Jeep Wrangler Death Wobble

[ColoradoJames]

Sooooo

I had the recent fun of dealing with death wobble (scary as hell ) and after months I finally got it al remedied out. I don't usually put down mechanic shops but one here in Denver high country 4 x 4 quoted me just under 10k to fix the death wobble.

They stated that I needed new ball joints , tie bar , front hub , tires , wheels , alignment and of course all the hours of work to go with it.

I was devastated I had just purchased this jeep with 30k miles on it for a steal and knew it needed work but nothing to this magnitude . They also wanted to throw on new shocks all around the list goes in ....

Went to edgewater jeep , he took my under my jeep showed me the ball joints gave me about an hour of his time going over Chrysler specs and shows the balls joints were under the 3/32 tolerance but still recommended an upgrade . He sent me to Big O tires to have some work installed.

Found some bolts from the front end holding the body to the frame were lose along with a bent tie bar . Total price 1200 bucks for new bar 5 new tires new alignment everything tightened up .

Ken at Big O on colfax has a awesome jeep and he has multiple techs with different buggies and jeeps, feels like a brand new truck after 3 k miles on death wobble or issues just felt I would share.

Question : I have decided on the dymatrac rebuildable ball joints , any suggestions on steering stabilizers ? Seems to be a million different types out there don't want to go overboard


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[ColoradoJames]

Edit : No * death wobble after 3 k miles


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[Anchor Mtn]

Dynatrac Ball joints are awesome and rebuildable. The new TeraFlex Falcon Nexus Steering Stabilizer is about the best thing out there...but may be overkill for most people. The Old Man Emu JK Steering stabilizer will set you back under $100 and work like a champ.

Steering stabilizers do not stop or prevent death wobble. I would seriously consider upgrading to a track bar from Synergy or Teraflex before investing in a steering stabilizer. Hope this helps, call if you have anymore questions.

 

[ColoradoJames]

I guess I forgot to mention above I have indeed upgraded the track bar as well , the one that originally was on the jeep was a strange aftermarket one which was actually hollow I guess to decrease weight but ended up bent as well . I am unsure of the brand that ken installed for me but he knows my rig well and went with a solid bar higher end in preparation for the ball joints and steering stabilizer next .

I appreciate the advice ! So many stabilizers out there I had no idea what to look at !


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[Anchor Mtn]

I guess I forgot to mention above I have indeed upgraded the track bar as well , the one that originally was on the jeep was a strange aftermarket one which was actually hollow I guess to decrease weight but ended up bent as well . I am unsure of the brand that ken installed for me but he knows my rig well and went with a solid bar higher end in preparation for the ball joints and steering stabilizer next .

I appreciate the advice ! So many stabilizers out there I had no idea what to look at !


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Glad to hear you have a track bar already... big step in the right direction. When you get the balljoints replaced, have the shop weld on some Inner-C gussets. The JK inner C's are prone to bending under hard use and the best time to reinforce them is with the balljoints out. Its just good insurance and you might as well do it at the same time. I recommend the EVO Manufacturing gussets.

 

[TigersRevenge]

worn or loss track bars are 90 % of the time the problem with death wobble on jeeps

 

[Dave Decker]

Death wobble for me turned out to be my tires. I went through replacing the ball joints, track bar, steering stabilizer and a few other things It turned out that I was running BFG KO a little over the recommended inflation on the highway and ended up with a wear pattern that caused the wobble. There seems to be a resonant frequency with my jeep of around 50 to 55 mph that started it going. After replacing the tires it went away. I've since lowered my hwy running pressure by about 5 psi and with 40 K miles on these tires I seem to be doing OK so far.

 

[Stepsride]

Death wobble for me turned out to be my tires. I went through replacing the ball joints, track bar, steering stabilizer and a few other things It turned out that I was running BFG KO a little over the recommended inflation on the highway and ended up with a wear pattern that caused the wobble. There seems to be a resonant frequency with my jeep of around 50 to 55 mph that started it going. After replacing the tires it went away. I've since lowered my hwy running pressure by about 5 psi and with 40 K miles on these tires I seem to be doing OK so far.

You have what I have with my KM2's, Cupping and bad wear patterns. Death wobble is pretty scary when it hits you. I was a passenger and we hit some RR tracks. I thought for sure we hit something and then I saw the steering wheel going bazerk. It will wake you up for sure.

 

[Dave Decker]

You have what I have with my KM2's, Cupping and bad wear patterns. Death wobble is pretty scary when it hits you. I was a passenger and we hit some RR tracks. I thought for sure we hit something and then I saw the steering wheel going bazerk. It will wake you up for sure.

It happened to me quite a few times before I got a proper diagnosis and got it fixed. The worst was on the freeway going through a construction zone, one lane with a semi right on my a$$. I couldn't slow down or I'd get run over, so I had to drive through the construction cones and off the side of the road where there was a lot of construction equipment. I nearly hit a road grader!

 

[Stepsride]

It happened to me quite a few times before I got a proper diagnosis and got it fixed. The worst was on the freeway going through a construction zone, one lane with a semi right on my a$$. I couldn't slow down or I'd get run over, so I had to drive through the construction cones and off the side of the road where there was a lot of construction equipment. I nearly hit a road grader!

I am wrong!! Unfortunate for you. So many folks say they have death wobble and they don't. If you have to clean your shorts after an episode then you had death wobble

 

[Matt L.]

I had the death wobble for a while but luckily it happened on a nice big open city street. It started after I installed a OME 3' lift. I replaced the steering stabilizer with and OME and tightened some stuff in the front end. I fear I need to do more to keep it from returning so the above information and any other info is greatly appreciated. I have noticed the all the rubber in the front end (swaybar bushings, etc.) is cracked and in some cases coming apart. I think that is next on my list of things to do.

 

[Sparky]

So I had a big long response written out and decided to chop it because I think a lot of it has been stated elsewhere online. Long story short I've had an unfortunate amount of experience chasing death wobble down on several vehicles. The key takeaway's I can recommend are to check alignment and steering components for wear first, then assess steering geometry if dealing with a lifted application. If lifted, I'd hesitate to replace anything until the overall steering system is assessed, primarily because high-steer conversions will often utilize larger than oem tie rod ends and may replace drag links and track bars. In my experience Jeep engineer's their steering such that minimal suspension lift will put geometry into the red zone. There are a lot of temporary fixes but oftentimes geometry correction is required. You may be able to get away without it, but driving a lifted Jeep with properly dialed in steering geometry is a joy. Anyways, if anyone has specific questions feel free to ask. and I can try and help or connect you with someone who can.

To the OP, I'd go with whichever stabilizer is on-sale if you haven't gotten one already. In my opinion they really don't help a whole lot, and if they do make a big difference then you've got another problem to suss out. We all have different tastes in steering feel though so I get why someone might want to "weigh-down" or otherwise dampen power-assisted steering. Dynatrac makes excellent stuff. You pay for it, but they're all American designed and manufactured.