Death Wobble question

After I did my 3" BB I didn't get a new trac bar (dumb mistake)... Anyways, only at 50mph would I get a little DW. Eventually It wore down one of my tires real nice and good. So I decided that I would have to get it fixed...

Well, they redrilled the hole (axle side) to center the axle with the stock trac bar. They also installed a new stabilizer (OME). They being a local 4x4 shop. Well, ever since the DW I have noticed that the jeep seems to wander a little on the road. And I got to thinking...

The DW probably loosened up the front end some... What should I look at to see what exactly is loose? I was thinking tierods, but I'm not really sure. Could something else be wrong like camber or something? (I kept stock Control Arms, would that affect the axles angles to an extent that would make it wander much?)

I do notice that at some speeds I feel a little Wobble in the steering wheel... Not nearly as noticeable as before but it is still there....

The other problem is that I will be going at around 40 or 50 and hit a small bump, and I can feel the tires change direction slightly although the steering wheel is still aimed in the same direction... That is why I'm thinking tie rods (endlinks?).

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Death wobble kills Font end alignments

After purchasing a 1996 XJ from a relative that had a DW for a couple of years. Yes, he drove it like 4 hours a day and when I asked him how he managed, he said "you just get used to it". Needless to say I couldn't stand it. Long story short, everything under the frt was loose from the wobble. Trackbar bolt at the mount, elongated hole at the axle, tre @ the pitman arm, steering shock loose and shot. Also the steering gear was leaking and appeared to have play. All of these components were replaced one by one until finally eliminating the wobble. Took awhile, but I am sure not all of these were worn out or caused to fail prematurely because of the wobble.
Good luck.

you said it wore the tire, did you replace the tires and get a good balance?

kcsterling said:

After purchasing a 1996 XJ from a relative that had a DW for a couple of years. Yes, he drove it like 4 hours a day and when I asked him how he managed, he said "you just get used to it". Needless to say I couldn't stand it. Long story short, everything under the frt was loose from the wobble. Trackbar bolt at the mount, elongated hole at the axle, tre @ the pitman arm, steering shock loose and shot. Also the steering gear was leaking and appeared to have play. All of these components were replaced one by one until finally eliminating the wobble. Took awhile, but I am sure not all of these were worn out or caused to fail prematurely because of the wobble.
Good luck.

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Ha if you think Death Wobble is something you can live with and then get used to then its NOT DW! DW will shake your Heep off the road and down a hill and things will not be good. I have had it and so has a friend of mine in his TJ and It make you sh!t yourself. I would check all tires, how they are worn and alignment then check loose bolts all of them in front UCA and LCA and bushings.

ya dude.. last time my xj death wobbled i jammmed my head out of the window to look at my front tire and it looked like it was going full left to full right at about 300 times a minute. You would crap if you had death wobble.. still think thats what it is?

If you get actual DW at speed, you will be tossing the shorts you were wearing...

i got it going about 70 down the highway, and i think the guy next to me soiled himself more than i did

I used to have some mad DW, but I had just lifted the front another 2"s and had not realigned the steering yet. Also I had blown the bushings out of the stock steering stabilizer and all the fluid had leaked out of it. I found out the stabilizer had blown when I was going down the road at about 70mph then I hit the bump at the beginning of a bridge and the xj felt like it the front axle was going rip out the side of the jeep. The wobble was so bad that
the jeep shifted most of the way into the slow lane and back to the fast lane in one wobble :scared:, I about crapped my self. Luckily I was the only person on the road at the time so no one was hurt while the jeep spazzed out. The wobble finally stopped when I forced it to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes until it finally came to a stop. Needless to say I got the front end realigned and replaced the stabilizer the very next day. Until your wobble will shift lanes for you, you don't have DW.

But at the first sign of wobble you should check the steering stabilizer for leaks and check to make sure your front end is aligned. No one should go through the same experience that I had.

years ago I had a J10 with horrible DW, I was working in a big rig shop and I has a couple of leftover shocks from a Mack truck job that were good, I installed them from the pumpin area to the steering bar, one in each direction (antiparalell). Problem solved :yelclap: , never again until I took them off for some cleanup, DW 'reminded' me to never take them out again :nono:.

I am preparing a similar setup on my XJ right now, even that it doesn't wobble yet.

Rafa

So, basically I need to ask a few more questions...

How much would it cost to replace the TRE's? I'm thinking that they are the culprit for my remaining wobble. Saying as I had some for a while and the TRE's probably loosened up.

Next question is involving the control arms. If someone can post a link explaining all this nonsense in a very economical manner that would be great, actually I don't mind if it is intricate or not, just as long as it makes sense... BECAUSE, I kept my stock Control Arms, how does that affect my front end steering and what not? I know the axle is supposed to be tilted one way but I'm not sure which way, and how does lifting the car affect that tilt (i think its called camber?)? All this is still a little beyond me...