While shopping for mods, I had a guy warn me of DEATH WOBBLE. I'm looking at a 4" long or short arm lift with 35" x 17 or 18" wheels. Is there a magic spacing issue, lift or sidewall height that will give you the death wobble? I live in Germany and will spend time on the autobahn. One thing I don't want is the "death wobble" (whatever the hell that is) at 80 MPH! Can someone help me understand what causes this and how to avoid it. I just ordered my Jeep. Am I going to be sorry? I'm not a "factory" kinda person.

 

What I mean to say is, if I can't mod it, I'll cancel my order. I've always wanted a Jeep, but if I'm getting myself into more trouble than it's worth, let me know now. I'll flex a lot for mods (more gas, rough ride, etc.), but I won't sacrifice safety or operability.

 

Do a search there is an in depth explanation of death wobble and the only reason you would get it is faulty parts or faulty install. As long as you are thorough with everything, make sure items are torqued to spec and not worn out you will be fine. No death wobble hear and I've done a number of mods in many phases..

 

I have the same concerns "touchingohi". I definitely want to preserve my highway drivability.
rdubb1031: Your setup is real close to what I am looking at for my 2012 rubicon. How is your on road handling?
Thanks

 

No complaints here but its taken some time to dial everything in. Everything I've added was a result of something else. For instance, I lifted it and bigger tires, prematurely wore out many bushings on the steering, so I replaced all the components. Was still a little rough from the lift so I added the AEV drop brackets, these are an inexpensive fix to help improve road handling, but sacrifices clearance. If I could afford it, I would put on new control arms.

My advice.. have a plan and grow in to your lift. I started with the lift, then added items as I was better able to dial it in once I narrowed down any issues I had. Yes I would like higher gears, more power, blah blah blah.. but my setup works as is and I'll grow in to more mods down the road.. if you have unlimited funds, get a complete system, but its all dependent on what you can and cannot afford.

 

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-t...-bolts-210051/

This thread will give you value info...besides switching bolts or making sure your lift comes with the correct size/style bolts, installing the lift loosely while in the air and torquing everything under the Jeeps own weight is key.
Loose or worn tie rod ends, ball joints, and track bar bushings can contribute to the onset of death wobble.
Although it may take a while you can still experience death wobble on a stock setup, but done properly with the right parts is just as safe.

 

....In addition to the link above you should also consider whether you really need a 4" lift. A 2.5" coil kit or 3" kit is enough to clear/run 35s. The reason I am mentioning this is because you will be driving ~80 mph....The smaller lifts will allow you to maintain a "Lower Center Of Gravity" as compared to a 4" lift......

 

x2!!!!

Proper installation and maintenance are the best preventions of Death Wobble. I had DW creep in 3.5 years after my 4" lift and 34" tires were installed. I solved it by repairing worn bushings and joints in the front lower control arms and balancing the tires. It has been DW free since then (about a year) and I drive 80mph on the interstate.

Good Luck!

 

Death Wobble is actually quite rare. This is the kinda place where people congregate to share their problems, so you will see a lot more of it on a forum like this. Unfortunately, reading about these problems can be quite disconcerting to new potential Jeep owners. A good reason why Chrysler should do more to address it. Anyways... I did a poll once just to get an idea of how many people on here actually got the death wobble... Out of some 60,000 + members, I got 24 people who said they had the death wobble. Even if that was only one percent of the people on this forum who have actually had it who cared to reply to that poll, it would still be a rather small number considering how many hundreds of thousands of JK's sold out there. If you make sure the lift is installed properly, you upgrade your bolts as per recommended, and keep up with your scheduled maintenance, you should have no worries. Just enjoy being a Jeep owner.

 

Thanks for the posts very helpful