Death wobble help

Jeeper125

New member
Been fighting death wobble for a while now and can’t seem to find a fix, this is what I have done so far.
- prosteer ball joints (almost a year old)
- yeti xd steering with flipped dl (month old)
- new track bar bushings (week old)
- new wheel bearings (month old)
- new uca (almost a year old)
- had the Jeep aligned by two separate shops both said it was good one of them being after my steering upgrade
My local 4x4 shop is saying that I may have a bent rim but I’m doubtful that it could be causing full on death wobble. Lca look good no play and would b very surprised if I already worn out my prosteers. Everything is tight and nothing seems loose or worn. I hit a dead end and can’t think of anything else that could b causing my wobble. Hoping someone can shed some light on what could be causing this because I’m out of options thanks in advance!


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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Just so that we're on the same page, you do have full blown violent shaking of the entire Jeep and to the point where you feel like it's gonna tear itself apart and not just a really bad shimmy, right?

What kind of wheels are you running and how much back spacing do they have? While not likely, too little back spacing WILL cause ball joints and unit bearings to wear out quickly.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
O yeah it’s full on dw, I’m running pro comp steel rims with 4.25 inches of backspacing

Okay, that back spacing isn't ideal but not as bad as it could be. Being that they are steel wheels, it is possible that you do have one that is out of round and that could be contributing to DW starting. As to why it's going all the way, I see you're running and OME lift. Is it safe to assume you're running their shocks as well? I have run them in the past and had one go bad on me. Surprisingly, it was a big part of what was causing me DW.

More than that, you said you replaced your track bar bushings. What track bar are you running? Safe to assume that the bolts were tightened to 125 ft lbs? Do you have a relocation bracket installed at the axle or frame and have you double checked the factory mounts to make sure there weren't any signs of cracking?
 

Jeeper125

New member
I’m running the ome track bar which is the same one that came with the lift and was tightened to 125 ft lbs. frame side mount looked good did not see any cracking, axle side looks good as well. I do not have a relocation bracket but my rock jock came with the multiple holes to mount the track bar, bumped it up a hole to make the track bar and drag link parallel after the flip was installed. I can take a look at the shocks up front Jeep does not drive like there are worn out but could be the other three are masking the one bad one, shocks do have over 30k on them so they have seen some abuse thanks for the quick reply


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VeruGE*144

Caught the Bug
Any excessive play in the steering box or bad tie rod ends on your tie rod? It seems like you replaced pretty much everything except those. Have somebody turn the wheel back and forth while you lay under the Jeep and look for any unusual play/slack in the joints. I would also double check for play in the track bar brackets both frame and axle. Maybe even remove the track bar, check if your bolt holes aren’t wallowed out, re torque to 125ftlbs. Placing your hand on tie rod and/ or drag link while somebody is moving the wheel might help revel any play in form of a “skip” sensation.
 

Jeeper125

New member
The tie rod and drag link are brand new, had my buddy sit in the car and turn the wheel everything looked tight no play anywhere, what I did notice was that when I pushed the pit man arm up it seemed to have the slightest up and down movement with a little clunking noise when I did that, idk how much play is to much. Steering seems fine on the road not touchy or flighty other than the dw. I also forgot to mention that the dw seems to happen mostly in the 35-45 range and I have yet to get a dw above 50.


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wjtstudios

Hooked
You can move your pitman arm up? Not the drag link? If you can move the Pitman at all, the piece that comes off the steering gear, that is a significant problem. That should be rock solid and torqued to I think 150 lbs stock, the big bores require 225 lbs.

I agree with Eddie, the bent wheel, can create a harmonic vibration that can then escalate into a full DW given the proper weaknesses in other areas. Have the wheels properly checked and balanced to rule that out.


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Jeeper125

New member
I have not rotated my tires that is something I still have to do, hopefully it will make a difference......
 

YDAJC

New member
Chased this same probelm on my 2017 JKURR, turned out to be an out of round tire. Evertime I hit a bump the front end would shake and over 50 it would develop a DW.

Installed Dyna trac Ball joints ( Lower OEM units were shot at 4300 miles with 35s)
New tie rod from Metal cloak (1 T ends)
New drag link from Metal Cloak (1T ends)
Track bar from MC
Reid racing knuckles (OEM were bent assuming from the factory)
Retorqued the link arms MC game changer 4.5
re-adjusted toe to 1/8th
caster set to -5.5

All helped but the DW would still show up. Left front BFG KO2 (8000 miles on it) was out of round by 1/2 inch. R&Rd the left front and all is happy again.
 

kmac107

New member
I had steel wheels on my Jeep and could never get death wobble to go away contact one of your local Jeep clubs and see if someone will let you borrow their wheels and tires to drive around the block


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Jeeper125

New member
Little update: tried to put in stock tires and rims today and stock rim was making contact with my drag link flip end so had to put my 37s back on, I know it’s a band aid but put on a new steering stabilizer cause my old one blew its seal and all the fluid leaked out. After driving it with the new stabilizer there was no dw but there was still a small shimmy at around 40-50. I think I may just start saving up for new rims and see if that eliminates my dw. Cant really think of anything else that could really b cause my Jeep to have full on dw.


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