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Death Wobble

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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 03:04 AM
  #21  
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Default Shocks

I don't see any mention of shock absorbers. If it were me I would try a new set of good shocks. They go a long way to dampening unwanted front end movement and are an easy fix/test.

Good Luck
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 04:49 AM
  #22  
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The "clunk" in your steering could be a lot of things, but seeing as 90% of that has just been replaced its most likely your intermediate shaft. The shaft that connects your steering wheel to your steering box. It wouldn't account for your DW however it is a famous culprit for the JK clunk. There are two places where it can be happening, the spot where it comes through your firewall, and at the joint in the lower shaft. Where it comes through your firewall it passes through a bushing, if that bushing slips down the shaft your intermediate shaft will be able to freely move around the hole in the fire wall, causing a clunk whenever it moves side to side. If the clunk is coming from the joint in the center, the joint that allows it to collapse in an accident, it is because there is play in the splines on the shaft. There are some great write ups on both. The firewall involves tapping the bushing back in place with a piece of wood, and the joint involves filling the protective boot with grease. Search "intermediate joint" on the forum and you should come across both. Again, that would simply account for the clunk, a worn out IS may contribute to DW but play in your sector shaft would be the likely cause. You can check that by lying under your front end and having a buddy turn the wheel back and forth. If you see any side to side in the shaft at the pitman arm, that's the culprit. Sorry for the long post. Hope it helped.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 05:28 AM
  #23  
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While all the above suggestions can play into the cause of DW, I haven't read one mention about adjusting the lower control arms. We have the same lift on my wife's 2012 JKUR and have zero wobble and we have the stock stabilizer still on!

When you lift your suspension, and still use your stock lower control arms, your front axle rotates forward. The RK 2.5 MAX Travel comes with adjustable lower control arms that need to be adjusted so they rotate your front axle back to the same position it was before you lifted it, bringing your alignment specs back to (or much closer to) stock alignment. I didn't get to measure the length of our adj control arms to compare it to the stock ones so I couldn't tell you where to start but I would recommend turning your lowers out(lengthen them) maybe two full turns. Then do a home alignment real fast and take it for a ride. Do that until you are happy with how it rides and then take it to a professional alignment shop and have them dial it in. Afterwards, you should be solid.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 05:36 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by CEC_LDO
While all the above suggestions can play into the cause of DW, I haven't read one mention about adjusting the lower control arms. We have the same lift on my wife's 2012 JKUR and have zero wobble and we have the stock stabilizer still on!

When you lift your suspension, and still use your stock lower control arms, your front axle rotates forward. The RK 2.5 MAX Travel comes with adjustable lower control arms that need to be adjusted so they rotate your front axle back to the same position it was before you lifted it, bringing your alignment specs back to (or much closer to) stock alignment. I didn't get to measure the length of our adj control arms to compare it to the stock ones so I couldn't tell you where to start but I would recommend turning your lowers out(lengthen them) maybe two full turns. Then do a home alignment real fast and take it for a ride. Do that until you are happy with how it rides and then take it to a professional alignment shop and have them dial it in. Afterwards, you should be solid.
I was going to suggest adjusting castor as well but the op mentioned having an alignment so I assumed everything was in line.

On a side note, how much lift did you get with the rk 2.5. I heard they run tall.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 11:35 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by c4bus
I was going to suggest adjusting castor as well but the op mentioned having an alignment so I assumed everything was in line.

On a side note, how much lift did you get with the rk 2.5. I heard they run tall.
Yeah I already had an alignment done stock specs is -5.5 but the shop set it to -5.6. I have a stock 2dr, unfortunately I get about 4" in the front and 3" in the rear which is a lot more than I expected. I need a heavier bumper to weigh down the front end. That's never going to happen if this wobble doesn't get fixed.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 11:38 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by c4bus
The "clunk" in your steering could be a lot of things, but seeing as 90% of that has just been replaced its most likely your intermediate shaft. The shaft that connects your steering wheel to your steering box. It wouldn't account for your DW however it is a famous culprit for the JK clunk. There are two places where it can be happening, the spot where it comes through your firewall, and at the joint in the lower shaft. Where it comes through your firewall it passes through a bushing, if that bushing slips down the shaft your intermediate shaft will be able to freely move around the hole in the fire wall, causing a clunk whenever it moves side to side. If the clunk is coming from the joint in the center, the joint that allows it to collapse in an accident, it is because there is play in the splines on the shaft. There are some great write ups on both. The firewall involves tapping the bushing back in place with a piece of wood, and the joint involves filling the protective boot with grease. Search "intermediate joint" on the forum and you should come across both. Again, that would simply account for the clunk, a worn out IS may contribute to DW but play in your sector shaft would be the likely cause. You can check that by lying under your front end and having a buddy turn the wheel back and forth. If you see any side to side in the shaft at the pitman arm, that's the culprit. Sorry for the long post. Hope it helped.
I've read about the greasing of the boot, just decided to put it to the side since my priority is the wobble. There is no side to side play on the sector shaft but there is noise coming from that area. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 11:40 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by jlarso
I don't see any mention of shock absorbers. If it were me I would try a new set of good shocks. They go a long way to dampening unwanted front end movement and are an easy fix/test.

Good Luck
Thanks, but my Bilstein 5100 have less than 3k miles on them, almost every suspension/steering item have been replaced in the last 3k miles. Today I rotated the tires back to what they were, just trying to eliminate as much as I can. Still wobbling. I'm considering taking the front spacers off but not sure if it will do anything.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 11:48 AM
  #28  
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The only other thing it sounds like it could be would be your wheel bearing. Jack up a wheel, hands at 12 and 6, and pull and push to see if there is any play in the bearing. I whacked my wheel pretty hard into a tree one afternoon and had to replace my hub. It was cause a pretty big shimmy at certain speeds.
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Old Feb 27, 2013 | 01:28 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by c4bus
The only other thing it sounds like it could be would be your wheel bearing. Jack up a wheel, hands at 12 and 6, and pull and push to see if there is any play in the bearing. I whacked my wheel pretty hard into a tree one afternoon and had to replace my hub. It was cause a pretty big shimmy at certain speeds.
Unit bearings are fine, today is the last day I can work on it and so far still wobbling, going to be 25 days until it gets to California and then back into a shop until it's fixed. Thanks for the help. If anyone knows a good shop in Socal please let me know.
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Old Mar 2, 2013 | 12:08 PM
  #30  
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From: CT
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Low Caster should not cause DW. Will contribute to it with other problems.

Many folks running 2 even 3 degrees for pinion angle with no problems.
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