HELP - DEATH WOBBLES - looking for a mechanic or someone who can help!

[banffunion]

HELP - DEATH WOBBLES - looking for a mechanic or someone who can help!

Hi i have a 2007 jeep Sahara with a 4" skyjacker lift kit.. and it has the case of the death wobbles.  It was taken into Broken Axle and they searched couldn't find anything and new quick disconnect and some bushings were put in.. however it is still there. They recommended that I balance the tires but it seems that the wobbles is alot more and more frequent now.  Also my 1st gear to 2nd gear now sometimes catches and slight grinds.

Is there a shop or a mechanic in Calgary or Canmore Banff area whom is familiar with death wobble issues that can fix this.  please let me know as i would like to fix this before winter.

I have read some articles on the internet however not very mechanically incline nor do i have a big enough garage with the right tools to work with.

Any help is appreciated. thanks in advance.

[AstraX]

have you balanced your tires as recommended?  Mine was shaking pretty bad cause my tires were unbalanced.  Are you sure it is "death wobble"?  My understanding of death wobble is that you pretty much have to stop driving your vehicle because the shaking is so violent and uncontrollable.

You could try E-Mortal Customs as well if you would like to have another shop look at it for you.

[Kanueh]

As far as I know but i may be wrong  death wobble is only after hitting a large bump or something that sets it off. Does the steering wheel shake all the time while driving or only after you hit a pothole or something?


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[hps4evr]

As far as I know but i may be wrong  death wobble is only after hitting a large bump or something that sets it off. Does the steering wheel shake all the time while driving or only after you hit a pothole or something?


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This is kind of a bump steer thing.
 Some steering shakes can start when hitting a bump. A good steering damper helps this. But if there are wobbles or shakes at certain speeds there may be something else. Can't hurt to call broken axle back:)

[WhiteOut]

Are you sure you have DW? DW feels as if the whole front end is ripping itself apart and you have to slow right down or completely stop to get it to stop.

The majority of the time, death wobble is related to the trackbar.

Are you running a new trackbar with the lift? Are the bushings in good shape? Is it properly torqued?

[w squared]

Lots of folks describe any sort of significant vibration as death wobble. Odds are that if you didn't feel the need to get your Jeep towed after the first time it happened, you didn't actually experience death wobble.

I'm with the "call broken axle back" group.

By the way....have you balanced your tires? If you have a serious problem in that department, anything that you do to your suspension is just a band-aid. The vibration will eventually cause even the best suspension to have issues.

[Moezer]

the only 3 times when i had death wobble was when i lifted my jeep and added the TC spacers on to the skid plate. The second time I had it was when my steering dumpener was leaking oil. The 3d time was when my track bar bushing wore right out and there was an inch of play.

The death wobble I exp was really bad and it felt like i was going toflip anytime. The front of the jeep was or looked like it was bouncing all over the road a bit scary none the less

[frenchy]

Only 3 times? 

I bet there will be a 4th, especially if your dumpener was leaking.

[Moezer]

lol all new parts

[BrokenAxle]

Can't hurt to call broken axle back:)

Give me a call.  If I recall correctly there were some obviously worn out front end parts that we replaced.  We don't know if it's still causing you grief if it doesn't do it on our road test and you never give us a call back!

Dave

[WhiteOut]

the only 3 times when i had death wobble was when i lifted my jeep and added the TC spacers on to the skid plate. The second time I had it was when my steering dumpener was leaking oil. The 3d time was when my track bar bushing wore right out and there was an inch of play.

The death wobble I exp was really bad and it felt like i was going toflip anytime. The front of the jeep was or looked like it was bouncing all over the road a bit scary none the less

Only one of these things will cause death wobble.

[GreenMachine]

I put a rough country lift in my tj not to long ago, after the install i started getting death wobble over bumps on the highway, in the end i put a new dampener, then a new trackbar and finally new fully adjustable upper and lower control arms front and back, with polly bushings not the stock rubber, every time i added something it got better, but didnt fully go away until the control arms went in, it rides like a dream, buy was a little pricey in the end,

Also try checking your tire pressure, i was running about 33 lbs in 31" tires, lowered it to 30 and it rode a bit smoother as well

I would recomend stopping by modern motors, they have offered many of my friends great service, and I regretted having another shops do work for me.

[banffunion]

Give me a call.  If I recall correctly there were some obviously worn out front end parts that we replaced.  We don't know if it's still causing you grief if it doesn't do it on our road test and you never give us a call back!

Dave

Thanks Dave i'll give you a shout I am looking for someone to balance those tires as we speak today and will let you know.  Sorry was not bad mouthing you or your company at all was trying to find a solution as it is kind of scary to be driving around and when it happens.  I'll get a local dealership to get the wheels done asap.  I appeciate you responding to this. thanks jim!

[banffunion]

Thanks Dave i'll give you a shout I am looking for someone to balance those tires as we speak today and will let you know.  Sorry was not bad mouthing you or your company at all was trying to find a solution as it is kind of scary to be driving around and when it happens.  I'll get a local dealership to get the wheels done asap.  I appeciate you responding to this. thanks jim!

Hi Dave! The wheel balancing has been booked for Friday afternoon will let you know after that.  I understand it is a process of eliminating the issue one thing at a time. Thanks for your reply.  Also when shift from 1st to 2nd the gears are catching as well. Will get you to look at that to when it is in your shop.

[Bnine]

Death wobble simplified

All front ends can and will death wobble for one reason, and one reason only. The front end as a unit is unable to control the oscillating force of the rotating tires.

Once that is understood, you can start to evaluate individual cases like yours.

From the picture it looks like your jeep is equipped with 35” tires and possibly steel rims, that likely have a shallower back spacing.

One thing you need to understand is that your jeep was designed to handle a 32 inch tire on an aluminum rim with almost 5 inches of back spacing. As you increase diameter, weight, and leverage, you can push the front end past the point where it is able to control the tires.

As the individual front end components wear, it becomes more and more difficult to control the tires.

You can have death wobble on a stock jeep that has an excessively worn front end. You can have death wobble on a brand new jeep that someone slaps a lift and 37’s on.

From your description it sounds like you have to much tire and rim for your front end to handle reliably.

You can and should run balanced tires and maintain a good condition steering stabilizer, but, those things really only help extend part life. If your front end is compromised enough, you will experience death wobble regardless of tire balance, or steering stabilizer condition or presence.

That is the problem with budget suspension systems. They supply just enough parts to get you into trouble. You have two choices if you want to make your jeep considerably more reliable in the terms of controlling death wobble.

1. you tone down the wheel and tire combo so that the front end can better handle the forces applied. Which you can do by using deeper back spacing aluminum rims, smaller diameter tires, or a combonation of all of the above. Heavy sidewalls such as d and e rated tires also help.

2. You can further upgrade your front end to better handle the addition of the 35 inch tire and wheel combo. While expensive, its cheaper than new tires and rims, and is an upgrade while spending money.

Get your tires balanced for now, but realize that you will just be prolonging the onset of more death wobble and potentially damaged parts if you don’t address the major issue of controlling those tires sooner than later.