How to stop death wobble when it's happening?

TL;DR - when experiencing death wobble on the road, how do I stop the shaking while I'm in the vehicle?

96 XJ, 3" Rancho lift

I figured this was close enough to stock, and a generic question, that it belonged in the OEM forum.

I have a bad death wobble, most often when I hit the brakes at speed 55+. I've ordered in new front shocks and a steering stabilizer (all Rancho, identical to the ancient worn out Rancho parts already there) but they won't be in until tomorrow.

Unfortunately, my XJ just tried to kill me. I was coming off the highway and hit the brakes and the wobble started. Unlike other instances, it didn't stop after 5 seconds. It just kept violently shaking the entire vehicle as I sloooowly came to a stop. We're talking 30+ seconds of violent shaking as I decelerate from 70-0. I tried moving the steering wheel back and forth a bit, slight pressure on the brakes... nothing seemed to help, and it was BAD. As in "running over a road made of speed bumps at 60MPH" bad.

I have to drive all over the place between today and tomorrow. I'll try to keep it at/under 55MPH. But if it starts shaking, is there an effective way to stop the wobble? I can't put in new parts until tomorrow night.

Well, when I have an unsafe vehicle I don't drive it.

I had a power wagon that developed a bad case of DW. The only way I could get it to stop was either slow way down untill it stopped then continue on my way or to accelerate real hard or a few seconds... If possible you should just avoid driving it until it's repaired.

rocknxj said:

Well, when I have an unsafe vehicle I don't drive it.

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Well, when I have a job and one vehicle that is a daily driver, I need to get to places so I don't get fired. I'm keeping it under 55MPH which should stop it, but I wanted to ask if there was another way in case it starts happening anyway.

do they have cabs in Denver? do you have coworkers that could give you a lift?


and not to rain on your parade, but i doubt the shocks and steering stabilizer are your problem areas. what made you suspect those parts?

fsupaintball said:

Well, when I have a job and one vehicle that is a daily driver, I need to get to places so I don't get fired. I'm keeping it under 55MPH which should stop it, but I wanted to ask if there was another way in case it starts happening anyway.

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The couple times it happened in the past, I hit the brakes and slowed down until it stopped. Drive 50 MPH and under until you find the cause.
Check out the entire front end for loose parts and tighten everything including the track bar.

Get it fixed. Your job maybe more important to you than continuing to live, that's your choice but you may end up crashing and hurting or killing someone else.

I've never had it happen under 55mph so that's where I'm keeping it until I get it sorted.

The reason I suspect those (likely the steering stabilizer) is because it's leaking, as is one of my shocks.

Thanks for the suggestions.

A leaky steering stabalizer isn't causing your DW. However a good stabalizer may suppress/mask DW. I'd start taking a look at your front end and look for other worn out parts, or bad geometry.

And I highly doubt a bad shock would cause it too.

As mentioned steering stabilizers are NOT the true culprit of death wobble, they will only cover up the real problem. I would take a look at your all of your track bar bolts, make sure there all tight, and make sure the hole on the axle side isn't wallowed out. Good luck.

Also, look at this http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/diagnose-your-death-wobble-55021/

And as far as stopping DW while it's happening, I generally just hit the brakes and slow down :dunno:

fsupaintball said:

Well, when I have a job and one vehicle

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dry steer it and inspect to find any plan in your suspension.

the 'dont drive it' comments are valid'
your 'well, i have stuff to do...' IS NOT valid. how would you feel if someone swerved in front of you on the freeway, causing an accident at highway speeds.... when he knew his car had problems, but he had stuff to do!? dont be that asshole.

the fact that it's progressively worse, means it will continue to get progressively worse... take it off the road, or drive it to the busstop.


if you died in a crash, i'd present your darwin award myself after a post like that...

Fair enough. I kept it under 55 though, which got rid of all DW.

After installation, I could tell it didn't eliminate it (there's still some wiggle when I hit brakes over 55MPH) but it definitely keeps it under control. I tested it at slowly increasing speeds until I was sure it was safe again.

There's definitely something else wrong aside from shocks/steering stabilizer. Haven't been able to pinpoint it but I'll start going through the "usual" things from the other DW threads, starting with toe-in and looking for loose components.

You likely have a factory track bar with your 3" lift.. I suspect that to be your problem based off experience.

Get a buddy to "shimmy the wheel" and locate the track bar underneath, look for any kind of play in bushing or joint..

For what it's worth.. I don't even have a steering stabilizer.. Most people get rid of them as the jeep evolves..

Ok I stopped reading after a couple of posts. There are like 9 billion and one things that can cause death wobbly (clearly an exaggeration but there are a lot). Mine ended up being a bad set of out of round tires. I know that sounds crazy but after trying some many other things, once I removed the tires from the Jeep and went with another set, the death wobble went away and has yet to return after 4 years.

In your case since you seem to experience under braking I would venture to say that your rotors are extremely warped and need replacing immediately. Death wobble is a harmonic vibration that results in a violent physical shaking of the vehicle. Mine was ultimately caused by bad tires that rotated poorly like an egg would. Yours seems to extend from bad rotors. Further reason for me to think it is rotors is your symptoms don't stop until you are pretty much stopped and only starts once brakes are applied. While others, once they experience death wobble and end up reducing it once they slow the speed of the vehicle, opposite to your experience.

Try changing out your rotors and see what happens. You may be surprised. This also comes from an ASE certified brake technician.

Don't worry about anything else, change your rotors is step 1. Step two is balance your tires. Bet your problem will be gone.