I dented my tie rod in so much the plastic cover over the stock ss rod was jammed into the trackbar mount.

I removed the ss on the trail. On my way home on the highway, I got a case of dw while decelerating from 50 to 40 mph.

I pulled over, reinstalled the ss while cutting off the plastic so it doesn't hit the trackbar mount. Drove home without any problems

Was my DW from the bent tie rod or from running without a ss?

Just ordered the synergy tie rod. Undecided on which ss - fox, bilstein or ome

 

Yes..
The bent tie rod has increased your toe in which among other things can initiate DW (other parts need to be loose or worn for DW to continue). In your case the SS was able to overcome any further occurrence. Keep in mind that A properly aligned and maintained frontend requires no SS. The SS is there as a safety precaution for when things start to go.

 

So getting a new tie rod and aligning it should fix it? Trackbar and drag link is stock

 

The tierod assembly is very weak and easily bends. We recommend either the Synergy or Rock Krawler tie rod as they are the best on the market in our opinion.

Your drag link is also weak and can bend even with out hitting it. If it doesn't bend then you will eventually wear out the joint at the knuckle side of the link. Again Synergy or Rock Krawler will be a good option.

Have you installed a lift? All of the quality lifts come with at least a front Trackbar. If you plan on lifting it at some point I would recommend waiting on doing anything with your trackbar until that point.

Let us know if we can help you in any way with this issue.

 

SS will not cause DW. It will give you a good shimmy. Just the torque on your TB. My advice is to wheel without the SS at all.

 

Lots on death wobble. Search it. There is a great discussion by planman that helped me solve mine. SS def NOT the cause. Lots drive without one. Good luck.