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

[rollicon]

I would check you're castor angle. I put a 6" skyjacker lift on my jeep that reused the factory uppers and at full adjustment of my lowers the best I could get my castor was 0 degrees. correct me if I'm wrong since its been awhile since I did it but I beleive it's supposed to be rolled about 8-9 degrees. I fabbed up a set of adjustable uppers, did a tape measure alignment and went from being pulled into the ditch at 80km/h to driving with one finger at 140km/h. something to look at anyway. good luck

[Bnine]

I would check you're castor angle. I put a 6" skyjacker lift on my jeep that reused the factory uppers and at full adjustment of my lowers the best I could get my castor was 0 degrees. correct me if I'm wrong since its been awhile since I did it but I beleive it's supposed to be rolled about 8-9 degrees. I fabbed up a set of adjustable uppers, did a tape measure alignment and went from being pulled into the ditch at 80km/h to driving with one finger at 140km/h. something to look at anyway. good luck

Eliminating the factory bushings eliminated your wobble. Castor determines the wheeles ability to return to center after corning, and aids in stracking straight down the road in conjunction with toe in.

Death wobble is a result of the axle moving under the vehicle as a result of oscillating forces exerted by the wheels and tires.

Alignment specs have nothing to do with physically holding the axle in place, and therefore have nothing to do with controlling death wobble.

That said, toe in, castor, and alignments in general are probably the most common false recommendations on the internet regarding death wobble diagnostic and repair.

[rollicon]

well seing as I re-used the factory bushings when I made the adjustable uppers I'm pretty sure that's not what fixed it. the only thing that changed was the castor.  Worked on my buddies jeep as well. I understand how toe and castor work, I just figured having your toe pointing up in the air not keeping control of your steering would be a pretty good way to trigger death wobble. After that the flex in your bushings will take over becoming uncontrolable. Pull over to a near dead stop to regain control then start over again. I'm not a mechanic or an engineer so I could be completely wrong. Just saying what has worked for me.

[Bnine]

You are completely wrong.

If you re used bushings then eliminating the flimsy stamped steel arm, or tightening the ends would have been the cause of eliminating the wobble.

You are welcome to adjust your uppers through out a range of castor settings and see for yourself. Since I've done this several times, on several vehicles over the years using settings from -3 to +10 trying to change the onset of death wobble I can say with utmost confidence that death wobble and castor are not related.

Neither Castor or toe have anything to do with death wobble, and if there is any change in the onset of death wobble via alignment settings that is an IMMEDIATE sign that the front end is severely compromised.

There are factory vehicles with castor settings that range from 0 to positive 8 degrees. They do not death wobble.

Not sure what you mean by toe pointing in the air. The lower the castor, the straighter your knuckles are.

What I do know is post like yours have casused a lot of people to waste money, become confused and ultimately frustrated, when they are trying to resolve this issue.

By the way, currently I am in the 400's for cases of death wobble corrected, and I have yet to do it with castor. In case you needed some perspective as to where Im coming from.

[SwampSinger]

We couldn't fix the wobble of my 37"13.5 bias ply balloons and custom 3 link suspension... there was only one option left


1 ton TREs and hydro assist took care of my DW



Thanks again Bill for the help on that one!

[frenchy]

lol all new parts

Lol How's that working out for you? Lol
Lol

[WhiteOut]

Lol How's that working out for you? Lol
Lol

He installed a washer so its all good.

[banffunion]

hey dave the tires have been balance and it is still there will give you a call monday to see what we can do. thanks!

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

[GreenMachine]

hey dave the tires have been balance and it is still there will give you a call monday to see what we can do. thanks!

Try taking it to Modern Motors off Blackfoot, a little bit of a waiting list getting it in, but sometimes a fresh set of eyes can spot an problem the last set of eyes couldn't see.

[Bnine]

Unless Modern has changed dramatically, I would not waste your time there. All of the big shops are in the business of upgrading. Their diagnostic and repair skills are often pretty lacking when it comes to death wobble.

[banffunion]

News update on the jeep

Had wheels re balanced dave at broken axle said was off by 3 oz next steep is to get the follow installed

Clayton off road arms with Currie johnny joints (upper and lower)
Currie front upper control arm johnny joints in axle)
Kevins off road package with the new JKS trackbar and stiffer bushings.
labour to install with a wheel alignment.

Really hoping this will fix the issue awaiting for the hardware to arrive now will keep everyone posted on the outcome

[Bnine]

That will definately take care of your death wobble. My preference for track bar is the Currie hd with the 1/2" axle bolt and 5/8" frame bolt.

[banffunion]

Thanks to Dave and his crew over at Broken Axle the death wobbles are finally gone! The truck drives solid and is like night and day the way she handles on the road now with all the new beefed up front end. Thanks dave on all the time spent! Keep up the good work.

List of things done

Kevins off road package which consist of
KOR-1199 Super Durometer Bushings, upper and lower
JKS-121 Super-Beef 1-1/2" thick Adjustable Track Bar (fits JKs with 1.0">6" of lift, and the thickest track bar on the market!)
KOR-1109 x 2 Special Polyurethane Bushing Lubricant Tubes
KOR-9906-HW  New 9/16" Grade 8 Bolts, Lock Nuts, and Thick Sleeves
OGS-162 Steering Stabilizer Relocation Bracket
KOR-9309 Hard-KOR Steering Stabilzer

Clayton offroad arms with currie joints upper and lower
Currie front upper control arms with currie joint in axle
Wheel balance
Front end Steering alignment

[Bnine]

Thats how its done. Now you can rest easy that you wont have deah wobble ripping apart your front end and further terrorizing your wallet.

Congrats. Welcome to death wobble enlightenment.