AngryRedBird

After suffering with a shimmy/wobble in West Virginia 1 month ago and my wife suffered with a shimmy two weeks ago, we've been following your videos and steps in order to locate the cause of these occurrences. Although three shops have stated that they could not find any issues.. we've concluded it was three things:

▶ Bad road conditions
▶ Extra weight in the cargo area
▶ Improperly balanced tires

However, I'm still not convinced that this issue just simply went away with the removal of the rotor retaining clips & rebalanced tires and although I am aware of what "worn" parts look like.. there isn't any real indication or verification as to anything being extreme worn on the steering components.

Thus in the coming 2 weeks, we are going to systematically upgrade a few parts on the jeep. Consisting of and in this order:

▶ Grade 8 bolts for the control arms
▶ Drag Link
▶ Tie Rod
▶ Track Bar
▶ Ball Joints (as a last resort)

On thing I need to point out here.. Northridge4x4 has a bolt kit for $40 but the issue for us would be that this kit would not qualify for the free shipping. Thus we are going to create our own grade 8 bolt kits with the help of a few of our suppliers.

The Drag Link would be purchased as a complete or a "preassembled" unit direct from the factory and is not an upgraded version from the OEM original. But is the most affordable option currently available to us.

Along with a few non-wobble items for the jeep.. We are hoping to get this corrected within a month from now. Sadly, I'll not be able to post images.. but will follow up with any findings based on the time of installations.

planman

Northridge4x4 has free shipping with a total order of $70 or more. So, for most situations, customers may find another $30 of purchases to get free shipping on the entire order.

There is no need to replace parts that are not loose or worn.

Yes. Those stock lug retainer clips make it impossible for aftermarket wheels or wheel spacers to sit flush on the hub. Furthermore, those clips are not on every stud. So, without removing the clips, the wheel is uneven and/or warped when mounted. So, failure to remove those clips will absolutely cause shimmies, and they can damage aftermarket wheels.

AngryRedBird

Thank you Planman.. if there is anyone here that I would trust in this respect would be you.. and although I've been give several suggestions and options on what would be best for our issue.. I it best that we do these things again systematically.. and although I suggested the Northridge4x4 shipping issues, there could be another product they carry which will put us over the threshold. But we are faced with a number of issues which we can not divulge publicly within the forum.. Therefore we will discuss your suggestions and update accordingly.

MeaNGreeNSaharA

So at 50,000 miles I had death wobble number 1, replaced track bar and bolts. Was fine until 80,000 miles, then I replaced ball joints, re-torqued bolts and replaced destroyed steering stabilizer and fine for a while. Round 3 105,000 miles, re-torqued bolt at track bar and no change. Previous death wobble happened at 60-70mph when I hit a bump. New death wobble occurs at under 45mph on really bumpy roads, seems to start when right tire hits bump and is pushed to left and then left tire hits a bump and has to move back to the right. I know my tie rod and drag link ends are in need of replacement, but according to your write up Planman, this does not cause death wobble. So I am at a loss....suggestions? It really does not seem to have anything to do with my track bar this time. Thanks in advance!

planman

Worn drag link and tie rod ends can cause really bad, death wobble type symptoms. Replace them as soon as possilbe so that they do not end up damaging other components.

MeaNGreeNSaharA

Thanks!! I am trying to round up parts now!

vernitron

Planman, thanks for the thorough writeup. I have a 2008 with a 3" Teraflex lift and have experienced violent, wrist breaking DW, but reduced it to shimmies at various speeds with a new steering stabilizer. I just found your writeup and I am going through the process you describe. With regards to checking the tie rod ends (drag link tie rod ends also), you state to use channel locks to verify if there is any vertical play. I have seen other writeups state that this is not a proper way to check the ends as all will exhibit movement when tested this way. Is this not true for JKs? I do see a small amount of vertical movement when tested with the channel locks. Thanks for your help.

planman

If you do a dry steering test like I show in the 2nd video and there is a clunk or up-and-down movement in the end, they need to be replaced.

You can also check them with channel lock pliers for obvious up-and-down movement. You don't need to really crank on the pliers if the steering isn't bound up.

Most likely, your DW was from loose or worn trackbar bushings, ends, or bolts. It quite possibly has ovaled your bracket holes and damaged your drag link and/or tie-rod ends.

spartan99

As I reread this thread to stay on top of properly maintaining my Jeep, I am once again surprised by the amount of trolling on this forum. Can we get these types of posts deleted? It's darn near impossible to post useful info without trolls interfering. Planman solved the greatest JK issue there is, provides a superb write up for FREE (he could've sold this data easily) and even he got trolled?

TXBeachJK

I have been experiencing some death wobble (or what I believe is death wobble). It usually occurs at about 40 mph but happens rarely. But when it happens, the only way to stop it is to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. I have gone though Planman's inspection procedures, and my trackbar appears to be ok. My brackets are not ovaled out at all, but there is very slight movement within the bushings. The drag link and tie rod ends have some clunking and there is slight movement in the ball joints. The unit bearings have no play. If I understand correctly, these issues alone typically don't cause death wobble. My question is, could a combination of all these issue cause death wobble?

For the record, I am currently running a TF 2.5 coil lift with 33x12.50x15 and stock trackbar. I haven't balanced the tires in a while. They have about 40k miles on them, probably 20% tread left. I realize the drag link ends, tie rod ends, and ball joints should be replaced. I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something else that needs to be replaced before I replace the aforementioned parts.