Death wobble

Loganwayne

Loganwayne

#BTL
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Location
Clyde, North Carolina
i have a 92 xj with a 4.5 lift with 33s been driving fine on the road. today did a full lock turn to the left then had some serious death wobble at 15-20 mph did it twice. stopped backed up took off again drove rest of day and took it off road flexed it and turned wheels to lock both ways and didnt do it again the rest of the day. any ideas of what happened?
 
I hope to never be an expert on this subject by avoiding it. Check all your connections for any play.
-Front tires out of balance
-Front alignment out of spec
-Loose track bar
-Worn track bar bushings
-Worn track bar end
-Need adjustable track bar
-Bad bushings/joints in control arms
-Worn/damaged steering stabilizer
-Worn/damaged shocks
-Worn/damaged tie rod end
-Bad U Joint
-Bad ball joint
-Loose frame mount
-Steering box looseness
-Need drop pitman arm
-Driveshaft(s) not balanced
-Bad front hub assembly
 
My guess is the track bar is either loose or the bushing are wearing/worn out.


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If the track bar checks out I'd make sure you have no cracks or loose steering box since you said it was at full lock and at speed. I've read of a lot of guys having cracked spacers behind theirs since it's aluminum. Mine was popping pretty fierce at full lock and was making me question it so I braced the steering box and the track bar and got one of the longer jcr spacers that tie in at an extra point.
 
I thinks it needs bushings looked this morning I tuned at full lock out of my driveway then when it got to 15 it started wobbling I'm picking up a steering brace today that was one of the first things on my list of things to do right away
 
Nice Grouse!.... I've only had the "death:eek:wobble" while riding a scateboard too fast a time or 2 and I still have the scars :D
 
Loganwayne said:
I thinks it needs bushings looked this morning I tuned at full lock out of my driveway then when it got to 15 it started wobbling I'm picking up a steering brace today that was one of the first things on my list of things to do right away
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I'm prone to overkill but I had read bracing the steering box but not the track bar can put excessive flex at the track bar mount and help promote cracking at that rail. The theory is if you brace the box it shortens the flex area and increases the load from the steering box to track bar. I know my track bar was technically flexing worse than my steering box was when i would watch them. I had heard recommendations to run a brace at both or run plates and let them flex naturally but with the plating for additional protection. JCR and others make plating kits and RE and Synergy both make track bar braces. I chose the synergy but the RE is cheaper and still a good one. Homebrew versions of plate or bracing is a cheaper alternative still.
I went with braces at both but I don't know which is better. i know the creaking and popping at full lock I was experiencing was cut down immediately though once I did the jcr spacer, currie steering brace, and synergy track bar brace. At that price for all 3 it should have though.
 
I'm fighting this myself. New steering stabilizer, new steering linkage(Rusty's), new lower control arms, and alignment. Only thing found was a tire out of round/balance. It's hanging out back for a spare now and still have a slight shimmy in the steering 45 and up. I am at my wits end and ready to blow this muther up!!!
 
I had a ZJ that got the death wobble. Easy way to tell if it is the trackbar is with the key off, turn the wheel left and right several times short and quick. If the front end floats left and right above the axle, its the trackbar. I had a weld crack on the trackbar bracket. Didn't find the crack until I cleaned all the mud and surface rust off of it real good.
 
My cheap truck challenge ZJ was my recent experience with the "death wobble" holy cow at 50mph the front tires would slap left to right so violently it would take the wheel away from you!! and it didnt get any better with more speed actually would start screetching the tires!! yeah the "jeep thing" seems to be a death wobble!!

scared to death!!!!!
 
Both times I had it was with my jk and tj and both times it was tire related. Fronts were shot inside and a road force balance revealed that. The tj tires were just out of balance. Super violent on both vehicles. Ax15 pretty much pointed you in every direction I wouldve
 
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