Death Wobble

SimonideJK

New Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2011
Location
Cruso, NC
This has been a long battle and no end in site. After installing a 3.5 in lift on my JK jeep, I developed the " death wobble ". I have tripled checked every nut and bolt, had an alinement done twice, and replaced the steering stabilizer with a own replacement. So who has the magic cure for me.
 

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I would start with the caster. Add some more ( lean the nuckles to the rear) to where ever you are at.
 
Hmmm. Long arms? Which brand long arm kit for a jk? I agree with 89wrangler either shorten your uppers or lengthen your lower control arms
 
Some specs on your lift would help. It looks like that you have a track bar relocation bracket on the front and possibly a flipped drag link.

Adding Caster can help but if something is off in your steering geometry no amount of caster is going to help. Most Jk guys like to run around 5-5.5* of caster.
 
I know they make them just never seen one that small that needed them. Or how that will fix his DW.
 
RHSCTJ said:
I know they make them just never seen one that small that needed them. Or how that will fix his DW.
Click to expand...
I'm not a coil spring guy, but I've heard people talking about how the short arm tends to ride bad, because of the angle on lifted vehicle. Your right it is a small lift to be getting DW, then again I had some DW on a stock Grand Cherokee.
 
I read on another site (Jeep Forum) that the track bar bolt at the axle was a hair too small. IIRC it was 14mm and replaced with 9/16''. Even had a video of a JK with severe death wobble. Try a search on that site. Hope this helps. P.S., I agree with the added caster also.
 
What kind of lift are you running?
Did it come with new control arms or are you using your stock control arms?
What have you done to your drag link and track bar if any thing?
How many miles on the jeep?
How many miles on the lift?

There are lots of things that can cause a bad shake or death wobble on a jk. Forget about steering stabilizers. You need to take that thing off while you are fixing this problem. That way you know the problem is fixed and not just covered up. Could be caster could be wallowedholes at your track bar could be bad steering geometry. Answer the questions above and we can probably send you in the right direction for a fix.
 
I would also agree with some more caster.

HOWEVER......almost all death wobble problems I have fixed usually relate to the track bar. A bushing loose, loose bolt/nut, bolt not big enough, anything that will cause play. Any visable play is too much play. You can check some of this by starting the jeep and have a trusted friend turn the wheel side to side looking for play. It may help to try not starting the engine, you may be able to put more stress on the steup.

Let us know how it goes.
Todd
 
check your track bar and steering drag link angles-you want them as close to parallel as possible, from the pic it appears you have a drop bracket on the upper track bar mount, correcting the track bar angle, but the steering rod is at a steeper angle, a drop pitman arm may fix this-check into a zj pitman arm, it may dothe trick. before you buy any parts, check for backlash in the steering box(lost motion or a dead spot)
 
i found out on zj's that the upper bolt/mount on the track bar works its way loose causing death wobble. also if its adjustable and you dont have it set right it can cause the suspension/steering to do some weird stuff.
 
Ur going to get larger tires..... soon. Have u tryed rotatin the tires. Yes all the above can cause the prob.... but most of the time ive found at work..... tire problems
Ive had to put tires off another jeep sooooo many times to prove to customers its there tires causing the prob........
 
When you lift a vehicle you immediately find the weak areas of your steering. Returning castor as close to factory was that culprit for me. Also, keep your steering angles in mind- the drag link should be parallel to the track bar. Make sure we're talking about death wobble and not just bump steer. Now the newer jk's cake with longer arms from the factory so unless you are running tons of lift (ie around 8) you really shouldn't need long arms yet.
 
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