Death Wobble, Can't go over 45mph.

Ok, so recently my track bar end broke and I replaced it. Well, before it broke my xj wobbled, but after about 55mph it would pull out of it. Now it doesn't come out of it. I can barely go over 40mph without it wobbling. Any ideas? My steering box is leaking and makes creaking noises...but I really don't have the $300 to replace it. It could be my ball joints also. But I'm not really sure. It has 146k on it. I replaced the wheel bearing about 1k miles ago so I know they aren't the culprit. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I recently had a DW problem on my ZJ. Turned out to be a seriously out of balance drivers front tire (16 ounces out of balance?). I don't know if your tires are the problem or not, but your repair only magnified the problem. I've almost collected enough parts to rebuild the entire front end. I don't want any more DW issues.

You said the box is "creaking" check to make sure the frame isn't cracked around the box. Have someone get in it while your under the front and have them rock the steering wheel back and forth real hard with the engine off. You'll most likely find the problem. If not... tires like neonrog said.

how bout some rig specs?

I've checked the frame, it's not cracked thank God. It could very well be the tires, they are worn rather uneven. I'm getting in re-aligned tomorrow. Hopefully that will help. Thanks for the input. And as for specs...

3" Front Springs
1.5" Coil Spacers
Stock Control Arms.
Rustys Adj. Track bar
Rustys Track Bar Bracket
33x9.50 bfg A/T's

Your conrol arm angles sure won't be helping and make sure your tires are balanced.

Mine had horrible death wobble when I had my 3" lift and 31's, it was all purely alignment as the jeep was new and all lift components and tires were new also. See if the alignment helps. Other things to check for: worn CA bushings, TRE's, out of round tires or bent wheels may contribute, you mentioned new hubs so that's all I can think of. Hope this helps. Any improvements with the alignment?

set your toe-in to 1/4" ~IN~ instead of the factory setting of "0"

this will cure all your ~death-wobble woes, no matter if its worn tie-rod ends, out of ballance tires or what ever causing the wobble..
my junk is lifted 6" on 35" bfg muds 50% worn (not balalnced_EVER) on rims that have big Dents in the beads etc.

a 1/4" toe-in (1/8"-per side) will not effect anything besides a fuzz of tire wear--
-to me its way more important to have stability and Not have my Check-Underwear Light goin On every time i hit a bump @ 60mph

I had a problem with DW right after I lifted my jeep 3 inches.I'd hit 45 mph and then DW would kick in. I replaced my steering stabilizer and fixed it right away.
-Matt

Well, the alignment did nothing but make it worse, now it starts wobbling at around 40mph. I rotated my tires because I thought maybe the front ones were just out of balance, but that wasn't it. I really don't want to go and replace everything in the front end but it's looking like I might have to drop some money in a lot of stuff. I might buy a steering stabilizer tomorrow and see if that does the trick.

96XJay said:

Have someone get in it while your under the front and have them rock the steering wheel back and forth real hard with the engine off. You'll most likely find the problem.

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(Weird... i've never quoted myself before)....

Anyway... did you do this? There has to be something loose. I had a TJ wobble when a steering shaft started to get play in it. I would have never known what it was had I not went through the above process. Someone has to really rock back and forth on the wheel hard while you are looking at absolutely everything under the front end. If everything is completely tight (doubt it) then try a different set of tires, not just rotating them.

Then and only then would I even consider spending a dime on a single part.

my 2 cents again.

Have you checked all the bolts in the trac bar bracket. I had mine come loose and that caused dw for me a 40mph. My guess after that would be to jack up the front end and see if there is any play in the ball joints or tie rod ends, as well as check that noise coming from your stearing!

I'll have a buddy rock the wheel while I look under it at work tonight. I have checked all the bolts on the bracket, they are nice and tight. The noise from the steering box has stopped. I added some leak stop to the PS Fluid and it seemed to fix it. Thanks for the help.

I had terrible death wobble after I installed a 4.5" franestien.Problem was the tires were way out of balance and the steering stabilizer was shot.Now after having walmart balance the tires($5each)and a new monroe steering stabilizer it is 100% better.

Gung ho... seriously take you time and look at every single thing under the front end when you buddy rocks the wheel for you. Start at the steering box... look for movement on the frame, then check the steering box shaft that the pitman arm is mounted on to see if it's moving from side to side (worn bearing), move on to the tie rod end on the pitman arm, down to the next rod end, all the way to the ends. Move on to the track bar at the axle end, then the frame end, then the mount, etc. You get the picture.

Take your time and you will find something worn, broken or loose. Let us know how it goes.

The best way to cure death wobble is to air one front tire down to 8 psi and put 35 to 40 psi in the other tire.

Seriously though. Usually it is the track bar. Even 1/32nd of an inch of play will give you the wobble. Next is Ball joints. Take your tire off and your brakes off and see if you can move the knuckle up and down or side to side. Then we have unit bearings, but those usually scream bloody murder when they are at the point to cause death wobble. A simple jacking one wheel off the ground and trying to jiggle it can check for the bearing problem.

I've heard that death wobble can be caused by shocks, but have never had that happen to me.

The steering box can be the culprit, but they are tough units and the gears in them rarely fail. They will start leaking at the seals and are still good. In my expierence, the steering box, unless loose from the frame, is not the problem.

Tires out of balance can give you the heebie jeebies, but that is easily fixable and usually noticable when driving at speed.

Control arms and the associated bushings can cause the problem. Especially stock control arms at extreme angles. (Anything over 3 inces of lift)

Lastly, steering linkage, if anything is loose, and any side to side movement, will cause the wobbles. Grab the drag link and try to shake it, grab the tie rod and try to shake it, have someone turn the wheels from lock to lock and look for any shifting at the TRE's.

A steering stabilizer just MASKS the true problems associated with death wobble. I took my steering stabilizer OFF and threw it away. You don't need it. Plain and simple.

I had to replace my trackbar bushings to cure mine when I first got the XJ. 80,000 miles later and no DW. That was all I could find wrong and I have done a lift and larger tires since the DW problem and it still has not re-appeared. Only saw a very little play in the bushings when I decided to replace them. Had the stealership do it because at the time I was working double shifts and had NO free time.

KarlVP said:

A steering stabilizer just MASKS the true problems associated with death wobble. I took my steering stabilizer OFF and threw it away. You don't need it. Plain and simple.

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Agree 110%
You have alot of good information there!
Thank you.

FWIW. The sterring on mine was made by me, Howie, and Michelob.
All hiems and DOM, even the track bar.
No steering stabilizer or sway bar and it was only aligned with a wooden ruler.
No DW, even at 70mph.
BUT, everything is thight and the ball joints are new.
Look for worn out parts.
Karl hit it right on the head.

seanR said:

Agree 110%
You have alot of good information there!
Thank you.

FWIW. The sterring on mine was made by me, Howie, and Michelob.
All hiems and DOM, even the track bar.
No steering stabilizer or sway bar and it was only aligned with a wooden ruler.
No DW, even at 70mph.
BUT, everything is thight and the ball joints are new.
Look for worn out parts.
Karl hit it right on the head.

Click to expand...

X2

My steering was made by Currie.

No stabilizer
No wobble
Tight as Seans butt......OK...bad analogy.

Rev

Well, I'm pretty sure I've found what's causing it. The track bar at the axle end moves quite a bit. Probably a good 1/4" or so when the wheel is rocked back and forth. I think the bolt holding the bar in place has just worn down and is causing the track bar to move. I tightened the bolt as much as I could without stripping it and that seemed to help a little, but the bar still moved. So I will probably pick up a new bolt tomorrow and see what that does. Thanks for the help.