Need help with death wobble
- Thread starter Saber Jumah
- Start date
True though before resorting to the torch, soak the hardware for a couple days with several sprayings of a good penetrant like Kroil or Liquid Wrench. No, not WD-40 or PB Blaster.
Liberated
TJ Enthusiast
I've heard talk that sometimes the track bar mount gets ovaled out, leading to play that can aggravate dw. I don't know if that meant frame side or axle side, but does anyone here know anything about that?
Ya i seen a few vids of the track bar axle bolt becoming larger. But with the Rubicon Express track bar that i have now i had to drill both holes anyway. So I'm sure its a tight fit. If you wanna check unbolt the track bar and put the bolts in place you'll be able to see it.
One of the ball joints took me two days just to get it out. I broke two ball joint presses. I tried everything on that one with no luck. I was gonna replace the whole knuckle. But it somehow gave up at the end
AndrewBones
New Member
90% of death wobble is incorrectly balanced tyres. I have a mate who works for a mobile tyre replacer & he confirms nearly every Jeep tyre he replaces is incorrectly balanced & as such gives the death wobble over 50km/hr
Saber Jumah, did you ever get this resolved? I am experiencing a similar problem with the DW. I have an 04 Rubicon. I just replaced the tie rod, drag link, track bar, and steering stabilizer. I haven't done the ball joints, mostly because i don't have a press, its MUCH better than it was, but the wheel still shakes on me when I get up over 45-50. I haven't had it balanced since I did this work, so i'm curious if that fixed your problem? I'd also like to ask, if my axle wasn't totally centered when I replaced my track bar, could this also cause the problem? I'm just breaking into the DIY car work, so i'm trying to cover all of my bases here. Given that, can anyone recommend to check anything other than what's been listed on this thread (Oval holes, balanced tires) as a potential cause?
Definitely get the tires balanced. Did you have an alignment done, or set the toe yourself after your replaced the tie rod and drag link? I've had issues with steering shimmy before due to my toe being out of spec.
I set it myself, I just checked it, I think that's possibly the problem (at least one of them) It is definitely off. Looking at the tires too, they're 33in BF mudders, and they're not warn evenly, so that's probably contributing too
Balancing the tires will not help the damage done from uneven tire wear.
I'd imagine that the uneven wear could be a contributing factor at this point, flipping them probably wouldn't do much.
With my jeep the tie rods and ball joints ranged between completely siezed to completely loose. I'd check the ball joints first. There are many vids on YouTube that would help u check. And it's easy to do. But if you take it to an alignment shop they would check it for u and wouldn't do the alignment till they're fixed. Make sure everything is torqued to spec. N have someone move the steering while ur under n see if there is anything off. Then take it from there.
Thanks everyone. I took it to have an alignment done yesterday. I also moved my back tires to the front (there is very little wear to no wear on them), I'll be purchasing new tires soon. The balance helped a lot. I experienced no wobble. That said, There was one time that I experienced some heavy steering shimmy. Previously, had this occurred dw would have happened. It's infinitely better, I couldn't drive the thing, but changing all the parts and having it properly aligned was great. That said, its still not perfect which is just bothersome. I could live with it, for sure, but the one steer shimmy makes me think sooner than later, it'll happen again. Would new ball joints, fix this? I've also seen that the factory bolt that mounts to the frame side of the track bar is slightly undersized causing some play, does anyone recommend changing that out?
Thanks again
Thanks again
If you can see "play" on the frame side track bar bolt after installing a new track bar, it's either loose, or the hole is damaged. Damage means it's time install an aftermarket track bar with a 5/8 inch bolt. If you meant axle side, one option is Black Magic Brakes Replacement Track Bolt. The bolt is a millimeter thicker. If the axle side mount hole is slightly elongated the larger bolt may help, but if it doesn't, next option is an aftermarket track bar with 1/2 inch bolt.
Ron Hockett
TJ Enthusiast
Jerry,
I have been a member for a couple years and respect your knowledge. My cousin who lives several hundred miles away and I were talking about our Jeeps, we both have 2004 Sport models. His is a bone stock 5 speed and mine is a slightly modified automatic. I maintain my Jeep as does my cousin, the problem is he has a wobble so bad his wife is afraid ride in it. He just had it into the shop and had his ball joints replaced, tires balanced, and front end alignment. Both he and his wife swear it is worse now that when they took it into the shop. Do you have any advice where to look next to help eliminate the wobble?
Thanks,
Ron
More details on the wobble would help. What does he have to do to get it to stop? Slow down a little or speed up? Stop?
What is the wobble itself like? Shakes the Jeep moderately, badly, or violently enough the Jeep goes completely out of control?
How old are the tires? How big are they and what type of tires are they? What is their overall condition and are they evenly worn?
With the tires on the ground, tell him to have a helper repeatedly rotate the steering wheel back & forth. During that he should closely watch all of the connections on the steering system and see if there is any side to side slop/movement between parts that are bolted together. Especially at the track bar.
The tie rod and drag link are both mounted on ball joints so while there should be no sideways slop where they bolt together, they will have rotational play available around their long axes that is normal and actually required to be there.
Answers to all of the above can help isolate the source of the problem.
What is the wobble itself like? Shakes the Jeep moderately, badly, or violently enough the Jeep goes completely out of control?
How old are the tires? How big are they and what type of tires are they? What is their overall condition and are they evenly worn?
With the tires on the ground, tell him to have a helper repeatedly rotate the steering wheel back & forth. During that he should closely watch all of the connections on the steering system and see if there is any side to side slop/movement between parts that are bolted together. Especially at the track bar.
The tie rod and drag link are both mounted on ball joints so while there should be no sideways slop where they bolt together, they will have rotational play available around their long axes that is normal and actually required to be there.
Answers to all of the above can help isolate the source of the problem.
Similar threads
