Death Wobble....Lift....Brakes.... Need help (lots of information)
04-24-2013, 06:41 AM
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Death Wobble....Lift....Brakes.... Need help (lots of information)
Ok guys, I’ve done tons of research on this but it seems all the posts I find are still a little bit different of a situation. I need some help or direction. I’ll lay this out in a time line the best I can and include all of the information I think you may ask.
I have a 2008 Wrangler Unlimited 4 door 6 cylinder, 6 speed.
During the summer of 2011 I was forced to slam on my brakes, locking them up and ultimately damaging the rotor (drivers side front). I replace the rotor and pads, no more issues.
7 months later (January 2012) I installed a 5” suspension lift with high performance shocks and a drop pitman arm. No issues, easy install.
About 8 months later the jeep started with the infamous death wobble. It started on the interstate at 70mph and nearly took the jeep off the side of the road. It progressed from there and began doing it at any speed above 45mph. I took it to a Jeep dealership, a Jeep specialized shop and multiple regular shops. No one could find any issues. I had all the tires rotated, balanced and the Jeep aligned, twice.
Finally, Gatto’s found that the front drivers brake caliper was locked up. Not completely locked up or even enough to get hot and smoke, the word “sticky” comes to mind. It was just enough that when you spun the tire by hand it would stop much quicker than the passenger’s side.
I replaced the caliper and all pads, then took it for another alignment. This actually seemed to fix the problem. No more wobble, at any speed. Life seems good.
Fast forward 4-5 months and I’m on the interstate doing 75mph when the death wobble comes back. I slow down and do roughly 65mph until the next exit, and it does it again. I slow again to 50mph and yet again the death wobble. (note: Came to a complete stop on the side of the road between each of these speeds, it’s the only way to stop the DW)
Now, it’s different than last time, this is the only day it has done it. I haven’t been over 60mph since but still…. Before it did it at any speed over 45mph.
So now, I take it back to have an oil change and I’m told that the driver’s side caliper seems to be sticking because, the same as before, the tire does not spin freely like the passenger’s side.
My question…. What would cause this? Could it be something else that is causing the caliper to lock up? Am I missing something blatantly obvious? Could the caliper actually be the cause of the death wobble or maybe a coincidence that it stopped after I replaced it?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I have a 2008 Wrangler Unlimited 4 door 6 cylinder, 6 speed.
During the summer of 2011 I was forced to slam on my brakes, locking them up and ultimately damaging the rotor (drivers side front). I replace the rotor and pads, no more issues.
7 months later (January 2012) I installed a 5” suspension lift with high performance shocks and a drop pitman arm. No issues, easy install.
About 8 months later the jeep started with the infamous death wobble. It started on the interstate at 70mph and nearly took the jeep off the side of the road. It progressed from there and began doing it at any speed above 45mph. I took it to a Jeep dealership, a Jeep specialized shop and multiple regular shops. No one could find any issues. I had all the tires rotated, balanced and the Jeep aligned, twice.
Finally, Gatto’s found that the front drivers brake caliper was locked up. Not completely locked up or even enough to get hot and smoke, the word “sticky” comes to mind. It was just enough that when you spun the tire by hand it would stop much quicker than the passenger’s side.
I replaced the caliper and all pads, then took it for another alignment. This actually seemed to fix the problem. No more wobble, at any speed. Life seems good.
Fast forward 4-5 months and I’m on the interstate doing 75mph when the death wobble comes back. I slow down and do roughly 65mph until the next exit, and it does it again. I slow again to 50mph and yet again the death wobble. (note: Came to a complete stop on the side of the road between each of these speeds, it’s the only way to stop the DW)
Now, it’s different than last time, this is the only day it has done it. I haven’t been over 60mph since but still…. Before it did it at any speed over 45mph.
So now, I take it back to have an oil change and I’m told that the driver’s side caliper seems to be sticking because, the same as before, the tire does not spin freely like the passenger’s side.
My question…. What would cause this? Could it be something else that is causing the caliper to lock up? Am I missing something blatantly obvious? Could the caliper actually be the cause of the death wobble or maybe a coincidence that it stopped after I replaced it?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
04-24-2013, 12:10 PM
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Planman is a Tech Adviser on this forum and your question about the caliper as a cause of wobble would be better asked of him or another of the tech advisers. Shoot them a PM or flag them down in the Modified Tech section.
If you haven’t seen this yet…
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
If you haven’t seen this yet…
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
04-24-2013, 01:35 PM
#3
Forum Tech Advisor
The caliper is a trigger, but not the source.
With multiple episodes of DW, you need to fully inspect your entire front end--beyond what I show in the videos.
Start with watching the videos. Then, read the beginning of the DW Diagnosis write-up thread.
With multiple episodes of DW, you need to fully inspect your entire front end--beyond what I show in the videos.
Start with watching the videos. Then, read the beginning of the DW Diagnosis write-up thread.
04-24-2013, 01:44 PM
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What lift did you go with. A good picture of under your jeep would be better. Also i tried the drop pitman arm. It puts alot of stress on the steering box. ( $700 replacement). I would suggest put the old pitman arm back on and add a draglink flip. like 12 bucks online and easy to install. Also what size tires are you running. my 35s needed a dual stab. I know everybody says you dont need it but it helped alot. Also do the bolt swap to 9/16 haf thread bolts. and check the frame side and the axle side track bar holes for rounding out. My fram side was and a case of beer and a few welds on 2 washers and it was fixed. Ive been dealing with this for 3 months after a 6 inch lift. Also some pictures of you alignment sheet would help too. just to see what all might be wrong. PM me if you really get stuck. I have a light shimmy but no more DW. Went from full over anything to shimmy with a few fixes and talking to everybody about the problem.
