...Death Wobble......Again....

Deathmask

Deathmask

New member
I'll start off by saying, I was reluctant to make another death wobble thread, but I'm desperate to fix this.

When I first got my JK i had a problem with death wobble. After re-torquing all the bolts and replacing the track bar with a beefy adjustable track bar, the death wobble went away. 3 years later I decided to install a 2" lift (lift coils, shock extenders, front sway bar end links, and the adjustable front track bar I had) with 1" coil spacers up front, to make up for the weight of my bumper, and 1.5" spidertrax wheel spacers.

After installing the lift, the steering felt like crap and I was getting death wobble. So I went through and loosened all the suspension arms, installed some geo brackets, and re-tourqued everything. The brackets got my pinion angle back to 0* and the steering felt like stock again and I wasn't getting death wobble as easily. I still get death wobble above 45mph, but it's more random. Sometimes I'll hit bumps and feel the front axle shifting but no death wobble, other times I'll get it.

After the lift I re-centered the axle the best I could and straightened the steering wheel. I did not adjust the toe at all and the inside for the front drivers tire was cupping to I know the toe is out.

That's everything I can think of that's I've done. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is making me scared to drive my Jeep.....
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Check your ball joints. Also have someone turn the steering wheel while you watch for play in steering and track bar ends. If track bar end has play, check to make sure holes aren't wollowed out.
 
Deathmask

Deathmask

New member
WJCO said:
Check your ball joints. Also have someone turn the steering wheel while you watch for play in steering and track bar ends. If track bar end has play, check to make sure holes aren't wollowed out.
Click to expand...

I rechecked the ball joints and they are fine. I also had my wife turn the steering wheel and there may have been a mm or two of play in the track bar on the drivers side, and I could hear a click in the draglink and there is a vertical movement in the tie rod on the drivers side.

Could any of these be the cause on my problem?
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Deathmask said:
I rechecked the ball joints and they are fine. I also had my wife turn the steering wheel and there may have been a mm or two of play in the track bar on the drivers side, and I could hear a click in the draglink and there is a vertical movement in the tie rod on the drivers side.

Could any of these be the cause on my problem?
Click to expand...

Do the track bar and tie rod first, then check the drag link later. First torque the track bar bolt. If it's still loose, take out the bolt and check that the holes aren't elongated. If holes are OK, a new bushing/bar is needed.
 
Battle Born JK

Battle Born JK

New member
I had a lot of steering wheel movement and took it in to get alignment and runs pedrcet now i had those little washers around the lug bolts and with my rims they were not sitting flush against the rotor removed those got tires re balanced all is good
 
Deathmask

Deathmask

New member
jeepdave15 said:
I had a lot of steering wheel movement and took it in to get alignment and runs pedrcet now i had those little washers around the lug bolts and with my rims they were not sitting flush against the rotor removed those got tires re balanced all is good
Click to expand...

I don't have any play in my steering wheel, but I know my alignment is out because of signs of tire wear as I stated above. And I'm pretty sure I need my wheels balanced as well.

The wheels I rotated to the rear needed to be rebalanced mort than than the ones I have in the front now. Could that plus the lack of rear track bar bracket with the lift cause any kind of death wobble. I know it's a reach, but I'm trying to think of anything I can.
 
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Texas Nick

Texas Nick

Caught the Bug
How many miles do you have on your ball joints? Do you wheel a lot, or in a lot of mud?
It usually aways has to do with the ball joints. You cant see the play with just your eyes. You need a dial indicator. But if you can see the play, then you def need some. But im dead sure thats where your problem lies.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
JRUnlimited

JRUnlimited

New member
I'd also check the wheel hub assemblies. When I replaced mine it cured my death wobble problems. It's a fairly inexpensive fix that you can do fairly easy yourself. That is fairly easy with the right had tools.
 
Deathmask

Deathmask

New member
Texas Nick said:
How many miles do you have on your ball joints? Do you wheel a lot, or in a lot of mud?
It usually aways has to do with the ball joints. You cant see the play with just your eyes. You need a dial indicator. But if you can see the play, then you def need some. But im dead sure thats where your problem lies.


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

I have 140k on the ball joints. I've put 60k of those miles on it, and haven't wheeled it a lot or taken it in the mud.
 
Deathmask

Deathmask

New member
Andy5160 said:
As WJCO stated, check the track bar bolt first even a little movement can cause the issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed theres very little play on the the passenger side and slightly more on the drivers side, and I thought maybe the play on both ends added up to enough to matter. So I'm going to take the track bar out in the morning to check the bolt, bushing, and bolt hole then re-torque it and see how it looks after that. If need be I'll swap out the adjustable end on the passenger side and bushing on the drivers side.

It just sucks cause I'm currently laid off, so I don't have a lot of money to through parts at it right now, but I'll need my Jeep drivable for when I start my next job...
 
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Papajeep

Papajeep

New member
I've had DW off an on for about 3-4 years now. I've had tires balanced & rebalanced. I've replaced ball joints , hub assemblies, track bar, and drag link & control arms. I just ordered a high clearance steering setup that will replace the drag link and trac bar again, but upgraded.
In my experience DW happens more when my tires are cold and at a specific speed. For me it's between 45-55 mph. One thing that has helped is monitoring my tire pressure. Anything over 28 psi and the DW gets bad. Every little bump or turn can cause it.
Check all your control arms, drag link etc. Make sure nothing is loose.


Sent from my iPad using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
140k on the same ball joints?

how did you check them?

here's how I check mine, place the front axle on jack stands just high enough to get the tire off the ground with enough space to slide a pry bar or shovel under the tire.

lift on the tire with the pry bar or shovel - you may need a helper with this so you can look at the ball joint.

I like to use a short handled shovel so I can press down on the handle and watch the ball joint at the same time

if you see any up/down movement in the ball joint, they need replacing.
 
Judesign

Judesign

Caught the Bug
^this. Not sure if you've ever replaced ball joints but the first time I did I wasn't expecting them to be that bad really. Point is what looks like a small amount of play with the prybar proved to be a comically toasted ball joint. All issues were fixed after replacing.
 
Amrth

Amrth

Member
Deathmask said:
I rechecked the ball joints and they are fine. I also had my wife turn the steering wheel and there may have been a mm or two of play in the track bar on the drivers side, and I could hear a click in the draglink and there is a vertical movement in the tie rod on the drivers side.

Could any of these be the cause on my problem?
Click to expand...

Can you also check the bushing on all 4 control arms? A fellow Jeeper had a similar problem lately and it was due to worn out bushing on a couple of arms! Changing that fixed his problem.
 
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