First taste of death wobble

black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
I have been noticing a weird shimmy in the front end every now and then thought it might have been a bad factory steering stabilizer so I changed that out but it didn't change anything had the wheels rebalanced checked alignment but tonight coming home from pulling a truck out of the mud hit a couple good bumps in the road and had a oh shit moment when the jeep started shaking uncontrollably .... my hope is that something came lose under there I will be looking into this first thing in the morning can't imagine it being much else as it's only a year old with under 14K on it


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desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
mine turned out to be the ball joints as a huge contributing factor to the DW problem i had, though i was running 37s on stock ball joints and they practically fell apart when i pulled them out, not unheard up to have the stock ball joints go in 15k but i was up in the 75k range (20k on the 37s) worn out control arm bushings didnt help either

hopefully its something small like track bar torque but ball joints might be a good next step to check if that doesnt do the trick.

good luck hopefully its a quick fix
 
black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
desertrunner said:
mine turned out to be the ball joints as a huge contributing factor to the DW problem i had, though i was running 37s on stock ball joints and they practically fell apart when i pulled them out, not unheard up to have the stock ball joints go in 15k but i was up in the 75k range (20k on the 37s) worn out control arm bushings didnt help either

hopefully its something small like track bar torque but ball joints might be a good next step to check if that doesnt do the trick.

good luck hopefully its a quick fix
Click to expand...

I will look in to that as well thank you


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W

Wert7676

New member
I had a bit of a wobble braking heavy especially down hill. I put the axle on jack stands and removed the steering stabilizer. I then had a buddy turn the wheel back and forth. While he did that I grabbed each of joints in the steering. You will feel a cluck just keep feeling different joints until you find the culprit. Mine was a ball joint at the pitman arm. Latter I had a worn lower ball joint. To check ball joints put the axle on stands and apply pressure to the top and bottom of the wheel in opposite directions there should be no movement. FYI steering stabilizers don't fix death wobble it masks it. I don't even use one anymore and I got 37s

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WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Being you have such low mileage on it, I would check anything that you've modified on the steering and suspension like if you've done a lift kit, etc.
 
VeruGE*144

VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
Steering stabilizer won't fix death wobble.
Like others said, start with track bar, check all control arm bushings. Ball joints will also cause a shimmy (I replaced mine over the weekend,no more shimmy).

With balancing, it really depends who does it, especially with big mud tires. On several occasions I had to go back to get them rebalanced after some high school kid did my balancing vs a veteran employee at Discount tires.

On top of that make sure your wheels are torqued properly. Few times after servicing my jeep at the stealership I would get such a bad shimmy after hitting the smallest bump on the road. Some assholes will just zip the wheels on for you with an impact wrench and won't even do it a cross cross pattern, leaving you with 2 tight lugs and 3 loose enough to unscrew by hand by the time you drive back home.
I always break the wheels free and make sure they are properly seated and torqued after every wheel service I do.



.....…...............................................................
MY BUILT/REBUILD: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?44123-Rebuilt-of-a-Billet-Silver-mall-crawler&p=859931#post859931
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
black pearl said:
I have been noticing a weird shimmy in the front end every now and then thought it might have been a bad factory steering stabilizer so I changed that out but it didn't change anything had the wheels rebalanced checked alignment but tonight coming home from pulling a truck out of the mud hit a couple good bumps in the road and had a oh shit moment when the jeep started shaking uncontrollably .... my hope is that something came lose under there I will be looking into this first thing in the morning can't imagine it being much else as it's only a year old with under 14K on it
Click to expand...

As others have mentioned, I would start with the track bar bolts as them coming loose isn't uncommon especially if you've been wheeling your Jeep. That is typically the most common source of death wobble. That being said, this link will help you to track down your problem.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...s-What-it-isn-t-and-What-You-Can-Do-to-Fix-it
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
black pearl said:
I have been noticing a weird shimmy in the front end every now and then thought it might have been a bad factory steering stabilizer so I changed that out but it didn't change anything had the wheels rebalanced checked alignment but tonight coming home from pulling a truck out of the mud hit a couple good bumps in the road and had a oh shit moment when the jeep started shaking uncontrollably .... my hope is that something came lose under there I will be looking into this first thing in the morning can't imagine it being much else as it's only a year old with under 14K on it


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

same - as others have mentioned and follow each step of the write-up:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...s-What-it-isn-t-and-What-You-Can-Do-to-Fix-it

I would suggest to 1st loosen the bolts for the track bar and control arms, give the Jeep a bounce to get rid of any possible bind spots then tighten everything back to torque.

It's not uncommon for the lower ball joints to fail once you lift, add larger tires and go wheeling. I had to replace mine within the 1st year.
 
black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
VeruGE*144 said:
Steering stabilizer won't fix death wobble.
Like others said, start with track bar, check all control arm bushings. Ball joints will also cause a shimmy (I replaced mine over the weekend,no more shimmy).

With balancing, it really depends who does it, especially with big mud tires. On several occasions I had to go back to get them rebalanced after some high school kid did my balancing vs a veteran employee at Discount tires.

On top of that make sure your wheels are torqued properly. Few times after servicing my jeep at the stealership I would get such a bad shimmy after hitting the smallest bump on the road. Some assholes will just zip the wheels on for you with an impact wrench and won't even do it a cross cross pattern, leaving you with 2 tight lugs and 3 loose enough to unscrew by hand by the time you drive back home.
I always break the wheels free and make sure they are properly seated and torqued after every wheel service I do.



.....…...............................................................
MY BUILT/REBUILD: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?44123-Rebuilt-of-a-Billet-Silver-mall-crawler&p=859931#post859931
Click to expand...

Yes I know SS won't Fix Death wobble I replaced that when I thought the factory one was going out before the DW fully showed its self. the place I have my tiers done the guy has been doing it for 30 years so I'm confident in his work


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black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
wayoflife said:
As others have mentioned, I would start with the track bar bolts as them coming loose isn't uncommon especially if you've been wheeling your Jeep. That is typically the most common source of death wobble. That being said, this link will help you to track down your problem.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...s-What-it-isn-t-and-What-You-Can-Do-to-Fix-it
Click to expand...

Thank you. We have just gotten back from a week of wheeling in Death Valley (my first thought lose bolts) thanks for the link


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black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
jeeeep said:
same - as others have mentioned and follow each step of the write-up:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...s-What-it-isn-t-and-What-You-Can-Do-to-Fix-it

I would suggest to 1st loosen the bolts for the track bar and control arms, give the Jeep a bounce to get rid of any possible bind spots then tighten everything back to torque.

It's not uncommon for the lower ball joints to fail once you lift, add larger tires and go wheeling. I had to replace mine within the 1st year.
Click to expand...

I really hope it's not ball joints yet but if so at least I have the tools and time to do it I guess


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shipjim

shipjim

New member
I had one tire,Hankook A/T 35x12.5x18, we had to balance several times. I finally took it to shop that specialized in truck tires. Also factory ball joints gave up at 30,000. Went Moogs, they failed 15,000 miles now have synergy. 30,000 miles no prob.
Now running Nitro A/Ts 40,000 miles. Thus will be their last season. I'll be going back to the new version next.

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VeruGE*144

VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
black pearl said:
I really hope it's not ball joints yet but if so at least I have the tools and time to do it I guess


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Click to expand...

If you doing ball joints look into my thread below, I just did mine this weekend. I went with ProSteers, maybe you can refer to my experience with this install.



.....…...............................................................
MY BUILT/REBUILD: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?44123-Rebuilt-of-a-Billet-Silver-mall-crawler&p=859931#post859931
 
black pearl

black pearl

Hooked
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