What to do:

I installed a 2.5 TF BB 18 months ago. I drove the jeep around for awhile prior to putting larger tires on it. During this time, I experienced Death Wobble. It would occur mainly between 50-65mph at anytime that I hit a bump that was only on one side of the jeep or if I hit large road partitions that were diagonal.

I immediately threw parts at the problem. I bought a skyjacker trackbar relocation bracket and a Teraflex HD steering stabilizer. The problem never occurred again.

That is….. until New Year’s Eve 45,000 miles later. I was pulling out of my driveway and I had the worst vibration ever. I pulled over immediately to see that the welds on the factory trackbar bracket housing decided to let go of the axle. After some welding and bracing, all was well again, until I heard a slight pop/thud going around a turn. I immediately had more body roll and the steering felt loose. This weekend, the DW reappeared. Upon inspection, it appears that the steering stabilizer is shot. There was fluid all over. I’ve ordered a Bilstein HD Stabilizer for now.

As I’ve read that stabilizer only mask the problem, what do I do next?

A. Do I dump the trackbar bracket, and buy an adjustable trackbar?
B. Do I keep the trackbar bracket, and buy a draglink flipkit to make my steering parallel again?
C. Something else.

 

first off, the only thing keeping your DW at bay was the steering stabilizer. installing the skyjacker track bar relocation bracket was a BIG mistake and it only aggrivated your problem. in fact, if you don't already have a dropped pitman arm or drag link flip installed, i'm surprised that you weren't having issues with bumpsteer.

if it were me, i would get rid of the skyjacker relocation bracket as it is a terrible design and one that acts as a lever against the weak factory mount. next, i would double check the welds on it and on the frame mount. being that you've already had DW, i would check the mounting holes as they are probably wollowed out and need to be repaired and, i would double check your track bar bushings as they may now be shot. of course, what started all your problems to begin with may have been related to your ball joints and i would have them checked as well.

 

Agreed with all the above. As far as the Bilstein, its a great stabilizer. I had a Rough Country, Teraflex and the Bilstein.

The Bilstein was by far the best.

But double check those trackbar holes for wallowing and ditch the bracket ASAP.

 

Thanks for the input wayolife.

From the beginning, I figured the Trackbar was the problem and not the ball joints since it began after I lifted the vehicle. It was brought to my attention from reading other posts that you should remove the bolt from the trackbar when installing a lift or at very least loosen it. For the life of me, I don’t remember that being mentioned in the TF instructions. That may have very well been my problem from the beginning.

It’s funny that you should mention bumpsteer, because I have a set of 3” lift springs and 3” bumpstop setting in my basement in preparation for an AEV high steer kit purchase to hopefully fix the bumpsteer. The failure of the stabilizer forced my hand on a different purchase so now I’m stuck in now man’s land.

I’m going to remove the trackbar relocation bracket when the stabilizer arrives and see what happens. I will also check the bushings and hole while it’s off.

In your opinion, at 3 inches of lift, what would leave the jeep more driveable? Adjustable Trackbar or Drag Link Flip (AEV). I don’t think it is an option because I’ve read the adjustable trackbars don’t adjust as small as the factory trackbar.

 

At 3 inches you can get away with just the adjustable trackbar and a factory pitman arm. I have seen people running that setup at 4 inches on here. On 4 inches of lift I got a currie relocation bracket, drop pitman, and adjustable trackbar. I think the simpler the setup the better off you will be. I just added the bilstein stabilizer. It is a nice setup. If you are going to do the draglink flip why not move on up to 4 inches of lift? Be sure to torque your trackbar to 125 lbs.