Hi
I was wondering about the number of Death Wobble issues. There seem to be very few posts about this these days, where twelve months ago, every third thread seemed to be about. Have these issues all been sorted, or are they still lingering in the background? Many of us in Aussies are still having them, and they are very frustrating when you are one with them. What is the general feeling in May 2010?
Thanks
Tom

 

I'm sure they aren't going away, just a lot better resources to deal with it.

 

I agree that are not going away. The only partial fix that 2010 JKs might offer is better ball joints. Most of them probably don't have enough miles to start wearing out.

 

Nice break-down PlanMan. You've listed the causes of Death Wobble, but what can be done to fix it?

I don't have death wobble, but I do have some side to side shimmy going on the highway at speeds of about 75 or so. I'm afraid that I may be a death wobble case waiting to happen. When I did my 2.5 Coil lift I didn't loosen trackbar bolts or control arm bolts. Is this something I can do now? Should I loosen the bolts and then torque them back up even though I did my lift about 7 months ago?

 

I just experienced the death wobble for the first time. Only happened once but i feel the rythmic vibration after a bump on the driver side fairly often now. It all started after changing out the steering stabilizer. I suspect that the original stab was masking the issue. I did loosen and (change out) my track bar but not my control arms when I installed the lift. A number of people told me that caster alone can cause death wobble. I have checked everything alignment, ball joints, torqued and retorqued track bar bolts and everything seems ok. It only seems to be an issue at higher speeds 40 and above. Two questions:
1. should I get adjustable lower (or upper) control arms to correct the caster? and...

2. what do I now need to re-check for damage after having had one episode of DW? I doesnt feel any different now.

Thanks

 

The first thing to do is get the steering stabilizer out of the way to make diagnosis and finding the culprit easier. You can safely drive your vehicle without it as it's more of a comfort feature than a necessary component of the steering system.

 

For everyone else with wobbles and death wobbles don't forget to also check your control arm mount holes! In addition to all my track bar holes being egged out almost all my control arms holes were as well and I had to weld washers to them.

 

Thanks Planman for youe indebth coverage. I have a few more questions for you though. I have Death Wobble, I have had it since the lift, I installed everything correctly, loosened / tightened all bolts, etc etc etc. I installed a new Trackbar with urethane bushes, chewed both bushes in 4 weeks, installed the OE trackbar, chewed one bush so far, still have death wobble, so do not drive my Jk much, over 60km/h anyway. I am waiting on new control arms (trying to get arms with rubber bushes and ones that are legal in Oz so difficult, should be here next week. We have other live axle 4wd here as well, the main one being a Nissan Patrol, a tough asnails bullet proof 4wd, with all the running gear built the same as they did 15 years ago. They to had their death wobble issues, 99% to do with the Trackbar, they tried different bushes but have gone back to OE Nissan bushes, The Nissan bushes are known to be as tough as nails. so I am having a new Trackbar built with these Nissan bushes, which may solve that issue. I have been led to believe that the week tie rods or ball joints can also cause death wobble. (I did read your noes above)My question is that if the Nissan patrol had a bad ball joint or Tie Rod, It would not matter so much, may feel a bit loose in the steering, but that is about it. (The Nissan has a 3 link front end) So why are the jeeps so suscepable to death wobble. If I had good ball joints, Trackbar, all bushes, correct castor etc, are they still prone to wobble, I have heard of people replacing their week OE parts with strong aftermarket parts and they still have the wobble. I only have a 2.5" lift, and Jeep have told me to go away in relation to a warranty claim? which i am challenging.

 

my 08 2 door did this, went in to have it checked at the dealership, and came out with a '10 4 door

 

that's a costly fix.