PatrickESJK

How do I check them?

JK yeti

Jack up a wheel off the ground and place a shovel or something similar under the tire and push down on the shovel and check for movements at the ball joints.
Sorry kinda hard to explain, planman has a video on YouTube

PatrickESJK

Just found it on youtube and how to replace them if it ever comes to it. This looks like a pain in the ass. Thank you I hope the ball joint test comes back negative.

5150cliff

I read your posts but am having trouble accepting some of the diagnoses. It was commented that the 'axle' actually is what wobbles from side to side caused by the loose track bolt or wallowed out holes in the mounting bracket. If you look at the tires when 'death wobble' is happening, you can see that it is just the wheels/tires that are wobbling, not the whole axle. The wheels/tires are pivoting on the ball joints and this is the area of wobble, not the whole axle shifting side to side. Does anyone else see it this way? Seems that it would be futile to replace a track bar or ball joints to cure this.

planman

In the first post, I included a link to a YouTube video of Death Wobble that has metal clanking from the axle shifting side to side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwiv23dLhMY&feature=player_embedded
If you perform the tests I show in this next video, you should find the source(s), and if not, you can do the steps in post #2. It doesn't take very long. There is no reason to leave it to guesswork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ii81V7XYr-k

5150cliff

I'll give it a try. Thanks. My track bar and holes look good. I'll just start the checklist and do one thing at a time.

5150cliff

Ok, now I'm happy. I followed the checklist and everything checked out 'except' the front control arm bubber bushings. The bottom ones had about 1/4 inch of play in them and the tops were loose, but not as bad. I took them off and replaced them with the silicone bushings (Rubicon Express arms) and took it for a test ride. What a difference! Tight steering now and no wandering. I could not duplicate the shaking that I'd experienced previously even when I found some rough roads and potholes that I purposefully hit. It's fixed! Thanks Planman for giving me the hope that I could do it if I followed a set method. I was ready to just start replacing stuff; ball joints, trackbar, tie rod ends, but that would have been expensive. Since the silicone bushings were free from 4WheelParts (warranty item) it cost me nothing more that 3 hours of my time.

planman

You are welcome. Awesome report!

DamonK

I have read your very well written diagnosis on the wobble problems. I have had this for nearly two years chasing the problem with no success. A buddy came over and reproduced the feel of the wobble by moving the transfer case with his foot. He feels that the mount is bad which allows the wobble. I tend to agree because of the look and feel of the vehicle when he jostled it. Is there supposed to be 2-3 inches of movement in the transfer case?

Dan The Man

"DIAGNOSIS CHECKLISTAssuming your tire psi is 28-30, your tires/wheels have been balanced and rotated to make sure the wobble doesn't move with the rotation, here would be my order:"

I think he said it right there. this happened to me and It was bad tires. Was neglecting them. The shiimmy led to ball joint replacement later. So rotate your tires!