XJ death wobble continues

OK guys looks like the Heep is back at it again.
Had death wobble two weeks ago after bending a tie rod. Decided to upgrade to a 7/8" heim kit with 1.5" DOM for drag link and tie rod. Drove for a week with no death wobble.

This weekend I put my 5" OME lift on
3" Springs
2" spacers
4" Springs
Drop shackles
OME shocks all around
Adjustable short arms set to 16.5" eye to eye.
Adjustable trac bar set just a little too far out
relocated sway bar brackets

Drove home on tape meassure alignment planning to get alignment when I pick up my wheels and tires the next day and I hit 50-55 and death wobble until I slow to about 5. Upper control arm bushings were replaced last December and look good. everything is tight.

hubs, ball joints and heims have 0 play. However, when I took of the wheel and caliper and spun the hubs I get a dry bearing sound. The driver side sounds like it has flat spots and I imagine both sides are bad.

Can hubs that have no play at all be the cause of extremely bad death wobble? Feels like the axle is going down a wash full of rocks at 50mph.


it sounds a lot louder in the video

passenger side
http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/57cf7fa509e40/VIDEO0015.mp4

driver side
http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/57cf7fae54371/VIDEO0016.mp4

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk

How are you checking the hubs for play?

I've tried jacking it about 2" off the ground and use a pry bar, no play. Then tried removing the wheel and caliper and pushed/pulled in every direction still no movement.

What's your caster and toe in set at?

toe is set to 1/8 out, Caster I haven't meassure properly but with stock upper arms and adjustable lowers my rough measurement was 10degrees

Toe should be 1/8 IN not out.

10 degrees caster is more than normal, but that shouldn't cause DW. The "rough measurement" is the only thing I'd wanna see firmed up though. Just a couple degrees can cause a big difference.

Damn, 10* caster on a 5" lift? Are you sure your long arms aren't adjusted out too far?

Trackbar mount loose or joints are loose or bad

they're short arms and only the bottom was replaced, I put an angle finder on the upper and got that measurement. most probably not the best place to test it. But either way there is no such thing as too much caster

track bar is brand new and not loose at all, Bolt is brand new also.

StinkyFab said:

Toe should be 1/8 IN not out..

Click to expand...

This is your problem. Mine was towed out to see what would happen. You guessed it, DW.

fonzi03 said:

But either way there is no such thing as too much caster

Click to expand...

Sure there is. You could slow your steering too much and it can cause vibes that may set off DW if other components are also out of spec. If there was no such thing as too much, the alignment specs would say 5*+ and not 5-9. My comment was more to check on the measurements because lifting a vehicle 5" on short arms tends to want to remove a lot of caster, not add a degree or two. I'm impressed you can even get 10* on your setup. The other issue here is that your pinion angle is going to suffer with that much caster unless you've turned the c's on your axle.

it's currently 2wd, got the jeep for $125 from a friend who got hit on the highway so I bought it back from insurance and replace the passenger door.

I have two OEM hubs I should be picking up today and I'll reset my toe to be about 1/16 in, if death wobble is gone I'll be able to get my new wheels and tires put on and get an alignment

Well I put new OEM hubs on it and no change. What did fix it though, and I wouldn't believe it if it didn't happen to me. I went and picked up my new wheels and tires and once fitted got up to 80 and had no wobble at all. This morning when I went out to replace the diff fluid I noticed one of the tires leaning in an odd way. Took a look and it and no wonder! the thing has a huge bulge in it.

fonzi03 said:

track bar is brand new and not loose at all, Bolt is brand new also.

Click to expand...

"New" trackbars are often the problem, check the bracket. Ive had aftermarket brackets that fit so poorly, they had to be tack welded to the uniframe... Tightening the bolts super tight was never enough.



ANY death wabble thread will be filled with people telling you what caused THEIR problems.... its very easy to say "no, x is fine, i just changed it blah blah blah", but never overlook stuff because youve already been into it.... I have been there, done that.

Are those your "new" tires? cause they look bald AF to me.

I wouldn't have just said it's good, I went over everything 4 or 5 times before posting here in the first place.

Track bar was good. The tire I posted was the culprit. Some will try to say it was just a vibration but it was most definitely violent death wobble, caused by the huge bulge that I can't believe you don't see...

these are the new tires

How do you know it was the bulge in the tire causing your DW?
Is it possible that moving to the smaller tires put a lot less stress on your suspension and masked the DW.
Did you think to try putting the tire in w/ bulge in the rear.

That being said its going to be suspension. Go over each component 1 by 1.
Find the best way to test each. You will find it.

Trac bar is most common even though you said you checked it. It was still suggested. My TB came with an oversized bolt that needed to be drilled. You mentioned it was tight / ok did you check to see if the TB mount hole was wallowed then even torqued the bolt will wobble.

Is the TB axle hardware new. Old hardware can be the issue.

Hub bearing check?
Front axle u joints? My Front axle u joints were so slightly noticeable during testing, yet it is amazing the difference it really made.

Does your jeep roll freely in neutral. Before I solved my DW there was a certain spot in tire rotation when pushing it in neutral that it felt stuck like pushing over a bump.

Track bar mount on the frame side? when you upgraded the TB did it come with a frame mount. Even with bolts mine was recommended to be welded.

If its not the TB for sure than maybe ball joints? Large bar under lifted front tire to check for play.

SB bushings?
short CA busings
Long CA busings.

Have you had an alignment? some shops test for free and print report.
As mentioned maybe toe is wrong?
Front caster angle?


IMOP DW only comes from bad TRE joints in front suspension or the TB.

OK so no offense guys but are you even reading previous posts???? I mean all of your questions were answered. Also I went to much larger tires not smaller...

Again though to prevent any confusion. My death wobble was 100% caused by the bulge pictured. Every single component of the suspension was replaced, literally everything. The fix was getting that sh*t tire off and putting new ones on. The bulge is very bad and so obvious once the tire is off, it's clear as day that when hitting about 50 it would be not just throwing the balance off but also causing the tire to bounce, hence the death wobble.