Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!

When I did a belly lift on my LJ I encountered the same issue. I also went with a Tom Wood cv shaft. It has been my understanding that when using a CV joint at the transfer case the angle of the driveshaft at the axle should be almost straight, maybe 1 or 2 degrees lower for the torque as mentioned earlier. I will try to find my reference and post, but i thought it was the Tom Wood web page. Either way, that is how i installed mine, and the vibration went away. An issue that can occur with this method is if the yoke on the axle is angled too far up you might have issues with getting proper lubrication to all parts in your pumpkin. I also have an advantage because mine is an LJ, and the angles aren’t as high.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris
5EDB0BAE-47A4-4CC5-B037-D73B3C547745.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris
So I put the front driveshaft back in, took the rear out and drove it to work this morning and am still feeling some vibration 70-75mph. While it's less intense I'm still getting some rear view blur. I'm going to keep it like this for at least a few days to be sure and move on to trying something else like a tire rotation to see if I feel any difference. I hate to take it back to discount tire to pay for a re-balance but maybe they'll cut me a deal since that's where they were balanced before.

Maybe TJ's on 33's with a tummy tuck aren't meant to do 75 on the interstate....
 
Last edited:
It sure sounds to me like you need your tires re-balanced. I would almost bet money on it. Take it to somewhere that specializes in 4x4 tires where they actually know how to balance them properly.
 
Finally got the tires rebalanced and what'd you know...two of them were out of balance. However....it did not seem to help my vibration at 70+. Talked to Tom from Tom Woods driveshafts and he offered to build me a new rear shaft with an internal spring that he doesn't normally add. I wasn't aware of such a thing so we'll give it a shot and see if it helps.
 
Finally got the tires rebalanced and what'd you know...two of them were out of balance. However....it did not seem to help my vibration at 70+. Talked to Tom from Tom Woods driveshafts and he offered to build me a new rear shaft with an internal spring that he doesn't normally add. I wasn't aware of such a thing so we'll give it a shot and see if it helps.

Hmmm, never heard of such a thing either. Let us know if that helps at all. I’m not surprised about the tires. Though I am surprised it didn’t fix it entirely.
 
Got the new Tom Woods driveshaft with the spring personally checked by Tom himself and the vibe is the same. So...it's not tires nor the drive shafts front or rear. Thought it might be somehow coming from the engine transmitting vibration into the chassis. It's a slow harmonic vibe and a YJ friend of mine said he has something similar. My motor mounts are rubber bushing Brown Dogs so they're quality parts.

Regardless I want to state just how happy/impressed I am with Tom Woods. They were incredibly patient, listened to my concerns, answered my questions and built me 3 shafts trying to shake out the problem. Some of the best customer service I've ever received with any product. I definitely recommend them and will always use them for my driveshaft needs.
 
Got the new Tom Woods driveshaft with the spring personally checked by Tom himself and the vibe is the same. So...it's not tires nor the drive shafts front or rear. Thought it might be somehow coming from the engine transmitting vibration into the chassis. It's a slow harmonic vibe and a YJ friend of mine said he has something similar. My motor mounts are rubber bushing Brown Dogs so they're quality parts.

Regardless I want to state just how happy/impressed I am with Tom Woods. They were incredibly patient, listened to my concerns, answered my questions and built me 3 shafts trying to shake out the problem. Some of the best customer service I've ever received with any product. I definitely recommend them and will always use them for my driveshaft needs.

I echo those sentiments about Tom. I've dealt with him numerous times, and he really is a nice, friendly, and genuinely helpful guy. There's a reason his name is so highly thought of in the Jeep community.

As for your vibrations, this can be a tricky one to track down, I'll say that much. Did you already make 100% certain the tires are still in balance?
 
I echo those sentiments about Tom. I've dealt with him numerous times, and he really is a nice, friendly, and genuinely helpful guy. There's a reason his name is so highly thought of in the Jeep community.

As for your vibrations, this can be a tricky one to track down, I'll say that much. Did you already make 100% certain the tires are still in balance?

I watched the high-school kids at the location Discount Tire balance them and saw when the machine indicated the tire was balanced. So I know the machine showed them all green...but I did read that each tire and wheel has a "heavy" side and that they should be mounted opposite of each other to achieve a better balance. I'm sure they didn't do anything like this because it would require much more work.

My wife's minivan has the same bolt pattern and I'm real tempted to put those street tires on my rig just to see if I notice any difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JMT
I watched the high-school kids at the location Discount Tire balance them and saw when the machine indicated the tire was balanced. So I know the machine showed them all green...but I did read that each tire and wheel has a "heavy" side and that they should be mounted opposite of each other to achieve a better balance. I'm sure they didn't do anything like this because it would require much more work.

My wife's minivan has the same bolt pattern and I'm real tempted to put those street tires on my rig just to see if I notice any difference.

Actually, I would do that with the minivan tires. You're right to be concerned about the balancing. Those kids aren't going to go the extra mile by any means.
 
Okay so I've been experiencing a vibration at roughly 57mph. I thought, okay let's go get the tires balanced. I went to get them balanced and noticed the vibration was gone. When I got home I saw they put 36psi into my tires, so I lowered it back to 30. Well the vibration came back. I'm assuming that one of my tires isn't actually circular and either is warped or has a sidewall bubble I can't see. Sound correct? Now I'm stuck running 35psi so there's no vibration
 
Okay so I've been experiencing a vibration at roughly 57mph. I thought, okay let's go get the tires balanced. I went to get them balanced and noticed the vibration was gone. When I got home I saw they put 36psi into my tires, so I lowered it back to 30. Well the vibration came back. I'm assuming that one of my tires isn't actually circular and either is warped or has a sidewall bubble I can't see. Sound correct? Now I'm stuck running 35psi so there's no vibration

Sounds dead-on correct to me. Are the tires old (they should have a date stamped on the side of them)?
 
Sounds dead-on correct to me. Are the tires old (they should have a date stamped on the side of them)?

Was the 38th week in 2016. I believe they'll drive fine for a few months until I plan on getting my lift and larger tires. Any steps to combat this so I could run the tires at a lower psi?
 
Was the 38th week in 2016. I believe they'll drive fine for a few months until I plan on getting my lift and larger tires. Any steps to combat this so I could run the tires at a lower psi?

I'm not sure there is anything you can do. I know that if tires sit for long enough, they can become warped. Only being 2 years old seems a bit unusual, but if they just sat for a long period of time, it's possible.

A good tire shop could tell you for sure if they are warped.
 
Digging this thread up because I recently purchased an 02 TJ with Rough Country 3.5" lift kit. The rear was too low, definitely had a squat look to it & the trussed Ford 8.8 diff cover was rubbing on the gas tank skid plate and the rear bumpstops hit all too often. The seller included a set of Rusty's Off Road progressive springs, about 4" taller in back, maybe an inch in front. I installed all the springs this weekend. Now I have a definite death wobble at 35 or 40 mph. I don't feel it so much in the steering. Reading up on what causes DW in here & other places. Sounds like the pinion angle is the problem. With the taller rear springs, about 4" or 5", the angle of the rear drive line has to have changed. The driveline has an SYE in it & like 1" spacers on the trans skid plate.
So I guess the best way to test this is to pull the rear driveline and give it a test drive?

IMG_20181222_155501552.jpg


IMG_20181223_145639780.jpg


IMG_20181222_164716283.jpg
 
Digging this thread up because I recently purchased an 02 TJ with Rough Country 3.5" lift kit. The rear was too low, definitely had a squat look to it & the trussed Ford 8.8 diff cover was rubbing on the gas tank skid plate and the rear bumpstops hit all too often. The seller included a set of Rusty's Off Road progressive springs, about 4" taller in back, maybe an inch in front. I installed all the springs this weekend. Now I have a definite death wobble at 35 or 40 mph. I don't feel it so much in the steering. Reading up on what causes DW in here & other places. Sounds like the pinion angle is the problem. With the taller rear springs, about 4" or 5", the angle of the rear drive line has to have changed. The driveline has an SYE in it & like 1" spacers on the trans skid plate.
So I guess the best way to test this is to pull the rear driveline and give it a test drive?

View attachment 69107

View attachment 69108

View attachment 69109
Pinion angle does not cause death wobble (DW) no way it can.
The largest cause is out of balance tires. 90% of the time that is the trigger. Death wobble is ALWAYS felt in the steering wheel. It is bone jarring.

You vibration may be caused by the pinion angle.

If you have a SYE and a transfer case drop you are set up wrong. WAY wrong.
You need to have adjustable control arms to adjust the pinion angle. The point of a slip yoke Eliminator is that you don't need a transfer case drop.

Upload a couple of pictures of the drive line. And the drive shaft angles.