Death Wobble

[riverfever]

I'll recheck the mounting bolts again and look closer for cracks tomorrow but I'm not hopeful.

You can definitely feel it on the PA. I'll try again at the sector and input shaft. U-joint has no play.

 

[Frank Z]

10-4

 

[Hypoid]

If you want another set of eyes on it you're welcome to bring it to my place this weekend.

That right there sounds like a winner!

 

[Tally_XJ]

Thanks for the help Tallahassee. Any other advice you'd care to share?

Well, what did you expect??? You wanted cheap and you go what you paid for. A little research here and you would have found numerous manufacturers of quality track bars.

I wasn't busting your balls because you purchased it, I was pointing out that a cheap part is a cheap part for others that read this.

 

[riverfever]

The local parts place gets $50 for a factory tie rod end and it's the exact part from Quadratec for $16.

Fawk it...I have no clue why I'm even wasting my time on this.

 

[goodburbon]

River I've been fighting dw on my heep for the last few years and after replacing everything but the steering box itself I can still feel it wanting to wobble. I've welded in extra steering brace, replaced the entire steering link setup and I can still "feel" it wanting to wobble. It did wobble until I replaced the tires last week. A tire wobble will only show the wobble that is available somewhere else. Next stop is the steering box itself. The fact remains that If all components are tight it just simply can not wobble. Now according to your video there was some slop on your TB, the debate about the steering stabilizer is that it won't cure problems, only mask them. any slack in the TB would be masked by a new steering stabilizer until it broke in. Balance tires, tighten tb, check ball joints, and watch for slack in the steering box itself. Following all of those things, loose control arm bushings can also come into play. If all of these things are OK then the jeep simply cannot wobble if the frame is still intact. Start with the wheels and work yourself back.

Bad wheel balance wont' cause a wobble unless something else is allowing it to continue. I believe that counts for any factor. It requires more than one factor to initiate and continue death wobble. The most common initiating factor is wheel balance, the most common continuing factor is trac bar slop.

My trac bar is tight, but my steering was loose. and my frame was cracked between steering box and trac bar mount. I replaced my steering and trac bar and it quit wobbling for a while. Then it started again. I tightened my steering and I stopped for a while but I could still feel it wanting to wobble, It eventually started again. I welded my frame and re tightened everything but It still wobbled. I replaced my tires and had a new balance and it no longer wobbles, but I can still feel it wanting to. all it's waiting for is the initiation. I can feel slack in the steering and the only thing left is steering box. Once everything else is tight and there is no visible play, look for play in the steering box itself.

 

[Frank Z]

Maybe I missed it, but have you checked the Unit Bearing Hubs?

 

[riverfever]

The tires got balanced yesterday. They are in bad shape and I knew it before taking it in. It took a lot of weight to get 2 of them balanced and they're out back now. It feels way better now. I drove it out to Lake George last night because there's an expansion joint on the bridge crossing the South Platte that always gets things going and it was solid. I do still feel a very slight shimmy even without potholes or expansion joints but I really think it might be from shot tires.

Frank, I found no play in either the balljoints or the unit bearings. I checked the control arm bushings months ago when this all started and they look/feel fine too (no cracks and no abnormal movement with a pry bar).

I trust the guy that did the tires very much but...he's not a Jeep guy. He claims that the Jeep steering boxes tend to make noise but this noise is not something I've heard before. I've always thought that this Jeep's steering had some play in it even when compared to the one on my 96 that was approaching 200,000 miles. It just feels like you need to put a lot of movement into the wheel when changing lanes or making small turns. Not sure if that constitutes "play". When grabbing the pitman arm I can feel very slight play in that and it appears to be coming from the bearing above but that could be normal tolerances.

Heather needs to take it to teach Saturday school but, if that offer still stands Frank I might see if I can catch you later today or even tomorrow just so someone more familiar with the vehicle can feel it.

 

[Frank Z]

I'll be around this weekend. I'll
PM ya my address.

 

[riverfever]

Many thanks to Frank for taking time out of his day yesterday to take a look at the Jeep. I think we decided that 2 out of the 4 tie rods that were installed have slop in them and it appears that's where the knock is coming from but it's super hard to track down because the movement is ever so slight and you can feel the knock in so many places.

Frank actually had some used XJ steering stuff over in the steering components section of his garage that he let me have. I'm going to swap out the 2 ends with slop and see what difference that makes.

Thanks again Frank!