death wobble/local help?

[sean058621]

hey guys I'm in greeley. I've got a nasty nasty death wobble I can't figure out.

I got the tires all re mounted/balanced so I know thats not it...and I've gotten under there a million times and haven't noticed anything out of whack...then again Idk what I'm looking for.
anyways

anyone local willing to take a look and help me out???
thanks
Sean

 

[Kiefer316]

tighten the track bar bolt that always seems to be the issue...

 

[sean058621]

where is the trackbar bolt???

 

[Kiefer316]

its on the left side of the axle if your looking straight at it right under the steering sabilizer bolt

 

[RockyCodeHead]

I recently killed my death wobble by installing a new steering stabilizer.

It was cheap enough and did the trick!

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

where is the trackbar bolt???

You need to get someone who knows Jeeps to look at it!!! Try contacting Jeepownzme, he is in your neck of the woods. I would look at it for ya but am about 200 miles away!

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

I recently killed my death wobble by installing a new steering stabilizer.

It was cheap enough and did the trick!

That my friend is just a cover up NOT a cure!!

 

[JohnJohn]

That my friend is just a cover up NOT a cure!!

so true! My last two XJs(6 years)...never had a steering stabilizer 9+ inches of lift at 90mph. Never had DW.

Three rules about finding death wobble one should never ever forget.

1) It's always caused by something not being tight or something bent in your front end.

2) If it happens when you hit a bump or other obstacle in the road you have DW(refer to rule #1)

3) If it happens at a particular speed (almost every time your reach that speed) you have two issues. First issue is you have a bent rim or tire out of balance. Second issue(see rule #1) NOTE: FIXING THE BENT RIM OR BALANCE ISSUE WILL NOT FIX YOUR DW. Suffering from a bent rim or tire out of balance be the root cause of something getting bent or loose. Once you fix the tire/rim issue you will still need to tighten/straighten things.

Things that can be worn/loose/bent that have been known to cause DW

WORN
- UCA bushings
- LCA bushing
- rode ends
- ball joints
- bearings

LOOSE:
- UCA bolts
- LCA bolts
- lug nuts
- rod end bolts
- tracbar bolts

BENT:
- steering
- tracbar
- axle tube
- front driveshaft
- UCA
- LCA
- knuckle

Make sense?

 

[JJacobs]

In my limited experience, that's not so JJ. With a certain combination of parts, a stabilizer is completely unnecessary. With a different combination, it will wobble its ass off without one- and sometimes even with one, or two. Both circumstances including all new, tight, properly installed and aligned parts. Things that make a big difference but aren't likely to get noticed- wheel offset, control arm bushing durometer and steering type such as inverted Y or T.

 

[JohnJohn]

In my limited experience, that's not so JJ. With a certain combination of parts, a stabilizer is completely unnecessary. With a different combination, it will wobble its ass off without one- and sometimes even with one, or two. Both circumstances including all new, tight, properly installed and aligned parts. Things that make a big difference but aren't likely to get noticed- wheel offset, control arm bushing durometer and steering type such as inverted Y or T.

True. I should have prefaced my comment by saying "in my experience" I totally forgot about wheel offset. Heck that how I cured it on my Red 88 by switching to a wheel with less offset!

The point I was trying to make is that you could have a tire/wheel issue that is causing your DW. Then after you fix/find that issue, the DW you had from the tire/wheel issue actually caused something to loosen up and you still have DW.

Basically in your hunt for the cure make sure after you try a fix you tighten everything again before testing.

 

[Jawa]

I found KarlVP's post at the end of this thread very helpful when I was dealing with DW problems. I think JohnJohn has everything here on his list, but this has a little more explanation for some items:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=922828&highlight=death+wobble+causes

 

[YELLAHEEP]

In my limited experience, that's not so JJ. With a certain combination of parts, a stabilizer is completely unnecessary. With a different combination, it will wobble its ass off without one- and sometimes even with one, or two. Both circumstances including all new, tight, properly installed and aligned parts. Things that make a big difference but aren't likely to get noticed- wheel offset, control arm bushing durometer and steering type such as inverted Y or T.

X2 with the addition that although not necessary, it's still a good idea to run one anyway.

My old Heep2 had 35's with 3.5" back spacing, D30 detroit'd, RE SF arms, RE drop brackets and the Phat Jeeps Canyon Climber high steer set up. I simply aligned it using a tape measure and never ran a steering stabilizer - never once got the remote hint of DW or bump steer.

I think that the majority of folks running 4" or more lift with fixed LCA's in the factory mounts will frequently be the victim of DW - those angles on the suspension and steering are at their limits. Definitely not advisable to go without a stabilizer with this set up.

My .02

 

[redneckguy0404]

start simple, tighten every nut and bolt on the front end and inspect whatever its holding together, balance the tires, pray its not a bushing issue. ive got to tighten mine up about once a month god love her, but 8.5" no stabilizers and no wobbles, anymore

 

[Jawa]

I think that the majority of folks running 4" or more lift with fixed LCA's in the factory mounts will frequently be the victim of DW - those angles on the suspension and steering are at their limits. Definitely not advisable to go without a stabilizer with this set up.

I'm one of those folks and can vouch for that. I just replaced my steering stabilizer a couple of months ago and I think it's the only thing keeping me from getting DW with every big bump in the road. I've got a set of drop brackets going on in the very near future that I'm hoping will settle things down...