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Death wobble Q's

X

XJEEPER04

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Nebraska
Ive replaced everything on the front end that would cause a death wobble....to my knowledge and i still have a wobble. Ive got control arm bushings and a hole new trac bar and it still does it???anyone got any idea's???any inout is great. Ove been battling this wobble for six months and dishes out a tone of money so im willing to try about anything
 
Please describe your wobble. Severity, circumstances that trigger it, speed of vehicle, what you have to do to control/stop it. You're not giving us much to guess at here.
 
sorry starts at about 45 and it feels like the front end is going to come out from under my jeep. if i brake to below 45 then it stops, also it doesnt do it on gravel roads. and if you put your head ot the wondow when its doing it...you can see the tires wobbling
 
Do you have any sort of lift? When did you last have an alignment, and what are the alignment settings?
 
no lift, and it hasnt been aligned?? would that do it?
 
The five most critical factors affecting death wobble (IMHO, and in my opinion of importance, which others may dispute) are:

1. Wheel Balance

2. Wheel Balance

3. Wheel Balance

4. Caster Angle (alignment)

5. Toe-in/out (alignment)
 
Did I mention wheel balance?
 
Considering that it only does it on pavement... I'd suspect that it's toe.

can you accelerate through the wobble? say, for instance it will stop at around 50mph?
 
yes, somtimes if im on the gas just right or im on a really smooth highway i can get it upto highway speed. ive replaced the trac bar and bushings and the control arms and bushings tires and wheels but they arent balanced to my knowledge
 
Have you replaced the steering stabilizer/damper?

FWIW:
Before I started changing things out, mine had gotten so bad hitting a mouse turd in the driveway set it off.

First I replaced all of the rubber bushings in the front suspension. That got me back to having to hit RR tracks or a good size pot hole to start the kabuki dance.

I didn't think the stabalizer was bad until I bought a new heavy duty one. I have been driving the truck for a week without even a shimmy.
 
CheapXJ said:
Considering that it only does it on pavement... I'd suspect that it's toe.
Click to expand...

Despite my tendency to blame it on tire balance (which I still think is the first thing anyone should check), tires would be unbalanced on gravel as much as on pavement. Gravel being more "slippery" to the tires, if the toe-in is set wrong it would have less effect on gravel than on asphalt.
 
XJEEPER04 said:
would a bent tie rod cause the problem?
Click to expand...

A bent tie rod would result in a shorter distance between the two ends, which translates into increasing the toe-in.
 
but one time my jack did slip off of the axle and bent my tie rod a but...this may be my problem... i am know in the process of tighening my trac bar and mount and after that i will straighten my tie rod and see what the turnout is and ill let you guys know...thanks
 
I just started playing the DW game this week, after ditching an RE 2" Budget Boost in favor of their 4.5" SuperFlex kit. The first drive home (65 miles) was good with only one minor instance of DW at about 65mph when the road surface changed and the front passenger wheel dropped. Letting off the gas and slowing under 50mph "cured" it and it didn't reoccur.

I made the mistake of getting the tires rotated and balanced at Big O Tires today, and in my second drive since the lift found that I couldn't go over 60mph without wobbling so bad I almost went off the road. Accelerating through it isn't something you consider when the front end is dancing like Michael Jackson with his hair on fire...

I have lifetime rotate and balance on the tires through Big O and will have another store recheck everything tomorrow along with getting the alignment rechecked.

Here's what the lift entailed:

  • Adjustable LCA - 16" (stock is 15.75") this is per several writeups, and matches the length of the non-adjustable LCA
  • UCA - the RE UCA is the same length as stock, but I replaced that this evening anyway
  • Trackbar - Installed the Extreme-Duty Trackbar and although we seem to have forgotten to torque it, I still had DW after torquing the trackbar
  • Transfer case drop. I hated to lose the ground clearance, but installed the 1" t-case drop which at least helped resolve vibes between 20-35mph
  • Coils. Removed the stock coils and 1.75" spacer, now running 4.5" RE coils

If the balance and alignment doesn't resolve this, what about the drop LCA brackets? They would at least bring the LCA angle closer to horizontal again...
 
eagle, how exactly do i check my toe-in i know it can be done with a tape but im really not to sure how to do it?
 
Maybe I am missing something.

Say the balance and the alignment is/are off. I agree that having that corrected is a good thing but, that would only keep the wobble from happening more often. In order to stop it forever, the part or parts that hold the axle in place (that is/are no longer doing this) must be fixed.
 
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