RockChucker
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Highland
Alright, in brief, here is my Jeep's problem. Death Wobble. It is a TJ with stock control arms and 3 inches of lift. It was really bad when I first bought the Jeep back in may, but changing out the axle to one that was straight helped out loads. Next, I put on a new steering stabilizer. That also helped tons. Then I had an alignment done and it was all but cured or so I thought.
Now after our recent Moab trip, I have been plagued by it worse than ever. I went on the trip with 33's but on returning, I mounted the 35's that I bought a while back. This intensified the problem by 10x. I know that it can not be the tires being out of balance because it is a fresh mount and balance that is 3 days old.
Since the problem was so severe with the 35's, I put on currie hd tie rods. This helped, but I still get a shimmy at around 40 -45 mph. This shimmy will turn into death wobble very quickly if I hit any sort of a bump or irregularity in the road. This is what I have done.
Now this is what I'm wondering could be the cause. First off, I don't have a drop pitman arm. Could the drag link be more susceptible to shimmy if it is at a steeper angle? Could bad bushings in the control arms be a factor? I know that one cause is a bad track bar, but my track bar is off an '04 and the rod end was really tight, but then again, could that also be a cause? Could it be my caster? If it is too close to 0* would that cause the wobble? Would it cause wobble if it is too negative? and finally, How could I tell if it has anything to do with my steering box? I hope it doesn't but that is the last thing I could think of as a problem. and one other thing that has always bugged me...why does death wobble only happen at certain speeds? Anything below 40 or above 50 is solid and doesn't feel like it is going to shimmy.
Thanks for the help. This is really frustrating. I would prefer to get it fixed and be able to drive my Jeep with out fear of death wobble.
Now after our recent Moab trip, I have been plagued by it worse than ever. I went on the trip with 33's but on returning, I mounted the 35's that I bought a while back. This intensified the problem by 10x. I know that it can not be the tires being out of balance because it is a fresh mount and balance that is 3 days old.
Since the problem was so severe with the 35's, I put on currie hd tie rods. This helped, but I still get a shimmy at around 40 -45 mph. This shimmy will turn into death wobble very quickly if I hit any sort of a bump or irregularity in the road. This is what I have done.
Now this is what I'm wondering could be the cause. First off, I don't have a drop pitman arm. Could the drag link be more susceptible to shimmy if it is at a steeper angle? Could bad bushings in the control arms be a factor? I know that one cause is a bad track bar, but my track bar is off an '04 and the rod end was really tight, but then again, could that also be a cause? Could it be my caster? If it is too close to 0* would that cause the wobble? Would it cause wobble if it is too negative? and finally, How could I tell if it has anything to do with my steering box? I hope it doesn't but that is the last thing I could think of as a problem. and one other thing that has always bugged me...why does death wobble only happen at certain speeds? Anything below 40 or above 50 is solid and doesn't feel like it is going to shimmy.
Thanks for the help. This is really frustrating. I would prefer to get it fixed and be able to drive my Jeep with out fear of death wobble.
). When the bushings wore out, I had a bad death wobble. Also, make sure all of your control arm brackets are still in good shape. A broken bracket will be just like a worn bushing (or similar at least). 
