Death Wobble Again

krdadlamb said:

I replaced the ball joints in February with crown. Everything has been fine since, until this weekend. Two separate episodes of death Wobble. It's looking like I'll have the money for the Trail Leader package in February or March, so I don't want to spend a lot of money on ball joints or other parts, but I've got to get this fixed. Questions:
1) If I purchase the Dynatrack ball joints now for my D30 can I swap them into the PR44?
2) My wheels have 5" of backspacing with 0 offset. Would this be cause for the ball joints to be going out so fast? Tires are 325/60/18.

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wayoflife said:

1. Yes, the knuckles are the same.
2. 5" is a good amount of back spacing so I don't think that would be the culprit.

Are you sure the ball joints are bad? Have you checked your track bar bolts to see if one or both might be loose or the bushings to see if they might be bad?

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krdadlamb said:

Thank you.
I haven't taken the track bar out to inspect, but the bolts are tight and there's no movement when someone is turning the wheel back and forth. The RE lift came with a relocation bracket, that seems to be sound as well.

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wayoflife said:

Track bar relocation bracket? Hmmm, I would carefully inspect the welds both on it and on the factory mount where it attaches to. I have seen more than my fair share of relocation bracket act like a lever and tear off over the years. Leading up to it is DW.

Also, I see that you have a 2015 and the frame side track bar bushing sucks. It has plastic components inside and they tend to wear out.

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krdadlamb said:

Again, thanks for your help. Would an aftermarket adjustable track bar be better, and remove the RE relocation bracket?

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wayoflife said:

No. IF the track bar busing is bad, just get a Crown OE replacement. They are cheap and use bonded rubber bushings on both ends just like the old 2007-10 track bars. Being that you have a relocation bracket, I would assume you have a drag link flip or dropped pitman arm installed and you would NEED that bracket in order to retain your steering geometry. Just check the welds to make sure they're all good.

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krdadlamb said:

Yes, the RE lift came with a drag link flip. I think rather than take the track bar out to inspect, I'll just order the crown and replace it.

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wayoflife said:

LOL!! There's no need to replace your track bar if it isn't bad. Best try to find the cause of your DW before spending any money.

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krdadlamb said:

Thank you.
I haven't taken the track bar out to inspect, but the bolts are tight and there's no movement when someone is turning the wheel back and forth. The RE lift came with a relocation bracket, that seems to be sound as well.

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Exodus Jeeps said:

Relocation bracket on the axle side of frame side? I’ve seen the RE frame drop brackets and they’re garbage. Worst part is also forces you to use the RE track bar which is just as awful. Point being, if you have a frame side “relocation” bracket then you can’t just replace your track bar with a Crown OE. It won’t fit.


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krdadlamb said:

I replaced the tie rod, which was slightly bent, and the track bar. While neither were in bad shape I think I found the problem. The passenger side tie rod wasn't seated properly. You can see the lower threads are knurled pretty good. It seemed tight upon inspection.

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twp said:

Was that the problem?

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