TJ...Death Wobble, help!

[Caleb]

So I have a MAJOR case of death wobble, like drive less than 50 feet and it's out of control. I've checked everything I've found by searching that could be wrong. The only thing I have yet to do is an alignment and I don't have swaybar links on yet. I know an alignment could cause DW, would having no swaybar links cause it? I know in the suggestions I found they say to make sure your swaybar bushings are good but I wouldn't imagine not having your swaybar hooked up would cause DW.

Some specs on what I'm working on, 2004 Wrangler, 4" Tera Flex lift with adjustable upper and lower control arms, adjustable front and rear tracbars, stock tie rod and draglink. About 20K miles on the stock components (everything appears in great condition and feels tight).

Suggestions please? It's 100% undriveable as it is

 

[lewis]

There was just a thread on this a little bit ago, I had a grand cherokee and it did it after the lift a few days days later and I got it aligned and it fixed it.
http://www.rockymountainextreme.com/showthread.php?t=37349&highlight=death+wobble

 

[BCGPER]

It's likely the caster setting is out of whack. Check your track bar well for wear or possibly bending. If that looks good, try lengthening your upper arms.

 

[Herzog]

See if you can get it close to alignment with a tapemeasure too. If it improves, then it's a way out of wack alignment.

 

[Milner]

My guess is toe in/out. Angies XJ would DW if I did not have it right on at 1/8th" toe-in. Never ran a front sway bar either. Only had a couple degrees of caster in it too. I think relocating the trac bar higher also helped....But still, if the toe was off it would DW. Always set it at home with a tape and some 1/4x2" bar bungied to the tires:greg:
1/8" in was measure at the od of the tire, not the rotor....

 

[Caleb]

awesome, thanks guys I'll check the toe-in today when I get home. The trac bar is a currie/jks adjustable one. My only concern with it is the bolt just slid into the factory mount. The instructions say to drill it out to a 9/16 but I didn't have to so there could possibly be play in that. I've thought about drilling out the ball/sleeve on the johnny joint so I could use a larger bolt.

 

[BlackSheep]

Bushings!

awesome, thanks guys I'll check the toe-in today when I get home. The trac bar is a currie/jks adjustable one. My only concern with it is the bolt just slid into the factory mount. The instructions say to drill it out to a 9/16 but I didn't have to so there could possibly be play in that. I've thought about drilling out the ball/sleeve on the johnny joint so I could use a larger bolt.

Definately check all the bushings and make sure there is no play in them. When I had the Pro-comp lift, the bushings were shot, and I had the wobble terribly.

My fix was to replace with the Rubicon lift, but you might be able to replace bushings if necessary. Make sure you check that trac bar bushing for cracks. That is how mine started.

 

[gijohn40]

If your track bar bolt is loose then that would be a great place to start to fix... this is the major cause of DW... and the caster being off is another cause... My son's xj was doing this just as bad as your described and I got under it and found that the bolts on the axle side of the track bar were all loose... once I tightened them up with the air gun the xj ran fine but I know that the caster is still off...

 

[Caleb]

so I measured and adjusted the toe, (it was at 2.25" toe-in ) I adjusted it to ~.125" toe-in and the death wobble is pretty much gone still has a slight (almost constant) shimmy though. I'll be taking it in this weekend to get a real alignment but as of now it looks like my jeep is driveable again

thanks again guys!

(I've yet to check caster because my degree finder is in my storage unit and I haven't made it up there yet to get it)

 

[RockMonkey]

so I measured and adjusted the toe, (it was at 2.25" toe-in ) I adjusted it to ~.125" toe-in and the death wobble is pretty much gone still has a slight (almost constant) shimmy though. I'll be taking it in this weekend to get a real alignment but as of now it looks like my jeep is driveable again

thanks again guys!

(I've yet to check caster because my degree finder is in my storage unit and I haven't made it up there yet to get it)

Let me know if the alignment helps any. My TJ has a slight wobble only at 45 MPH.

 

[BlackSheep]

If the alignment doesn't fix the shimmy, take a look at your tires. Check for lost weights (if you ever had them balanced) - consider having them balanced.

Check for irregular wear. With that much toe in, you may have already got a bit of feather wear, and that can contribute to alternate block depressions (especially if you have driven on the road with off-road pressure). These types of block depressions can sometimes result in vibrations felt at the wheel.

 

[Caleb]

If the alignment doesn't fix the shimmy, take a look at your tires. Check for lost weights (if you ever had them balanced) - consider having them balanced.

Check for irregular wear. With that much toe in, you may have already got a bit of feather wear, and that can contribute to alternate block depressions (especially if you have driven on the road with off-road pressure). These types of block depressions can sometimes result in vibrations felt at the wheel.

well, the tires have about 20 miles total on them now and they were mounted and balanced prior to that 20 miles so unless the weights fell off in the back of my truck on my way home from the tire store they should be balanced

 

[BlackSheep]

well, the tires have about 20 miles total on them now and they were mounted and balanced prior to that 20 miles so unless the weights fell off in the back of my truck on my way home from the tire store they should be balanced