
Follow Andy G's advise. Most death wobble issues involve improperly balanced tires. Run tire pressure in mid to high 20's PSI. You don't have a dropped pitman arm do you? Hard to tell for sure from the pic. If you do swap it out for OEM.
Click to expand...

The truck is new to me, didn't really drive it before I did the ls swap and installed new suspension.
The pigman arm isn't drop.
I did move the tires as suggested, Will take it out for a drive in a few.

I took a video of the suspension moving when turning steering wheel. I notice the track bar at pigman arm moving, not sure it it supposed to move like that, see the video.
Look where I circled on the image below. I see some movement there.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16EK4-PWvONQcxlxFnjT3_wMszKTV43yc/view?usp=drivesdk

Screenshot_20241229_150403_Gallery.jpg
 
Took it on the freeway, much better after moving front tires to rear. Now I can describe it as a bad vibration at 55, and 70, worst at 55. Doesn't feel scary like before where the whole front end woukd shake badly like it would fall apart.

While roting the wheels, I noticed the driver front wheel didn't have any weight on it. All the other 3 had some weights on them.
 
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myjeep3 said:
Took it on the freeway, much better after moving front tires to rear. Now I can describe it as a bad vibration at 55, and 70, worst at 55. Doesn't feel scary like before where the whole front end woukd shake badly like it would fall apart.

While roting the wheels, I noticed the driver front wheel didn't have any weight on it. All the other 3 had some weights on them.
Click to expand...

I’d get them rebalanced and replace that drag link end at the pitman.
 
May I suggest that you do the test over but, don't have the front axle on the jack stands. Have the full weight of the Jeep on the ground.
Leave the engine off and only turn the steering wheel like from a 12 o'clock to a 2 o'clock position. and do it more slowly. Like 3 toed Sloth slow.
Put a hand on each steering joint, tie rod ends and both ends of the track bar.

That helped me with my issues before I did the ZJ mod.
And I also replaced my ball joints.
 
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AndyG said:
There was a picture posted above stating there was movement in that component
Click to expand...

Not sure that it is bad, just that the pitman arm moves around the end link (see video link above), not sure if that's normal, though the pitman arm suppose to move with the whole link.
 
myjeep3 said:
Not sure that it is bad, just that the pitman arm moves around the end link (see video link above), not sure if that's normal, though the pitman arm suppose to move with the whole link.
Click to expand...
Well, I can’t see well enough to tell- on the dry test, slow it down and watch close for slop as change direction.

Condition of parts sure looks good.
 
myjeep3 said:
Took it on the freeway, much better after moving front tires to rear. Now I can describe it as a bad vibration at 55, and 70, worst at 55. Doesn't feel scary like before where the whole front end woukd shake badly like it would fall apart.

While roting the wheels, I noticed the driver front wheel didn't have any weight on it. All the other 3 had some weights on them.
Click to expand...

Looks like a trip to tire shop for a rebalance. Discount tires has an option for lifetime balance regardless where the tires were purchased, and they generally do a good job balancing
 
A little hard to tell, but there looked like a fair amount of movement at the frame side steering dampener. It wouldn't hurt to check the torque on the bolt there. It sounds like the tire rotation helped and a balance will make it better. One other place to check is the control arms. Are those stock or replaced? One simple check there is to start with the torque setting, which should be done for everything, if it hasn't already.
 
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