onset of death wobble?

In the past 10 days or so, I've noticed that my front end, particularly the front right, seems to have a wobble to it, if conditions are right. The steering wheel will shake a few times hitting a bump on the road. Steering seems tight. No noticeable squirreliness ever. Hitting a bump does not cause jarring from worn ball joints, it just causes a wobble felt in the steering wheel a few times. Today I also seemed to develop a bit of vibration.

I wonder if this is the onset of death wobble from worn parts.

Much of the suspension is original, but I'm working on it. Ball joints have about 30,000 miles on them. Lower control arms changed since this started have a few hundred miles on them. I need to check the track bar. It is a MOOG replaced about 240,000 miles ago when the original one was causing some squirreliness (back then it was no wobble, just felt like the axle was moving around a bit after I took it on dirt roads; greasing made it better but i got tired of greasing every time i took it on a dirt road).

I do know there is a problem with the rear left shackle bushing. The bushing is fused to the bolt and when I was loosening it, both start coming out. So the sleeve is not attached to the rubber much, if at all.

I am going to be changing the rear springs/shackles, but haven't done it yet. Is there any way the rear is causing the front wobble?

I need to lift up the front end and check the track bar, tie rods, etc. just wondering if it could be something else.

The list of things that could cause death wobble is long. But if I were you, I'd start with the track bar as that is a very common cause. So are control arms/bushings.

Death wobble can be tough to isolate. Good luck!

It's just a wobble. Although it could turn into DW at some point. You will know you have Death Wobble by the CRAP in your pants.
Anyway it's time for a close inspection of ALL steering and suspension component and diagnosis. Everything is suspect, even the new parts you might have just installed.

I've looked the front end over. The main suspect appears to be the track bar.

Track bar at the axle appears crooked on its bushing.

I've been living with a "pop" noise usually when backing up during a turn for years. I tried the sway bar bushings, sway bar link bushings, and tried tightening up various bolts. All the suspension bolts were tight. But recently the "pop" noise nearly stopped. It used to happen every time I would back out of my garage. But now it doesn't, the last time it "popped" was backing out of parking lot somewhere.

You can disconnect the sway bar and retest to confirm or eliminate it as a source. Do you feel the pop in the steering wheel when it happens?

Put a breaker bar on the trac bar bolts. I found that my top trac bar bolt had worked loose even though I couldn't feel bar movement by hand.

You can also have somebody turn the steering wheel back and forth while you inspect and CAREFULLY feel for play/movement at the various spots.

No I don't really feel anything when it pops. Its just a noise. I'm starting to think its just a brake shoe. I lifted the front end and supported by the frame and took another look. The track bar is a MOOG with a bushing that is basically steel ring, 1/8" rubber, steel ring, another 1/8" of rubber, and then the inner steel ring. I am thinking the problem may be the upper control arm bushings. They really deform with the axle hanging down. They don't look bad with all 4 tires on the ground. I rented a control arm bushing tool but it isn't big enough for these bushings. I'll need to go back and get the ball joint press, or fab something. I will say to anyone doing upper control arm bushings at the axle, with the axle hanging down there is a LOT more room. Once I get the bushings in I'll see how it rides and replace the track bar if the problem isn't solved

the trackbar is the first place i'd look. and the "pop" you mentioned often points to the lower trackbar mount.
how old are your shocks? if your shocks are smoked and offer no damping effect, it can amplify the shortcomings of other parts.

Shocks are Monroe sensatrac with a couple of thousand on them.

I'm going to look at the trac bar again after I do the upper control arms.

I can't see or feel any play in the trac bar. But I know the UCA bushings are old and tired. Wish they were as easy as the lowers!

Hmmm seems like I've got a squeak on the right side. I'm thinking dying wheel bearing.

Unfortunately I thew out my good spare when I moved. It was the factory original that a mechanic told me I should replace and did, but turns out it wasn't bad.

Any complaints with Timken for these?

I hear the Moogs are made in China.

Not sure where NAPA bearings come from? If they're as good as dealer I'd buy it.

AutoZone carries Timkin. Have them get one off the shelf and see if it has "USA" on it.

I have always been happy with Timken bearings. Within the past six months I read a comment about them being made in China. That was news to me, I'm still waiting to see a Timken from China.

Have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you watch the trackbar on both ends. Any movement especially at the top is bad.

If you want to check that wheel bearing jack that side up and grab the tire at the top and bottom and try to wobble it. If it moves it's bad.

Good to know.

I'm likely to buy online because retail is 1/3 more.

Depends if it takes a serious dump between now and Wednesday.

NAPA's premium bearings are SKF which is another good brand.

Yeah I tried doing the hand test on the track bar on my 2000 model. I coudnl't get it to budge but when I had someone sit in the Jeep and turn the wheel back and forth there was a significant amount of play in the top end of the track bar. Then when I took it off to put a replacement on the metal sleeve in the bushing on the bottom end of the track bar was wallowed out.

I'll keep that in mind too. Reason I'm not suspecting track bar yet is it doesn't feel like the axle is moving around side to side. I've felt that before. I'm on track to finish the control arm/axle bushings tonight. That bushing on the passenger side was not easy! Next I'll go over the possible wheel bearing issue. Probably remove pads and make sure noise is still there. The noise plus vibes I got on the interstate on Tuesday lean me towards thinking the bearing will solve this. And also double check the track bar. I'll let you all know what I find.

Solved my death wobble with an adjustable track bar. Prior to the track bar if you looked at my springs from the front to the back, they ever so slightly were leaning to the drivers side. Track bar allowed me to push the axle back to the proper C/L and all wobbles went away!

Bearing seems to have solved it.

Tonight I didn't see any movement in the wheel pushing and pulling like I did yesterday but I pulled it anyway. There were some grease bits near the seal as if the bearing was shedding it. I'm not sure where else it could have come from.

I used a Timken bearing from AutoZone. Same price/warranty as the SKF at NAPA and for all I know it's the same product. No place on the box or hub unit says Made by Timken. The hub says Slovakia. I'll run it with confidence. The machine work on the Chinese Duralast was obviously not as good, though the bearing seal was the same color. Ha.

I've yet to see anyone mention the steering stabilizer. Only $30-$35 for a relatively quick fix. I've replaced tons of these to fix the wobble. That's why they're there.

A new steering stabilizer can "fix" the issue but it's usually just masking the true issue by damping it out of the steering. Once the stabilizer wears out again (accelerated by what ever was really causing the wobble in the first place) the wobble will come back.

As a follow up, I had a buddy run the steering back and forth while I watched the track bar. The track bar looks fine except at the far left or far right, right as it hits the stops. At the stops I can see the axle seems to jump a little and the ball end of the track bar seems to move a little as well. The bushing never moves. The track bar is a MOOG with the beefed up bushing. The biggest drivability clue is that on crowned roads I have to turn the wheel a bit more I'd expect to keep it going straight. I could probably leave it as-is for quite a while, but I might as well change it. I'm sure the bearing also needed to be replaced because the Jeep drives better without the extra slop. The MOOG track bar lasted 2.5X longer than factory one for me (90,000 vs 230,000 miles).

Now I get to see how Rock Auto may honor the moog lifetime warranty.

Is the JKS adjustable better than the MOOG? With stock ride height.

If the popping was the track bar all this time, then I'd rather use something different.