Death Wobble Thread

[PW1XJ99]

Insted of doing the LCA's, I had the rotors turned and put on new brake pads.

The left rotor was really warped. The left side caliper was stuck cause of the 2 caliper pins. I had originally greased them with wheel bearing grease (yeah I know)..... When I'd hit the brakes even the squeak sounded warped. Anyway, I hope it goes away now. I'm still going to use the TJ LCA's since I already have them.

 

[ZachMan]

Tires, wheels, alignment and tracbar are the biggest. Myself its always been tires and alignment.

 

[PW1XJ99]

I'm begining to think all XJ's have DW.

It's just, what sets it off? :shhh: LOL

 

[NSW Sparky]

I got mine from having one shock attached a the other side not. After I put in my lift I had to drive to the parts store to get bolts for one of the shocks so I just left that one out it death wobbled at 45 and I could not get past it. I have also had it from mud in the wheels, loose lower track bar mount, and now I get it from bad toe out from worn out tires. And once it does it once it is easy for it to do it agan.

 

[Big Red]

I have DW at weird times in my 98' XJ. I can feel it coming on and then slow down before it strikes full force. I added a 2" BB with spacers and blocks, but didn't get a alignment yet. How much out of alignment can a 2" spacer lift put you? I bought this Jeep in Illinois and drove it cross country to Cali (2,200 miles) with no problems, so I really think it needs a good alignment. This Jeep was stolen and quickly recovered recently in Cali, so it is possible it was joy rided a bit. My Jeep was missing the tires/rims and few other things like floor mats and steering wheel cover. It was suprisingly spared past these items I lost and I put on a set of tires and drove it the 5 miles back home. I didn't drive the Jeep that much so hopefully it just needs a good alignment, I tried jiggling stuff and everything appears tight with no play, including the ball joints by trying to jiggle the top of the tire with the weight on tires. Should I lift the Jeep and try jiggling the tire to diagnose bad ball joints?

I had death wobble a few blocks from my house doing like 50 or so, slowed down almost to a stop, it went away and then I still drove another 10 miles staying under 70 and didn't feel it starting again, drove back home (another 10 miles and no DW). It's so frustrating, because you'd think you'd have when you drive over a certain speed, or a hit bump etc, but it sometimes comes and other times it's fine. I tell you that after you have DW, you are very cautious. I had it at 90 for the 1st time and was totally scared, I thought it was my crappy tires that are almost all the way worn, but now I put on some good street tires 235x75x15 and I still have it.

I had death wobble really bad on a $300 91' XJ I picked up, it had bad tires and once I replaced them, it was gone. Thanks for getting this poll thread set up, it should really help that we can at least point to some concrete things like the track bar, or worn bushings, steering ends and hopefully cure it. There are so many things it can be, but this thread helps a lot and you can see some trends.

Troy

 

[POLAR_JEEP_04]

my skyjacker trac bar drop that came with the lift broke (stress crack) ditch that and went with a rough country adjustable trac bar and everything is cool for now

 

[Big Red]

I replaced the steering stabalizer and all is good again, no death wobble. The old S.S. looked to be an original on my 98' with 131K miles, time for a beefy bigger/new one.

Now I can drive and not be worried that the death wobble will return. It sure sucks to drive like a granny and keep it under 60.

 

[Vince]

I replaced my broken left hand motor yesterday with a urethane mount and found the wobble at 55mph has gone.

 

[bacelaw]

wheel bearings were giving me a wobble and crazy thumping/whirring at highway speed.

 

[wrecked]

My DW was caused by the track bar mount and engine mount. The two bolt together on the inside of the frame rails and the point that ran up to the motor mount cracked off. Being that it cracked, my track bar mount would flex and at high speeds or on hard bumps it would flex, eventually loosening wollowing out my trackbar mount.

-Kevin

 

[PapaGeno21]

I had it real bad. Stock Control arms bushings were shot, so I got new LCA's. That took away about 80% of it. Then I got new tires and it completely fixed it.

 

[merlintocherokee]

I had to vote "other", Lower ball joints. Often over looked.

 

[CraigMBA]

Mine had 335K and it showed up after I had changed the bumpstop (the old ones deteriorated and fell apart). I figured what the heck, I've never put any front end parts in it (I bought it new).

So far, I have changed:

- Steering dampner (WORSE)
- Replaced wasted stock UCA and LCA with Currie pieces and new axle bushings (got rid of a lot of wierd noises, flexes much better, quieter, NO DW CHANGE)
- Checked alignment (was in spec, no change)
- Replaced stock track bar (MUCH IMPROVED, still there)

The steering box is leaking and the drag link is worn and it needs tires. It's certainly managable right now.

 

[XJumpmaster]

Holy 2 1/2 years later, Batman!

It's all good though. I needed this thread today, ironically.

 

[Monkey55]

:roflmao::roflmao:

I just submitted my response without even looking at the date...... lol...


E

 

[nochance9]

For me the only thing that fixed it was getting a long arm kit, tried EVERYTHING else for two years. After the long arm was in i haven't felt even the smallest little bit of death wobble no matter what i hit.

 

[dgrigorenko]

i also submitted my response to this without looking at the date. nothing wrong with bringing this back, maybe it will reduce the number of DW threads popping up

just for the sake of info: long arms cured mine. plain and simple.

 

[96TNXJ]

The DW I just got rid of was due to uneven wear of the tires that I bought from someone else (they didnt originally do that) But new wheels and tires fixed it right up!!!

 

[goodburbon]

Long arms did not fix mine...

 

[robs]

Was hoping long arms was the answer. I've replaced everything and can't get speed related (40mph) or bump related DW fixed.

All bushings are new. Hubs. Ball joints. Everything is tight. Was tolerable until the tie rod flip (which made me give up the stabalizer). Getting one back on is next.