Death Wobble on TJ

Snowboardingmofo

New Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
Just like the title says. It really all started when I changed my brakes about 2 weeks ago and installed 2 new rotors on the front that I picked up from Advance Auto. I rotated the tires and the wobble started. I went and had the tires checked from the place I bought them, Tarheel 4wd. They said it was some bent rims that I had ordered from Quadratec, not the Pro-Comp tires that I had bought from them about 6 months earlier. So I had Quadratec send me 2 new rims, but first I took it to Goodyear for a 2nd opinion and had the rims checked on their machine. They said the rims were all good, the tires were the problem. They rebalanced all tires and rotated them from side to side instaed of front to back to see if that helped, but I still have the wobble. You can look out the door and see the tire start to wobble back and forth pretty bad around 30 - 40 mph. I am stuck between 2 different opinions and don't know who is right, I have put 100 bucks in trying to just figure out what is wrong with no luck. Andy at CRS is suppose to put in some gears next week and I was going to have him look at it before I paid any more money to someone who says they have "fixed" the problem but really hasn't. Just wanted to see if anyone has had the same problem and how they got it resolved. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Check your Control Arm bushings. Especially the Upper at the axle end. the one mounted to the top of the diff. It's right in the path of oil leaks and that degrades the rubber. I had it on my ZJ, and the DW showed up after a tire rotation.
 
You said it all started after you changed your brakes......

Double check what you did....

Check the runout of the rotor

Did you not torque something correctly



If it was fine before you did the brakes... then it's something you did.
 
Check your wheel bearings too. If you didn't tighten them enough, usually the steering is just loose, but it is possible it could cause the wobble. Other than that, something is not lining up correctly or a link is worn. I am guessing the bearings or lock nut is loose.
 
Just for the heck of it have you rotated the fronts to the back again? Belt problems maybe if that works? Besides what was already mentioned check the front trackbar and make sure it is torqued down.
 
Check the following for play:

Trackbar bushings/hardware
control arm bushings/hardware
tie rod ends
hub bearings
balanced tires
steering box
steering stabilizer
cup holder

What helped me the most was getting under the jeep while someone else turned the wheel. Its an easier way to see what is moving around and whats not torqued enough. Good luck.
 
I have an 05' rubicon that did the same thing after i rotated the tires I got new tires and it fixed the problem check the track bar too.
 
After you rotate them they will be noisier, and maybe even feel a little more vibration until they break into their new positions. But you should not see them wobbling.

As long as they rims/tires balance, they should be ruled out as the culprit.
 
Check the runout on your rotors. They may not be seated flush. Your wheels mount to the studs which go through the rotors.

I've heard you can warp your rotors by overtorquing the lugnuts, but I've never seen it happen.

Someone said to check your wheel bearing retaining nut.... Jack it up and try to shake the wheel. If if has some play, that's most likely your problem. A little play on older bearings is OK. When I say a little I mean just enough to feel it move a hair or 2. If it's moving a 1/16 of an inch, then that's way too much.
 
My 98tj did the same thing but I had also just put on a 4in lift with stock lower control arms. I installed extended lower arms and it never did it again
 
rbo1577186 said:
Check the runout on your rotors. They may not be seated flush. Your wheels mount to the studs which go through the rotors.
I've heard you can warp your rotors by overtorquing the lugnuts, but I've never seen it happen.
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I have seen it too many times.
Not only the rotors, but you can actually warp the hubs.

Learned it the hard way about 20 years ago.

Now EVERY lug that goes out of this shop is torqued by hand.


That said.
Warped hubs or rotors could cause a vibration or shake, (which might be what you are experiencing) but true death wobble is usually something loose.

Check all suspension mounting points and any moving or wear parts in the suspension.
 
Have you had an alignment? Is your castor angle within spec? Both of these can cause DW. Correcting those helped my DW issue, but replacing the ball joints in the knuckles cured it. (They were wore bad!)

Gary
 
I forgot to mention that I had 3" BDS lift, 2" body lift with 35's with stock control arms
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I was generally keeping quiet on this thread because it has been beat around before, but what you said here is interesting.
My first experience with death wobble was when I went from a 2" spacer lift to a 3" BDS suspension and a 2" body. I don't think the bodylift has anything to do with it. I was running stock control arms, but adjustable rear uppers. I tried tightening and greasing and replacing everything, several different alignment shops, new wheel bearings in the front, new steering stabilizer, balancing and rotating the tires, all to no avail. I found the solution in the form of a longarm kit. I just went with the Teraflex long lowers due to price, but it somehow fixed the problem. Potentially it was a change in the caster on the front axle or something along those lines. I guess what I am saying is this:
If you've been looking for a reason to go longarms, here's your big chance, otherwise, good luck.
 
I even had mine balanced after the "wobble" started they said they were all out of balance it made the wobble a little less severe but it was still there until i got new tires i was running 31" mtr's now 35 inch xterrains
 
Yeah, Andy is the man, he took care of it all. It really aggrivates me that the other 2 shops in town, Tarheel4wd and the Goodyear across from Concord Mills, said they "fixed" the problem and charged me for it and Andy actually fixed it and didn't charge me anything for it. Guess you live and learn who you can trust, so I definantly will use CRS for all my future work and I will never take my buisness to the other 2 shops.
 
None of the tires were properly balanced. The rears(which used to be on the front) were 1.5 ounce and 1.75 ounce off. The fronts were 1.0 ounce and 1.25 ounces off.

The front trackbar TRE is also pretty well worn. The lower bolt was fine.

And this particular customer was having gears installed and I took care of thre DW problem while he was in on other work.......

Hope everything else is going well and I will see you for the gear oil change at 500 miles.

Andy
 
What really aggravated me was that Tarheel said that the rim was warped. Then when you told them to switch it with the spare they said the spare was warped too. What are the chances that two rims, one that had never been used were warped?
I get the impression that they guessed at the problem instead of actually investigating it and testing the balance. What tops the cake is that they actually charged you and didn’t resolve the problem.

You can’t always go with the “Oh, I’ve seen this problem before†solution. Sometimes you have to investigate problems thoroughly especially if your charging for it.

This whole experience makes me want to stay away from Tarheel. In all honesty I’ll probably end up buying parts there, but I’ll never have any work done there. I always get the impression they are quoting prices or recommendations off the top of their heads.
 
death wobble just makes road travel interesting! just sit back and enjoy the ride haha
 
88Mangler said:
death wobble just makes road travel interesting! just sit back and enjoy the ride haha
Click to expand...

The problem is you don't win anything after 8 seconds is up and no clowns come running out to distract the vehicle.
 
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