Witnessed Death Wobble First Hand

jesse3638

jesse3638

Hooked
I've seen videos, heard it talked about, but never experienced it or have seen it in person until last Saturday. I was on I-10 east heading to Redlands between I-15 and I-215. I looked over at a jeep I was passing when we hit a seam in the freeway. All of a sudden his front tires went all wobbly like a shopping cart with the bad wheel. It looked like they were going to break and fly off the front of his jeep. I'm assuming this wasn't his first rodeo as he/she immediately headed for the shoulder. If traffic had not been so heavy I may have pulled over with him. It was scary for me but I can't imagine what it was like for them right in the middle of heavy traffic like that. Speaking of this I need to go re-torque and inspect my front end.. ;)
 
Napalm

Napalm

New member
It's scary for sure. I've only had one jeep do it back in 2012. Literally felt like the front axle was falling apart at 40 miles an hour.
 
rockabillyroy

rockabillyroy

Member
Saw it for the first time driving through Colorado along Eagle River. Guy speeds up trying to pass along the left, his front wheels start the wobble. Traffic slows down and his wheels stabilizes and then he just speeds off. He didn't pull over and we never saw him again.

But yeah, looked like it sucked in a big way.
 
Linebacker

Linebacker

Caught the Bug
Life is lessons. I've only had it happen once and it was scary. After a complete suspension rebuild of my '48 CJ (1976 photo) I took it for a spin to make sure everything was :thumb:. At about 45 mph it started and I got it down to thirty really fast but the wobble was unreal. If you look at the front wheel in the photo you'll notice no wheel weights. If you could see all four wheels you'd see nothing either.:doh:
'48 CJ-2A.jpg
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Had it as well. Sucks big time. It happened one time in a half mile stretch, and every time it would stop, it would start back up as soon as I got going again. I pulled over in a parking lot to try to visually look for anything loose. Someone followed me and told me they thought my RF wheel was coming off. It later turned out to be a loose track bar bolt. Scary as hell. My wife stopped driving it when it happened to her.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
DWiggles said:
what is your point? I have no weights on my wheels?? infact MANY of us dont have weights on our wheels?? :hmm:

...my jeep does 80mph without a shimmy...
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Out of balance wheel can initiate it. I'm assuming that's what his was.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
OverlanderJK said:
No a tire will not cause death wobble.
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I've had re-balanced tires fix a DW occasion of mine. :idontknow: With that being said, there may have been another mechanical problem that was causing it and the out-of-balance wheel was setting it in motion. Not sure. But re-balancing mine definitely got rid of it.

EDIT: This is from Eddie's DW write-up. Much better way of stating it:

"1. GET YOUR TIRE BALANCED:
Getting big off road tires balanced is hard to do and it's not uncommon to need 2-3 visits to get them on right. Even if you've had them balanced recently, I would still recommend that you do it again before proceeding. While unbalanced tires will not "cause" death wobble, they can instagate it and, if they are still off, it will make it harder to identify the actual source."
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
Had it happen once doing about 70 in an old Ford pickup with a worn out panhard rod bushing.
I do believe I saw Jesus before I got it whoa-ed up enough to see straight again...
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Ddays said:
Had it happen once doing about 70 in an old Ford pickup with a worn out panhard rod bushing.
I do believe I saw Jesus before I got it whoa-ed up enough to see straight again...
Click to expand...

I once saw Jesus (hey-soos) running across I-8 with his family when I lived down near the border. They jumped into a van and drove away.
 
Linebacker

Linebacker

Caught the Bug
DWiggles said:
what is your point? I have no weights on my wheels?? infact MANY of us dont have weights on our wheels?? :hmm:

...my jeep does 80mph without a shimmy...
Click to expand...

My point is it's always a good thing to balance a new tire/wheel combo especially with older steering 'cause it can be the reason for a serious wobble. If you're lucky enough to not need balancing (it does happen) good for you, but it is something to check.
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
Had it happen once on a grand cherokee i had lifted. I remember they installed a drop drag link instead of something else included in the kit.
Got the stock drag link reinstalled and the rest of the kit no more DW
 
jjlong

jjlong

New member
It happened to me when I first installed my lift. Totally my fault though. I torqued everything down with all 4 wheels off the ground...DUH!
 
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