My death wobble thread
- Thread starter MSJKU11
- Start date
Parks34
New member
Look alright to me man[emoji51] hope you fix your problem soon
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WJCO
Meme King
Looking at the bushings won't really show you anything. Have a helper start the vehicle and turn the steering back and forth while you look for play. You'll see movement there if that's the issue. If there is movement, make sure bolts are torqued. If there's still play, check to make sure bracket holes aren't elongated.
MSJKU11
Caught the Bug
I'm definitely blue.
WJCO
Meme King
How old are the ball joints? Those should be checked for play as well if you haven't already.
MSJKU11
Caught the Bug
I'll check them out today. I took it to a shop a couple months back and they said they were okay. I'm unsure how old they are but I do have 105k miles on the Jeep, I'd assume they are factory unless there's a good way to tell.
My death wobble...which literally almost killed me...was the track bar bracket. Both the stock bracket and the Tera Flex drop bracket were broken, torn, cracked and actually about to completely break off. I would get wobble oscilations at like 10 mph. It was bad.
So...check the track bar bracket on the frame side, and maybe the axle side too.
Oh, and my caster was off too...so there's that.
So...check the track bar bracket on the frame side, and maybe the axle side too.
Oh, and my caster was off too...so there's that.
Jody Treadway
New member
The way I check for loose front suspension items is to have someone work the steering wheel back and forth rapidly with the engine off, while I place my hand on the trackbar, control arms, etc. A quick way to see by yourself, is to to work the wheel back and forth (engine off) and note if you can see the body rocking side to side in relation to the axle. If it does, then something that locates the axle is worn and/or loose. Then a helper can wiggle the wheel so you can verify what is loose.
I find that literally 9 times out of 10 it is trackbar related.Whether the bushings are work, the bolts are loose or the bracket is failed.
Good luck!
I find that literally 9 times out of 10 it is trackbar related.Whether the bushings are work, the bolts are loose or the bracket is failed.
Good luck!
MSJKU11
Caught the Bug
Just a little update. I've checked the trackbar bracket and everything looks fine. It's only a year and a half old but don't see any cracks or breaks. No play with the trackbar, drag link. Tie rod moves up and down but I'm thinking this is normal? My toe in was off by about 2/8. My steering wheel wasn't centered and both are now corrected. There was a little play when I lifted the tires and moved it left/right. I don't have a dial indicator to tell how much but I'll see if I can find one this weekend. My caster was around 4-5 degrees
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WJCO
Meme King
Any play in tie rod ends or drag link ends is not normal. Now as far as the bar rotating in a pivoting motion is normal.
MSJKU11
Caught the Bug
All ends are good. Just the bar moves.
VeruGE*144
Caught the Bug
If you can rock your wheels when they are of the ground it could also be unit bearings. Bad hubs and bad balljoints combined can give you a pretty bad shimmy. My factory ball joints went out at about 45K miles
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MSJKU11
Caught the Bug
So I drove it today and I used to get a shimmy in the steering wheel with the stabilizers installed around 40 mph thinking it's just the DW masked. So after my adjustments to centering the steering wheel and adjusting the toe-in I no longer have the shimmy. Could these have caused DW if it's not aligned correctly? I'll take off the stabilizers for sure this weekend to test it.