Today driving home I went through a bumpy intersection, sort of "hands off" and as I came out the other side the steering started to shimmy like crazy until I just stopped to make it go away. I've read about "death wobble" a bunch but never experienced it myself, maybe this is it? My JK is a 2011 model with Teraflex 2.5" spring lift. The Jeep has not been abused and I'm the first owner. The dealer put the lift in for me (I've done all kinds of work on my older leaf spring vehicles though). I read around about death wobble and then went out to check the track bar. The bolts "seem" tight, but I'm not sure how to really check. Especially on the passenger side I see no way to get a significant wrench onto the nut side, much less a torque wrench. I could put an air gun on the bolt side. Also, is the nut 13/16" or metric? 13/16 fits the bolt but I really had to work it on on the other side. If it's metric, it's bigger than 19mm, the biggest I have right now.

Anyway, everything really seems tight. The other thing I noticed is that the steering stabilizer is all oily. There is no fluid of any kind coming from the engine or anything else, so it looks like the Teraflex stabilizer itself is leaking. Maybe it's shot and contributing to this problem? Everyone says steering stabilizers are only bandaids when it comes to death wobble, but they must serve some purpose.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

I experience the exact same thing. I can be running along at 60 or 65 with no issue but if the suspension gets unsettled the steering goes a little crazy.. Creates a tense few moments that is for sure. I have about the same setup, 2009 JKUR with a 2.5 lift, running 35's.

Thanks
Mike

 

For anyone else, I found another thread claiming the nut is 21mm on the track bar. I was able to get a partial turn on the upper bolt using an 18" breaker. I figure 125 ft-lb is the same as "as hard as you can". Maybe it'll matter, I don't know. I'm going to replace the steering stabilizer too. Teraflex has a lifetime warranty, so I think they'll just send me one if I send a pic of my busted one for verification.

 

A loose track bar and death wobble can oval out the holes.
Remove and re-inspect your TB mount holes.

A bad steering stab will not cause DW. A binding/bent steering stab will cause other steering issues.

 

You have to torque from the bolt side and 125 is pretty tight, you are probably getting that with your breaker bar if its good and tight.

Have you rotated and balanced your 35's recently.

 

To see if the TB bolts are loose or have wallowed out the holes have someone sit in the rig and turn the steering wheel back and fourth while someone else watches the bolts. If the bolts move I'd just get bigger bolts. Also check your ball joints. I've gone through the stock ones and tried the autozone ones next (major mistake) just put the Synergy ones in and am very happy. Death wobble is a thing of the past

 

Ditto on Synergy! I had to replace tie rod ends went with Synergy TR assembly and replaced my drag link also by Synergy. My factory parts where just s$&t! Call up Northridge 4x4. Also check out you tube, can't remember the name but somebody put out a great video on JK death wobble!
If you replace your drag link make sure you have stock pitman arm and not a drop pitman arm!
Good luck!

Sent from my iPhone using JK-Forum

 

I've only got like 18k miles on this thing. How long did it take your stock stuff to wear out?

Right now I'm leaning toward: slightly loose track bar + fluke situation exacerbate by shot steering damper.

BTW: Terraflex responded to email right away and will replace the stab free of charge. Easy people to deal with for sure.

 

It may have been an improper install. They may have failed to loosen all the control arm and trackbar bolts, and then wait to retorque them until the full weight of the vehicle was on the springs at the new ride height. Without this step, the control arm and trackbar bushings remain pre-loaded/twisted/binded to the wrong ride height. This will lead to the metal bolt sleeves twisting away from the metal bushings and premature failure.

Or, they may have not fully retorqued the bolts, then retorqued them after 50 miles, then had you retorque at least the front trackbar bolts at every oil change interval.

Do yourself a favor and watch my YouTube videos on Diagnosing DW, and read the first couple posts of my Diagnosing DW write-up thread.

Even one episode of DW can damage other parts. Guys who don't immediately fix the source(s) and continue to drive with DW end up destroying their front end. Guys who bandaid DW with a new steering stabilizer without fixing the real sources of the problem end up cussing further damage--especially when the new steering stabilizer fails prematurely because it can no longer mask the problems.

 

I am not sure if your vehicle is like mine but I was able to locate the Death Wobble problem eventually by pulling the track bar off and looking at the bolt hole on the axel, I found that the entire hole was about 3-4 millimeters too large for the bolt that was being used. I added some bushings to the hole and re-torqued it back to spec and the wobble went away. Might be something similar in your case.