Death Wobble Question

For everyone following this thread:

I had no DW or even a hint of it for 1.5 years prior to switching my front Rubi Dana 44 for a RJ44 this past weekend. Same new suspension components from before. Savvy double adjustables, Currie track bar, Currectlink steering, Spicer BJs.

Only thing different is that this RJ44 has JJs that the upper control arms mount to. I now have DW.
 
Still DW when I hit that bump but it goes away if i let off the gas. I dont have to brake hard or stop.

Like I said, very uncommon but sometimes I can't make the small JJ in the axle work. What helps on the pain in the ass ones is to make a shim that is the size of the JJ washer out of something like a plastic coffee can lid. Stick a couple of those under the washers and mash them in there. That will tighten up the urethane some and should stop the problem. I've seen this a couple of times and generally it is when the JJ conversion is done on the passenger side and welded on without removing the races.

This boils down to a resonant frequency issue and you have changed the stiffness of the joints overall in the upper. The rubber bushings are a different stiffness and didn't respond adversely to the resonant frequency you had previous.
 
Like I said, very uncommon but sometimes I can't make the small JJ in the axle work. What helps on the pain in the ass ones is to make a shim that is the size of the JJ washer out of something like a plastic coffee can lid. Stick a couple of those under the washers and mash them in there. That will tighten up the urethane some and should stop the problem. I've seen this a couple of times and generally it is when the JJ conversion is done on the passenger side and welded on without removing the races.

This boils down to a resonant frequency issue and you have changed the stiffness of the joints overall in the upper. The rubber bushings are a different stiffness and didn't respond adversely to the resonant frequency you had previous.
I will make the shims and try it out tomorrow. Thank you for your time and help. I appreciate it much, as I know you have other things going on, especially on a Saturday evening.


FWIW, those small JJs on the RJ housing were super loose. I could move them around by hand very easily.
 
Like I said, very uncommon but sometimes I can't make the small JJ in the axle work. What helps on the pain in the ass ones is to make a shim that is the size of the JJ washer out of something like a plastic coffee can lid. Stick a couple of those under the washers and mash them in there. That will tighten up the urethane some and should stop the problem. I've seen this a couple of times and generally it is when the JJ conversion is done on the passenger side and welded on without removing the races.

This boils down to a resonant frequency issue and you have changed the stiffness of the joints overall in the upper. The rubber bushings are a different stiffness and didn't respond adversely to the resonant frequency you had previous.
Just to be clear, am I putting 2 shims under each washer per joint for a total of 4 per Jj or 1 under each washer for a total of 2 shims per joint?
 
I really doubt you'd be able to get 4 total per joint. I think you're just trying to increase the preload on the joint.
 
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I really doubt you'd be able to get 4 total per joint. I think you're just trying to increase the preload on the joint.
That's what I thought. I've taken my JJs apart before and its a fairly tight tolerance. I was just verifying as I don't want to have to do it twice.
 
I think it’s not something he can tell you without having the joints in his hand. You can only fit what you can fit. That might only be one extra washer.
 
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Just to be clear, am I putting 2 shims under each washer per joint for a total of 4 per Jj or 1 under each washer for a total of 2 shims per joint?
I don't know how thick the material is you are going to use. Try one or two per joint and see what happens.

If they were loose enough to move by hand, that isn't what I usually see.

When you taking them apart and putting them back together, the tool cup on the off side has to be on the barrel. I've seen lots of folks use cups that just squeeze the washers together. You need to need to move the washer under the snap ring away from the ring and deeper into the barrel.

The cup at the snap ring side needs to be small enough to let the snap ring come out of the groove but not smaller than the hole in the washer.
 
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I don't know how thick the material is you are going to use. Try one or two per joint and see what happens.

If they were loose enough to move by hand, that isn't what I usually see.

When you taking them apart and putting them back together, the tool cup on the off side has to be on the barrel. I've seen lots of folks use cups that just squeeze the washers together. You need to need to move the washer under the snap ring away from the ring and deeper into the barrel.

The cup at the snap ring side needs to be small enough to let the snap ring come out of the groove but not smaller than the hole in the washer.
One side down, one to go. Hopefully this bushing is thick enough to cause enough preload. The JJ tool one of the best investments ive made. I also clean off the shit grease that came on them and applied some Redline CV moly.

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One side down, one to go. Hopefully this bushing is thick enough to cause enough preload. The JJ tool one of the best investments ive made. I also clean off the shit grease that came on them and applied some Redline CV moly.

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Not fair. You let me type out a whole bunch of crap about the tool that I would not have had I known you had the JJ tool. :cry:
 
Not fair. You let me type out a whole bunch of crap about the tool that I would not have had I known you had the JJ tool. :cry:
Bought it when I was having problems with my 3 month old JJs seizing up last Fall. I disassembled, inspected, regreased and rebuilt all 8 arms. Your the one who told me to get the Redline CV. I guess I'll have to try to make myself more memorable next time. 😉
 
@mrblaine SMH right now. I was able to get the snap ring off the driver's side JJ without compressing the washer. Pretty sure that is not supposed to be possible as there should be adequate preload on the joint to prevent it. Only reason I found out was my JJ tool won't fit on that side with the top of the pumpkin in the way.

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So, just for the rest of the class...Why would there not be any preload on those joints? Is something screwed up in the housing? Did they get too hot (like from welding) and the poly bushing deformed? Would a new set of bushings fix the issue as well?

I've been thinking about adding the JJ bushings to my front axle, but maybe I'll just run with the replacement factory bushings I installed...
 
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So, just for the rest of the class...Why would there not be any preload on those joints? Is something screwed up in the housing? Did they get too hot (like from welding) and the poly bushing deformed? Would a new set of bushings fix the issue as well?

I've been thinking about adding the JJ bushings to my front axle, but maybe I'll just run with the replacement factory bushings I installed...
I leave that for the experts.
 
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