It just happened!

I had seen that, but all four I've purchased over the last 8 years have been the same.
 
Good news - Took the LJ in for a Safety Inspection and it passed with no issues.

Bad news - On the way home I hit a pot hole and had a small case of death wobble. Having an idea what the problem was, I crawled underneath the Jeep yesterday and grabbed the track bar. Although I had added "blue" thread locker when I last tightened the jam nut, that apparently wasn't enough. It had come loose again, resulting in movement. I cleaned the threads off, added "blue" once more, and tightened things up. If it comes loose again I'll have to resort to "red".

While underneath, I went ahead and re-checked the torque on all the suspension parts. Some were not what they needed to be, so that was resolved. Drove the Jeep to work today and all is good again. There is something to be said for driving a relatively stock Jeep. Now, maybe one of these days I'll pull the hard top off, install the soft top, then put the 1/2 doors on. Someday, maybe! ;)
 
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My frustration level with this Jeep is rising. I hit a series of washboard ruts today that triggered another death wobble episode. So far I've verified all bolts are torqued properly, the axle side mount is okay, the ball joints are fine, and there isn't anything obvious. All I know at this point is I had no symptoms before installing a set of Savvy control arms. Now I have death wobble. To be 100% clear, I'm not saying or insinuating the new arms are at fault. I'm simply providing that as a data point. Next steps will be to verify alignment, then check the tie rod ends, :cautious:
 
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Hope you track it down. Replacing 16 rubber bushings for something much more "robust" will find the weak links.
 
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Irun said:
My frustration level with this Jeep is rising. I hit a series of washboard ruts today that triggered another death wobble episode. So far I've verified all bolts are torqued properly, the axle side mount is okay, the ball joints are fine, and there isn't anything obvious. All I know at this point is I had no symptoms before installing a set of Savvy control arms. Now I have death wobble. To be 100% clear, I'm not saying or insinuating the new arms are at fault. I'm simply providing that as a data point. Next steps will be to verify alignment, then check the tie rod ends, :cautious:
Click to expand...

Check the steering dampener as well. It's obviously not the cause or fix but maybe it's been fighting it for awhile and finally gave up the ghost causing it to unmask the issue.

I'm not sure why but everytime I've worked on a rig with DW the drag link and or tie rod was the cause.
 
Irun said:
My frustration level with this Jeep is rising. I hit a series of washboard ruts today that triggered another death wobble episode. So far I've verified all bolts are torqued properly, the axle side mount is okay, the ball joints are fine, and there isn't anything obvious. All I know at this point is I had no symptoms before installing a set of Savvy control arms. Now I have death wobble. To be 100% clear, I'm not saying or insinuating the new arms are at fault. I'm simply providing that as a data point. Next steps will be to verify alignment, then check the tie rod ends, :cautious:
Click to expand...

I just fixed my DW and it was one of the front upper control arm joints.

I had done all the usual things (dry steering test, replaced ball joints, checked the hub bearings, checked bolt torques, rebuilt the Currie track bar, etc). Then I found a post from Blaine about adjusting the alignment to 1/2” toe out and driving to a spot that typically induces DW. If the toe out fixes it, it typically points to the front upper control arm joints.

I replaced both arms with Savvy and was able to press in a new Moog clevite bushing on the axle side tower on the passenger side (I couldn’t get the driver side bushing out of the horn on the differential so I just left it).

Since you already replaced the arms it might just be a matter of replacing the axle side bushing(s).
 
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nk24 said:
I just fixed my DW and it was one of the front upper control arm joints.

I had done all the usual things (dry steering test, replaced ball joints, checked the hub bearings, checked bolt torques, rebuilt the Currie track bar, etc). Then I found a post from Blaine about adjusting the alignment to 1/2” toe out and driving to a spot that typically induces DW. If the toe out fixes it, it typically points to the front upper control arm joints.

I replaced both arms with Savvy and was able to press in a new Moog clevite bushing on the axle side tower on the passenger side (I couldn’t get the driver side bushing out of the horn on the differential so I just left it).

Since you already replaced the arms it might just be a matter of replacing the axle side bushing(s).
Click to expand...

Mike_H said:
X2. Check those bushings on the axle. They are a pain in the butt to change... But they are probably as old as everything else that you've been replacing.
Click to expand...

The upper control arms, and axle side bushings, are my main contender as the problem area. When I said I replaced the control arms with Savvy arms, I left out one small detail. I was a short on time, so I replaced all the arms, except for the front uppers. I looked at these this morning and I've got noticeable movement in the control arm bushings themselves. I don't see much deflection in the axle side bushings, but that is a little hard to tell, given the state of the stock upper arm bushings.

To be honest, I suspected this would be an issue. Anytime I don't do what I know should be done, I'm reminded of why I just fix it all in the first place. I'm not looking forward to replacing the axle side bushings. I've only ever done that once and it was not a pleasant experience! :(
 
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Irun said:
Good news - Took the LJ in for a Safety Inspection and it passed with no issues.

Bad news - On the way home I hit a pot hole and had a small case of death wobble. Having an idea what the problem was, I crawled underneath the Jeep yesterday and grabbed the track bar. Although I had added "blue" thread locker when I last tightened the jam nut, that apparently wasn't enough. It had come loose again, resulting in movement. I cleaned the threads off, added "blue" once more, and tightened things up. If it comes loose again I'll have to resort to "red".

While underneath, I went ahead and re-checked the torque on all the suspension parts. Some were not what they needed to be, so that was resolved. Drove the Jeep to work today and all is good again. There is something to be said for driving a relatively stock Jeep. Now, maybe one of these days I'll pull the hard top off, install the soft top, then put the 1/2 doors on. Someday, maybe! ;)
Click to expand...

https://www.claytonoffroad.com/product/jeep-heavy-duty-track-bar-bolt-kit-1984-2006-tj-lj-xj-zj
COR-1100110 : 9/16 bolt
COR-1100110 : 10 mm bolt (oem)
 
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Irun said:
The upper control arms, and axle side bushings, are my main contender as the problem area. When I said I replaced the control arms with Savvy arms, I left out one small detail. I was a short on time, so I replaced all the arms, except for the front uppers. I looked at these this morning and I've got noticeable movement in the control arm bushings themselves. I don't see much deflection in the axle side bushings, but that is a little hard to tell, given the state of the stock upper arm bushings.

To be honest, I suspected this would be an issue. Anytime I don't do what I know should be done, I'm reminded of why I just fix it all in the first place. I'm not looking forward to replacing the axle side bushings. I've only ever done that once and it was not a pleasant experience! :(
Click to expand...

Well, that's where I would start looking. You can test it by toeing it out some (1/2" total, I believe) and if the DW goes away, you'll know for sure.
 
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This was not fun! :cautious:

20220715_135500.jpg
 
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