Death Wobble ?

[jeep-N-montero]

actually i don't agree with this statement at all. There is a reason DW only happens at a very certain speed window. I have thought long and hard about this, and for all I know I'm up in the night, but here goes.

DW has to come from movement somewhere, and that movement is able to 'resonate' if you will, and get bigger and bigger. I think that is pretty well understood about DW. Here is where my theory comes in though, having experienced more DW than anybody should. As soon as you get above 55ish mph, the resonation is overcome by the centripetal force of the tires and they basically force everything to stay straight. You may experience a shimmy, but I have never had bone rattling DW above 55 mph. Like I said though, this is only my theory, based on my experience.

Scariest moment I had on the street with my Jeep was when I had DW at 65 with a sixteen foot tandem axle trailer behind me. Everything was tight and had new ball joints with 3k miles on them, but the weight of the trailer unweighted my front end just enough that it changed the front steering geometry enough to induce DW.

 

[RockChucker]

like i said, that was my experience. i had very out of balance tires, shot ball joints, almost worn out TRE's and a stock trackbar that was so shot it shouldn't have passed inspection. if i powered through the beginnings of DW and hit 60 it went away and it was super smooth. but i can imagine that DW at higher speeds is pretty nerve racking.

 

[muddyjeep]

I have had several things cause it. The worst was a bent tie rod @ 5 mile. Had death wobble off and on all the way home! Also bad shocks will cause it, bad alignment,
track bar bushings. And ya I have seen a bad set of balanced tires cause it.
It went away after he put new tires on that truck.

 

[NoTrax]

actually i don't agree with this statement at all. There is a reason DW only happens at a very certain speed window. I have thought long and hard about this, and for all I know I'm up in the night, but here goes.

DW has to come from movement somewhere, and that movement is able to 'resonate' if you will, and get bigger and bigger. I think that is pretty well understood about DW. Here is where my theory comes in though, having experienced more DW than anybody should. As soon as you get above 55ish mph, the resonation is overcome by the centripetal force of the tires and they basically force everything to stay straight. You may experience a shimmy, but I have never had bone rattling DW above 55 mph. Like I said though, this is only my theory, based on my exp

totally wrong I would have it at 45, then also at 65-70.. Not every time at higher speeds.. I busted my windshield on the freeway when I has to lock up my brakes, had something fly from the front passenger seat, and blamo!

 

[cheepin]

I have had DW in a 2500 Dodge with a worn out track bar at 70mph. Gets your attention pretty quick since the truck feels like it is going to come apart at the seams.

Had the same thing happen at about 80 with the cruise on heading to work one morning.Coffee in hand went around a corner and hit a slight bump.And off it went.Scared the crap out of me.A new tracbar fixed it.This was with my old 2000 Dodge 2500.

 

[SPECIAL ED]

My DW was caused by tire separation. I had new tires put on and it went away.

 

[Robudda723]

Went through the front end this weekend and found a couple things.

1. Wheel Bearings needed replaced on Driver front. (Replaced)
2. Track bar bolt seemed to have backed out about a 1/4 inch, not sure if backing out caused by DW, or if DW caused by it backing out. (Loc Tight and Tightened)
3. Steering Stabilizer shot (Replaced)
4. Checked all control arm bolts.
5. Checked for play in ball joints (I very slight bit of play, Will be replacing just for piece of mind)

So far I test drove and had it to 55mph with no wobble. Will be getting alignment this week, and hope it does not show its ugly face again.

Thanks for all the tips from all.

 

[Raleigh]

On the Trac Bar, I am not sure how it mounts to the frame on a Jeep, but on the Bronco it is part of one of the front shock buckets. I found that the bucket itself was loose and caused my wobble of death.