Death Wobble

[old_man]

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012...now-about-jeep-death-wobble/?intcmp=obnetwork

 

[bjoehandley]

I find it amazing when I hear of DW on stock height trucks, between Dad's two XJ's, my Sister's, and my own, we have yet to experience it on any of them in the times we had them. Dad's Jeeps and my sister's were all over 200k (the last one of Dad's was 280k) when we got rid of them and mine currently has nearly 157k on it and none of them ever had that happen with a collective mileage of more than 700k between the four with around 500k being put on them by us. Mine needs shocks and stabilizer shock and outside of the Steering Box (which still has 90k on it), tires (which are only 235/75/15 Wranglers), brakes, U-Joints, and the above dampers, the rest of it's front end is likely 100% factory.

 

[WB9YZU]

Jeep has been using this design for almost 70 years. Now that there is a new group of Wrangler Owners who have absolutely no experience with a 4wd truck which they expect to handle like a CAR, some F'N Politician wants to make things tough for another Manufacture.

Kinda pisses one off.

BTW: I have driven a JK, and know JK owners. No DW reported.

 

[Darky]

The steering design might be the same, but the suspension design has changed as has the geometry I'd bet since the Wrangler isn't the same size and dimensions as the old CJs...that said, I'd like to know how many of them are the result of aftermarket parts.

My last job had 3 Supperduty's: 2 2006s and 2008, and all three got death wobble, stock. Took em to the Ford dealer, they made an adjustment and the problem was fixed.

 

[CheapXJ]

death wobble, aka caster kick, is the exact same thing that happens to the front wheels of crappy shopping carts... MAINTAIN your freakin vehicle and then you don't have these problems.

and this is not a jeep only problem, you just see it more on jeeps because unlike most vehicles, Jeeps will keep running and running and running and running LONG after they should have been either taken off the road or "restored" in a mechanical sense.

 

[FlexdXJ]

death wobble, aka caster kick, is the exact same thing that happens to the front wheels of crappy shopping carts... MAINTAIN your freakin vehicle and then you don't have these problems.

and this is not a jeep only problem, you just see it more on jeeps because unlike most vehicles, Jeeps will keep running and running and running and running LONG after they should have been either taken off the road or "restored" in a mechanical sense.

Thank you, I was about to say that. I've had 4 XJ's. The three that weren't a dangerous pile of metal that I hardly drove Never had it. The MJ and said dangerous pile never went above 30 so they don't count. On my current XJ DD/WW I started to feel a shimmy between 45-50. When I swapped my control arms out the bushings were cracking pretty bad. With the new arms, its fine.

 

[Devilfrog]

Mark Williams, editor of PickupTrucks.com thinks an educational campaign might be helpful to the general consumer, but that the information is already common sense for many of the type of truck enthusiasts attracted to Jeeps. “Owners who know what vehicle is designed for are already familiar with the issue,” he says. “This is kind of a duh moment for them.”

Pretty much says it all right there, My XJ had something akin to DW at one point in time, replaced a bad tie rod end and it got better, replaced a tire with a seperating belt and it was gone (so technicly it wasn't true DW).
Now I'm lifted close to 6" with new arms and the same stock steering with not so much as a vibe to 120km/h (75mph).
Simple basics ... if it wobbles you should have fixed it a while back.

 

[bjoehandley]

Anybody wondering how long it's going to take for somebody to do the same about Torque Steer in high HP FWD's:doh:

 

[heyhar]

two Democratic members of Congress have written a letter. Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo...

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012...-death-wobble/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2242nUyZB

These jackbones aren't going to be satisfied until we're all dependent upon them for the very air that we breathe. Go ahead, go after another car company, for something you know nothing about. Or, better yet, just call a Libertarian or Republican to fix it for ya. But best of all, don't fix it yourself. Obama don't go for that. "If you have a Jeep that doesn't wobble,........you didn't do it by yourself........you had help along the way.......

 

[MuckSavage]

Anybody wondering how long it's going to take for somebody to do the same about Torque Steer in high HP FWD's:doh:

My FIAT Abarth has equal length 1/2 shafts. It's pretty cool to take off hard and not have the wheel try to rip out of your hands!

 

[hubs97xj]

Is that thing as much fun to drive as Clarkson made it sound on Top Gear?

 

[bjoehandley]

My FIAT Abarth has equal length 1/2 shafts. It's pretty cool to take off hard and not have the wheel try to rip out of your hands!

Wish I could say the same for my 200 Touring, but considering it's got more than twice the displacement..............:laugh3:

 

[MuckSavage]

Is that thing as much fun to drive as Clarkson made it sound on Top Gear?

Yes, It is a ton of fun to drive. Go to a dealer and test drive a 500 sport then weasel your way into an Abarth. (if they have one)

 

[Boatwrench]

two Democratic members of Congress have written a letter. Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo...

Anna Eshoo is a pro-NAFTA tool.

 

[Fred]

I first experienced death wobble on my 1966 Bug. The shocks were loose. Not a solid axle per se, but a beam axle that behaved similarly.

 

[tbburg]

Oh my god! There's an ISSUE! Somebody should do something! Get congress right on it! Yaa! Go Congress!

The guys at Chrysler should put together a presentation that says, "Driving a car with broken or worn out suspension components is bad. If you can't tell when or how to maintain your vehicle, ride the bus. (They could even get the south park guys to put it together and use Mr Mackey's voice, and say it's "very bad")

Funny,.. We call it "death wobble", and it's not that bad. In aeronautics, a similar problem is called "flutter". The difference is, left unchecked, "flutter" results in the destruction of the aircraft, "death wobble" makes a truck hard to drive.

I don't know how prevalent it is outside the Wrangler/Cherokee, but I never had death wobble in a CJ.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

First time I ever experienced it was in a ford tow truck

That was terrifying. Xj? Not bad by comparison

 

[bjoehandley]

Oh my god! There's an ISSUE! Somebody should do something! Get congress right on it! Yaa! Go Congress!

The guys at Chrysler should put together a presentation that says, "Driving a car with broken or worn out suspension components is bad. If you can't tell when or how to maintain your vehicle, ride the bus. (They could even get the south park guys to put it together and use Mr Mackey's voice, and say it's "very bad")

Funny,.. We call it "death wobble", and it's not that bad. In aeronautics, a similar problem is called "flutter". The difference is, left unchecked, "flutter" results in the destruction of the aircraft, "death wobble" makes a truck hard to drive.

I don't know how prevalent it is outside the Wrangler/Cherokee, but I never had death wobble in a CJ.

A Death Wobble video with Jimbo, Ned, and Mackey would be pretty awesome

First time I ever experienced it was in a ford tow truck

That was terrifying. Xj? Not bad by comparison

Was it a TTB/TIB front suspension by chance? Dad said the Ford High Rail truck with that front suspension could be down right terrifying when those developed DW!

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

Yeah was twin I beam.

My friend's 96 Blazer was hooked up to the back, thought it was gonna fall off.