Yeah death wobble over here too on an 07' Wrangler!!

[jeepygirl]

Hi,

I see a few others having the same issues with their steering. My problem occurred about 8 months ago, going approx. 80-90Km and hit some slightly uneven rolling pavement. And again around a corner on a mountain pass. I almost lost it! The steering totally stops working, and the vehicle feels like the wheels are going to fall off, it wobbles so much. You have no control until you slow to about 30km/hr, even braking seems tough. I first had the tires balanced, and air pressure checked. The guys at the garage, told me everything else looked good. (not at a Jeep dealer that time).  The problem continued, getting worse. I finally did some research, and checked into the dampener. It was the cheap factory part, that I replaced with a Rancho (didn't cheap out on it), as Chrysler was on back order (hmmm.)

I then continued to drive, and still on occasion experienced this. I don't off road with mine, so there should be no problems with it being 3 yrs old. I took it in yet again, the guys checked the bearrings, and the tie rod. Finally telling me that I needed to replace all bearrings???, and the tie rod was broken. Because driving to work gets pretty crazy! So, all was replaced, just in time for under warranty. You would think it would be perfection to drive again. But yesterday, 3 months after all my repairs, it happened again on the highway, and I almost bit it, taking others with me! I was only going 85 and hit a regular sewer grade on the road, like we all do everyother day. I am lost for what to do. I LOVE my Jeep, but I don't feel safe anymore, and if this is common for others, I would love to hear what you did to fix it. And maybe Chrysler should be looking into and compensating this one, before someone doesn't live to talk about the problem.

Any input would be sweet....thanks!!

JGirl

[hps4evr]

funny? i work in a jeep dealer and had this issue come up this morning. the person jeep j/k sahara is stock. same problems, essentially a shake in the front end after going over train track, rough spots or dips in the road. the customer drove just to make sure i knew what she was talking about. after i checked out the front end nothing was very obvious. until i found the steering to turn very easy from side to side. which leads me to figure the damper. ill install the new damper monday morning to know for sure. but from what it sounds like im about 99% certain this is the problem. the
neat thing is that the damper isnt leaking. it seems to be an internal leak in the piston/valving.
so if you upgraded to the aftermarket damper you may have the same issue, or not.
have you done any modifications to the jeep, thats my fiurst question???

[jkrubi]

If you play on the American sites, for death wobble the first thing they are recommending is to check the torque on all the parts under there especially the track bar.  It looks good and seems tight but it's not.    It seem to fix most ofthe problems down there in the states.  Good luck with the battle and let us know what you find

[BigCam]

Replacing the Steering Damper on my 2000 TJ fixed my death wobble last September.

[Rich99]

Its a jeep thing isn't it? I had a 1952 Willy's M38 and it would go into the death wobble from time to time. My 1999 TJ has never had it though.

[shayu]

from what i read ,track bar is the no.1 suspect,check the mount,bracket,weld them if you need.
retorque it ON THE GROUND to 125Lb/f.

[jeepygirl]

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll check it out this wk. Sounds like something in the front end is loose. So to sound typical girl here, what is the diff between the track bar and the tie rod?? Super frustrated by this, as I have replaced most of what would contribute to this problem! And do alignment & tires really make a difference with this problem??

[w squared]

To be honest with you Pat, I think that Shayu might be right on the money for the JK track bar torque spec. I don't know off the top of my head, but 125 pound feet is ringing a bell...

The site that I would normally use to check is offline right now, but Mr. Google suggests that the rear (frame end) spec if 110 foot pounds.

[shayu]

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll check it out this wk. Sounds like something in the front end is loose. So to sound typical girl here, what is the diff between the track bar and the tie rod?? Super frustrated by this, as I have replaced most of what would contribute to this problem! And do alignment & tires really make a difference with this problem??

here you go.

[sn4cktime]

I second the "trackbar" thing.

Biggest things I've read about JK death wobble so far are loose trackbar brackets, or a snapped wheel stud.  But the wheel stud thing would be ongoing and obviously be caught when rotating your tires.  If the bolt through the bracket is TIGHT, also check that the bracket's metal isn't fatigued or ripping off, lots have come clean off, stock or modified.  Oh, and forgot to mention it, if it IS ripping off just re-welding it often doesn't work, the bracket will just re-rip.  Gusset it, or buy something like the JKS bracket and get it welded around the factory one.

I've got the list of JK torque specs from the factory service manual:
Track Bar Frame Bracket Nut: 125ft/lbs or 169 N/M
Track Bar Axle Bracket Bolt: 125ft/lbs or 169 N/M

If anybody wants the list, I can't remember where I downloaded it, but I'd be happy to send it to you.  It's everything from body parts, to internal engine specs.

[sn4cktime]

I've been told by some, that technically you should not require a steering stabilizer at all if everything is working properly and that it's main purpose is just to absorb some road noise.

I'm not sure if that's true or not as I don't have near enough experience to know that, but just thought I'd pass it on.

When I put on a new TF stabilizer on my JK the other year it did make a big difference in driving the jeep and steering wheel feedback, but that's about all I noticed.

[Bnine]

I deal with a lot of death wobble. If you would like to contact me, and bring me you jeep for a consult, pm me, and I will send you my info.

I've fix death wobble at one point or another for the majority of the folks on this board.

In the meantime if you can provide a bit more info on your setup, that will help.

What tire size are you running, how many miles on the jeep, and has it been wheeled frequently, rarely, or not at all.

[SwampSinger]

it's the steering stabilizer for sure 

[SwampSinger]

Bnine is going to kill me...


He solved my issues (not true...he solved my jeep steering issues )... I recommend you go see him.

[JK2008blckblck]

if your running a lift in your jk the FIRST thing i would check is the drop bracket for your trac bar. due to the poor design of most of the drop brackets ive seen, they work their way loose, so when you hit a bump, theres nothing holding your tires from slamming back and forth, when you stop and go again its usually fine until you hit another bump or series of bumps, i run a dual steering stabilizer and i still had this problem until i welded that bracket