Wobbles and wanders and shakes, oh my!
10-05-2015, 01:26 PM
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Pulsing vibrations
Ok so I've got an ongoing issue that's getting on my nerves and I can't seem to track down what it is. I've got a 2009 Wrangler Rubicon manual with 47,000 miles on it, mods in sig. It's got a pulsating vibration at highway speeds between 60 and 70mph only when accelerating and it can occur in either 5th or 6th gear. As soon as my foot is off the gas, they go away.
What's already been done to try to fix it is as follows: balanced tires, aligned, rotated tires, swapped tires to rule tires out, removed front driveshaft, replace rear driveshaft, replace rear axle shafts (bent flanges) replaced transmission, t-case and diff fluids, all joints, bushings, mounts etc have been checked as well
I'm beginning to think something else is going on here. Something internal with maybe the transmission, transfer case etc. I've come to notice that these pulsating vibrations are only between 60 and 70mph while I'm accelerating. As soon as I let off the accelerator, the vibrations go away.
I'm at a loss here. If I had hope for anything fixing my issue, it was the axle shafts. Now I don't know where to go from here...Any ideas?
What's already been done to try to fix it is as follows: balanced tires, aligned, rotated tires, swapped tires to rule tires out, removed front driveshaft, replace rear driveshaft, replace rear axle shafts (bent flanges) replaced transmission, t-case and diff fluids, all joints, bushings, mounts etc have been checked as well
I'm beginning to think something else is going on here. Something internal with maybe the transmission, transfer case etc. I've come to notice that these pulsating vibrations are only between 60 and 70mph while I'm accelerating. As soon as I let off the accelerator, the vibrations go away.
I'm at a loss here. If I had hope for anything fixing my issue, it was the axle shafts. Now I don't know where to go from here...Any ideas?
Last edited by TinyTim93; 02-02-2016 at 08:56 AM.
10-05-2015, 03:01 PM
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Most of the time a wobble at a certain speed is a tire balance issue. Have you tried a road force balance? Is there a chance that one if your wheels could be defective? Does rotating the tires make any difference in the wobble? How worn are the km2. I had 35 mickey Thompson atz with about 47,000 miles and thought my jeep drove good. I recently installed 35 bf Goodrich ko2 and the improvement in ride quality is amazing!
10-05-2015, 04:04 PM
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Most of the time a wobble at a certain speed is a tire balance issue. Have you tried a road force balance? Is there a chance that one if your wheels could be defective? Does rotating the tires make any difference in the wobble? How worn are the km2. I had 35 mickey Thompson atz with about 47,000 miles and thought my jeep drove good. I recently installed 35 bf Goodrich ko2 and the improvement in ride quality is amazing!
I should note that the road force balancer was acting up while trying to balance my tires and only 2 got done by that method, the other 2 were balanced the regular way.
To answer your other questions. I'm sure there is a chance one of my tires/wheels could be defective/have a broken belt seeing as my Jeep has seen more than just your run of the mill dirt trail. They aren't very worn and have about 70% tread remaining.
10-05-2015, 04:42 PM
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Tight is not torqued. Torque everything on the front end to spec.
Checkout the thread on death wobble. The attached video will go step by step through diagnosing your problem.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
Checkout the thread on death wobble. The attached video will go step by step through diagnosing your problem.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
Last edited by Albino Lizard; 10-05-2015 at 04:46 PM.
10-06-2015, 05:22 AM
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Tight is not torqued. Torque everything on the front end to spec.
Checkout the thread on death wobble. The attached video will go step by step through diagnosing your problem.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
Checkout the thread on death wobble. The attached video will go step by step through diagnosing your problem.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/
10-06-2015, 05:44 AM
#6
The speed you mention, is exactly what my TJ did and it drove me nuts replacing steering stabilizer and balancing. Finally, because it was still under extended warranty the dealer took it while I was traveling and they finally put a new set of tires from a new wrangler and the problem went away. It turned out one or more were internally separating. And the problem was gone when I bought 4 new tires.
10-06-2015, 06:13 AM
#7
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The link to Planman's checklist is the right place to start. But, for discussion purposes, a 2009 with how many miles? Aftermarket or OEM driveshafts (because of that lift height, could be related). Have you checked the ball joints? Do be aware that if you're experiencing full-blown death wobble, each incident can cause further damage. Some of that damage might be hidden--such as ovaling out of the holes for the trackbar bolts. This spreading and hiding is what can make it so frustrating to solve. Definitely minimize driving until you do fix it if you have honest-to-goodness DW.
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10-06-2015, 09:10 AM
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The link to Planman's checklist is the right place to start. But, for discussion purposes, a 2009 with how many miles? Aftermarket or OEM driveshafts (because of that lift height, could be related). Have you checked the ball joints? Do be aware that if you're experiencing full-blown death wobble, each incident can cause further damage. Some of that damage might be hidden--such as ovaling out of the holes for the trackbar bolts. This spreading and hiding is what can make it so frustrating to solve. Definitely minimize driving until you do fix it if you have honest-to-goodness DW.
10-19-2015, 09:58 AM
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Update:
Took it to a local shop here in town that specializes in Jeeps. He had it for 2 days and didn't come up with anything conclusive. However, he did tell me most of my issue seems to be coming from some sort of imbalance in my rear driveshaft. He removed it and took it out for a brief drive and said everything but my slight front end shake at city speeds was gone. He checked over everything else and even swapped a known good set of tires onto it to rule out tire issues. I had to take my Jeep back before he could confirm anything. I'm going to do a little more research and then I'll put either a Tom Woods or Adams driveshaft in it and go from there.
Another thing he told me is that when they had it in gear on the lift they could see the rear calipers had some movement/wobble to them. I was told it's possible I have bent both my rear axle shafts. What's the likelihood of this?
Took it to a local shop here in town that specializes in Jeeps. He had it for 2 days and didn't come up with anything conclusive. However, he did tell me most of my issue seems to be coming from some sort of imbalance in my rear driveshaft. He removed it and took it out for a brief drive and said everything but my slight front end shake at city speeds was gone. He checked over everything else and even swapped a known good set of tires onto it to rule out tire issues. I had to take my Jeep back before he could confirm anything. I'm going to do a little more research and then I'll put either a Tom Woods or Adams driveshaft in it and go from there.
Another thing he told me is that when they had it in gear on the lift they could see the rear calipers had some movement/wobble to them. I was told it's possible I have bent both my rear axle shafts. What's the likelihood of this?
10-24-2015, 05:44 AM
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Have your control arms checked for worn bushings or loose nut , this will cause shaking in steering axle.
Update:
Took it to a local shop here in town that specializes in Jeeps. He had it for 2 days and didn't come up with anything conclusive. However, he did tell me most of my issue seems to be coming from some sort of imbalance in my rear driveshaft. He removed it and took it out for a brief drive and said everything but my slight front end shake at city speeds was gone. He checked over everything else and even swapped a known good set of tires onto it to rule out tire issues. I had to take my Jeep back before he could confirm anything. I'm going to do a little more research and then I'll put either a Tom Woods or Adams driveshaft in it and go from there.
Another thing he told me is that when they had it in gear on the lift they could see the rear calipers had some movement/wobble to them. I was told it's possible I have bent both my rear axle shafts. What's the likelihood of this?
Took it to a local shop here in town that specializes in Jeeps. He had it for 2 days and didn't come up with anything conclusive. However, he did tell me most of my issue seems to be coming from some sort of imbalance in my rear driveshaft. He removed it and took it out for a brief drive and said everything but my slight front end shake at city speeds was gone. He checked over everything else and even swapped a known good set of tires onto it to rule out tire issues. I had to take my Jeep back before he could confirm anything. I'm going to do a little more research and then I'll put either a Tom Woods or Adams driveshaft in it and go from there.
Another thing he told me is that when they had it in gear on the lift they could see the rear calipers had some movement/wobble to them. I was told it's possible I have bent both my rear axle shafts. What's the likelihood of this?