death wobble

explorer redneck

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Location
old fort
I have a 05 tj. I put a 2.5" suspension lift on it. I've still have the stock 30x9.50x15's on it. Drove fine for two days then got the death wobble around 50/55 mph. Had the tires balnce and a rotation. Also put a bigger steering shock. But still getting the wobble. Any ideas?
 
Try a drop pitman arm off a ZJ (grand cherokee) drop your steering angles down and levels out your tie rod. Had the same problem. 2.5 lift on a TJ. Did this and I can run completely unbalanced 33 boggers up to 70 covered in mud and no death wobble. Did this 55k miles ago and never had another problem.


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Any stock ZJ pitman arm, it's 1.5in longer than a stock TJ. 92-98, I believe.


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tireburner1975 said:
Any stock ZJ pitman arm, it's 1.5in longer than a stock TJ. 92-98, I believe.


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When I look at pitman arms, I see it says
For 97-06 Jeep® Wrangler TJ with 4" Lift & 93-98 Grand Cherokee ZJ 0" Lift


I only have 2.5 so I was still hesitant to do this when you said to do it. If you say it'll work, Imma try it. But WTF is up with this 4" business?
 
explorer redneck said:
Some one said if i went with the 31's that the kit calls for or a bigger tire that it should fix it to. Any truth on this?
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idk about that I had death wobble on both 30x9.50 and 31x10.50 both all terrains. But with that pitman arm it put my tie rod back level with the ground and my drag link parallel with my track bar. Besides the springs and shocks everything is still factory from 1997 even the stabilizer and ball joints.


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Tech11 said:
When I look at pitman arms, I see it says
For 97-06 Jeep® Wrangler TJ with 4" Lift & 93-98 Grand Cherokee ZJ 0" Lift


I only have 2.5 so I was still hesitant to do this when you said to do it. If you say it'll work, Imma try it. But WTF is up with this 4" business?
Click to expand...
I tried it cause it was like $5 at pull a part for it and it made sense to me. If the steering geometry is correct and nothing seems worn out it shouldn't get DW. When I compared the TJ arm to the ZJ arm it moves the upper drag link joint down 1.5 inches. So I don't know what the 4" deal is. I wouldn't hesistate to try it, they are cheap for used ones at the junk yard. Just gotta have a pitman arm puller to get them off. Which sucks in a junk yard with no air tools.


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I looked for an OEM replacement for a 93-98 zj and get this:
  • 93-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ)
  • 97-06 Jeep Wrangler (TJ)
  • 04-06 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (TJ)
  • Reduce bump steer on lifted vehicles. Dropped pitman arms lower the steering rod to improve the geometry of the linkage. Highly recommended for all suspension lifts of 4 inches.
So who knows, but I'm going to add it when I order my steering stuff, ball joints, TREs, etc.

If it works we SERIOUSLY need to PIN THIS INFO.:beer:
 
It's gotta be atleast one of the main cures. Cause like I said, I have stock everything under my jeep from 1997. And don't get it even with my boggers hardly balanced.... I would just get one from a junk yard. Should be much cheaper than buy replacement ones. It's just a steel part not really anyway for it to wear out.


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I've got alittle over 32,000 on the jeep. I've check and doubled checked everything but the wheel hubs.but i'm going to give the Pittman arm a shot and go from there. Thanks for the help . I'll let yall know what happens.
 
Find a reputable shop in your area and ask if they can shake down your front end. Tj death wobble is a pain and can be caused by several common issues. Play in any of the steering components cause issues and slight play in all of the steering components can compound the issue. The first place to start looking is your track bar, then ball joint/wheel bearings and tie rod ends. Pinpointing one large problems is kind of rare, you'll probably notice that several things have a little bit of play. Unfortunately, the only real way to make sure that it's fixed is to replace or upgrade anything that looks like it has some free play in it.
 
Drop pitman seems to have worked. Replaced ball joints as well. They were completely worn out. New steering stabilizer as well and now my steering seems very sensitive. Is that because I was used to worn out death wobble steering?
 
That's good.
Sensitive how? Like more responsive to you, Or like sensitive to road bumps and stuff?


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VERY responsive, and bumps shake the steering wheel, I though the stabilizer would cause that to not happen.
 
It should feel more responsive, that's how jeeps feel. I drive some of all mileage at work and good solid front ends on a jeep should feel responsive. As for feeling bumps in the steering wheel, what tires and air pressure are you running? I have procomp extreme ATs and they are LT tires E loaded. I usually run 26-28 psi since the Jeep isnt that heavy and I would say it drives fairly smooth. As for my boogers I run like 18 even DDing to work on the highway...


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I need to check it, they may have put like 40 or 50 in the tires at the alignment place.
 
Yeah I would drop to 30-32 if it's a normal load tire and lower for a LT tire


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This wonderful trick works for XJ's too... same as the v8 zj steering upgrade. Somehow they decided to put the good parts on the ugliest jeeps lol
 
I got the chance the other day to look at a pittman arm on a zj. Looks like it work work good for a 4" lift. Just have to get it and try it out with my 2.5" lift.
 
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