Death Wobble

[ZUKEYPR]

Holy Toledo! I thought I knew how death wobble felt until now! Damn near crashed the Rubicon it was so bad only doing 45 mph. I felt like King Kong had a hold of the front end and was vilently shaking it back and forth. It was so bad I had to come to a screatching halt.


05 Rubicon/Unlimited, 15,000 miles on it, all drivetrain, suspension, and tires stock minus the two inch RE budget boost that has now been on there for less than two months. I take it back , I have TFP quick disconnects.


Anyway, the only thing that I had done recently (yesterday) was rotate the tires specifically by the manual to include torque specs on the lug nuts. I had a slight wheel shake when I rounded a bend up by Jordan landing but then it went away until the afternoon when I hit an ever so slight bump on Airport Road, then all hell broke loose. What gives???? I even rotated the tires back into the original positions and it's still doing it. I find it hard to believe that my control bushings or any other bushings could be bad already. I know the shocks have been horrible from the start (they screatch like hell when I'm crawling) but I can't see where that would cause it either. Any suggestions?

 

[jlowry]

Check and see if your track bar came loose for any reason. If not, your caster angle may be screwed up, go to a good alignment shop and have them check it.

 

[Medsker]

That's the same rig I have . Have someone turn the wheels back and forth as you look at the track bar. Typically that is what goes loose first. I have seen them go as early as 10,000 miles. Check for up and down movement at the frame side and side to side at the axle side (that was a lot of side's for a sentence). I also recommend replacing the stock steering stabilizer. Some people say that is just a bandaid but with the inverted "y" steering on the tj's I think it helps to keep the tires from fighting each other and wearing out parts and can help prevent death wobble. Tire balance and alignment can also start it and cause it. If you didn't get an alignment when you rotated them I would think balance would be the culprate if you had them balanced. If a tire is vibrating at 45 mph from being out of balance it can start the whole thing shaking.

Sorry for the long answer.

Medsker

 

[waynehartwig]

Ditto... Make sure everything is tight and that when you jacked it up to move tires around, you didn't 'break' something. If you hold on to the steering wheel, and turn it slightly back and forth, you can usually get a better idea if your steering/trackbar is loose. But basically just go through everything and make sure it's all tight.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Thanks for the tips, anyone got any recommended stabilizers to go with. Culprit, bandade or whatever, I haven't like the stock stabilizer from the get go..............very cheezy, so I was going to replace it anyway.

 

[waynehartwig]

I like the OME. But I think it's all personal preference...

I would still look at something being loose or bad alignment (most likely). I haven't had a stabilizer on my heep for a long time and I don't have any virations at all with 35's. I also keep a close eye on worn parts and alignment, since most of it's use is abuse.

 

[Devel]

i recomend the rancho steering stabalizer i have it on my own jeep but as wayne says it is personal prefrence but again i do work in a parts store and have sold many of them and everyone has told me that after they installed it, their jeep road much better one guy told me 20x better but still its personal preference

 

[BIGOXJ]

from garry at big o tires stop by any time , i will look at jeep for free. 235 n main layton

 

[ZUKEYPR]

from garry at big o tires stop by any time , i will look at jeep for free. 235 n main layton

Damn, that's awfully nice, I just migth have to make my way up there. Thanks

 

[ROCKRUNNER]

If it is any closer we will also diagnose it for free. Just stop by or call the shop!

 

[notajeep]

I love my steering stabalizer... it has two hoses tha go to the steering box and is says rocklogic on it. :greg:

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Thanks Garry, Seth as well for the offers but when I got it on the road it pretty much made it impossible to drive very far so I stopped atFill in the blank and they basically tried selling me everything in the book from a lower control arm to a camber kit, yada, yada, yada, so I told them to balance the tires only. Problem solved, no death wobble. I'm amazed that one tire out of balance coulfd of caused that severe of wobble. Anyway, thanks again, much appreciated.

 

[BCGPER]

7" of lift on mine, and the stock stabilizer (yeah, I'll repalce it someday). A stabilizer wont do squat for alignment woes.....

Deathwobble is 100% alignment issues, dont waste your money elsewhere.

Thanks for the tips, anyone got any recommended stabilizers to go with. Culprit, bandade or whatever, I haven't like the stock stabilizer from the get go..............very cheezy, so I was going to replace it anyway.

 

[bobdog]

7" of lift on mine, and the stock stabilizer (yeah, I'll repalce it someday). A stabilizer wont do squat for alignment woes.....

Deathwobble is 100% alignment issues, dont waste your money elsewhere.

Maybe not 100% I have had worn out ball joints cause it.

 

[BCGPER]

Ever got a good alignment with wornout ball joints??? I didn't finish the thread before replying but if it was deathbwobble (which a tire out of balance is not), then the ony things that normally cause it are alignment. Yes, a bent track bar, tie rod, loose ball joints or whatever will set it off.

Maybe not 100% I have had worn out ball joints cause it.

 

[iceyhrt]

Glad it was just an out of balance tire for you. I have the same rig you do and had the same death wobble.....So, after spending close to 10grand in upgrades and no solution found it was I had two tires out of round. Which were replaced for free...But, at least I got a cool looking Rubi unlimited out of the whole deal..

 

[waynehartwig]

Let's just say anything loose in the suspension/steering can cause death wobble.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

I've had that same isue myself before, balanced the tires 3 times, changed out the ball joints and upper camber bushings twice, alignment two times, then finally when I went in for the fourth balancing I noticed a ghost shadow around the tire when it was spinning so I had the teck put a wrench on top of it as it spinned and that bugger was jumping big time. The tire was way out of round and was causing all the issues. BTW Iceyhrt, is your rig black by chance? If it is I believe you live out by me.