Okay, I've got the dreaded death Wobble at about 65 mph. I've replaced the stabilizer with old man yellow and upper and lower ball joints with Spicer brand and did a balance with alignment. And we're still shaking it up. Any suggestions?
Suggestions on fixing death wobble?
- Thread starter One Old Chief
- Start date
Death wobble can’t be cured with a new steering stabilizer, merely masks the problem. What’s your steering and track bar setup? Stock?
Thats not true, just ask the internet! hahahahahahahahaahahaahahahahaahahahahaahah
See this thread:
Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!
And this one:
Diagnosing and Fixing Death Wobble
Is Your Jeep Wrangler TJ Experiencing Vibrations or Death Wobble? READ THIS!
And this one:
Diagnosing and Fixing Death Wobble
89grand
TJ Addict
Well you can have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth, look for movement in all of the control arms, track bar, tie rod, drag link. Something is probably loose. If not your tires are not balanced right.
Great article, Chris
The shop did the toe in and camber adjust. They're agood shop and I'm sure they have a record of the settings.
Thanks all... I will get it to a 4x4 tire shop this next week. We did find some loose control arm bolts when we started fixing it up from years of neglect. One was so bad it egged out the hole in the frame and we had to weld a new plate on and re-drill it.
Death wobble can be seen as two components...
What causes it (low tire pressure , poorly balanced tires , a hard hit )
What allows it - loose track bar , worn track bar bushings , worn steering components
It can involve both parts if the equation , only one part of it , or more of one than the other, for example a slightly out of balance tire and a badly worn track bar bushing ....or a badly out of balance tire and a slightly worn track bar bushing.
All driven vehicles are in various stages of wear , and modified vehicles often have a mixture of newer and older parts .
It’s not a Jeep specific issue , my 2012 F 250 developed it . It was scary.
What causes it (low tire pressure , poorly balanced tires , a hard hit )
What allows it - loose track bar , worn track bar bushings , worn steering components
It can involve both parts if the equation , only one part of it , or more of one than the other, for example a slightly out of balance tire and a badly worn track bar bushing ....or a badly out of balance tire and a slightly worn track bar bushing.
All driven vehicles are in various stages of wear , and modified vehicles often have a mixture of newer and older parts .
It’s not a Jeep specific issue , my 2012 F 250 developed it . It was scary.
I'll be under it tomorrow morning before the temperature hits
. Lots of work ahead.
89grand
TJ Addict
I don't believe camber can be adjusted, but they would have to have the toe in out of spec quite a bit, but doing so can produce death wobble. I know because the only time my Jeep got it, was when I had wrongly adjusted the toe in. And yes, it was full blown death wobble, not steering wheel shimmy.
You can easily do toe in adjustments at home. Just get flat bars, aluminum works great, that are longer than your tires, mark the center and the tire diameter from the center, so for a 33" tire, 16.5" on each side from the center, and clamp those to the brake rotors with the center mark centered to the hub, then measure the rear tire mark with a tape measure, then the front and make the adjustment 1/8-1/16 of an inch less in the front than the rear.
You can easily do toe in adjustments at home. Just get flat bars, aluminum works great, that are longer than your tires, mark the center and the tire diameter from the center, so for a 33" tire, 16.5" on each side from the center, and clamp those to the brake rotors with the center mark centered to the hub, then measure the rear tire mark with a tape measure, then the front and make the adjustment 1/8-1/16 of an inch less in the front than the rear.
Just told the missus we would be in the garage for awhile in the AM. The more I get from y'all it looks like I have a vibration problem and not the death Wobble. Actually pretty happy about that 
.
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89grand
TJ Addict
I'll say this, if you ever actually get death wobble, you'll know it isn't a vibration or shimmy, as the Jeep is undriveable when death wobble occurs until you completely let off the gas and slow way down. If you can drive through it, it isn't death wobble.
When mine did it, the best way to describe it, is what it might feel like if your tires went from round to square. It felt like the whole Jeep was going to come apart.
When mine did it, the best way to describe it, is what it might feel like if your tires went from round to square. It felt like the whole Jeep was going to come apart.
I definitely don't have the Wobble; it is vibration after all. Going down the US60 to the Superstitions is bouncing but it does subside when I let off the gas or power up.
89grand
TJ Addict
Maybe it is as simple as a tire balance issue then. Or a worn component in the suspension, but at least it isn't death wobble. Death wobble sucks beyond belief and is quite unnerving.
I was doing about 65 om the freeway this morning, hit a bump and the steering wheel was all over the place. surface streets got me to work and back. looking into it this weekend
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