So I have been researching the DW on this forum, bc of course I am experiencing just that. It is getting so annoying and frustrating my JK is doing this. Is DW more common in modified JK's or stock JK's. I havent done anything to my 4 door JK yet, it is completely stock, and I am experiencing horrendous DW. Almost to the point were Im asking myself if it is even worth keeping. I have been wanting to lift my JK for a while now and close to buying the parts for the lift, but, I dont want to do this if it is just going to make the DW worse.

From what I see, a ton of people have experienced DW. If this is a common experience in stock JK's, why hasnt Jeep/Chrysler researched this? It can actually be very dangerous, just had a friend total her jeep due to DW. You would think if it is common, it would be a recall.

I have looked at various threads on how to fix it or a way to look into general areas that may cause it, are there any specific threads that people have used in the past that have cured the DW. I want to get this all straight before I lift her!

Please let me know what yall think!

 

DW happens, this is a fact.

I had a minor DW one time, after reading a very awesome post by Planman I went through my suspension, torqued everything to spec, and have had no problems since. Turned out my track bar was just a little loose as well as my drag link on the axle side.

Get a day to crawl under the JK and check over everything front and rear. If that doesn't work, then you will know there really is an issue

 

DW is a result of lose, worn out or failing components. wheeling your jeep will cause all of the above no less than your tires going bald from driving on them. in order to prevent DW, you need to check and maintain your jeep regularly just like anything else. if your JK is stock and you really are having DW (not to be confused with a bad shimmy in your steering wheel), your problem most likely resides in a lose track bar bolt or, you have bad ball joints.

DW is always fixable and, for the most part, preventable as well.

 

Track bar and ball joints are the first places I would look. Many have said their ball joints have worn out pretty early.

 

how do you check the bad ball joints????

 

If you have a dial indicator, it will be the best way to measure ball joint play. But, there are things you can do to check it without one and, if they are really bad, you won't need one.

Here what you do:
1. From the axle, use a good floor jack to lift one of your tire off the ground. If you don't have a good floor jack, set your axle on a jack stand to hold it up securely in place.
2. From the side, place a long pry bar under the tire and have someone lift it up and down while you watch the lower ball joint for axial (up and down) movement. Any movement more than 0.050" is too much and would indicate that your ball joint is bad. Of course, if you can see this movement with your eyes, it's definitely bad.
3. Next, grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and try to rock it back and forth while you have someone watch the upper joint for any movement. Any radial (side-to-side) movement more than 0.060" is too much. Again, if you can see the movement with your eyes and without any dial indicator, it's probably bad as well.

 

Let me also add BEARINGS to the "causes DW list." I just had my ball joints replaced for the second time, and needed new bearings as well. 44K miles, 20K with 3.5" lift and 35x12.5x17 tires.

 

I just gotta say I have been dealing with the death wobble problems myself off and on even when the jeep was stock. I got death wobble before I ever even lifted my jeep around 13,000 miles. Like the 100's of us out there experiencing this problem I took it to the dealer hoping for answers. They put a new steering shock in and said mine was bad. Like always this only masked the problem. Long story short I lifted my jeep 3" teraflex control arms the usual new monster forged track bar and well got death wobble again and again tell I read the excellent write up on here turns out my ball joints and track bar bushings had all worn out cause I I installed the lift improperly without loosening and then torquing everything while vehicle was on ground.
So after replacing ball joints track bar bushings I loosened all components, control arms, track bar, made adjustments shook the vehicle up and down to make sure axles were centered then measured caster and pinion etc. Then I torqued everything to speck like again we have heard over and over and then got an alignment at teraflex here in Utah. I knock on wood everyday but since following the good write ups on here from the helpful diagnosis my jeep drives amazing. I can deal with some flightiness and dumpsteer just so happy to not have death wobble.

I can relate to all if you who have had the sleepless nights, anxiety attacks everytime you hit a bump and the death wobble from hell that shakes the jeep so violently you head into oncoming traffic! Ha ha. Truly it is horrifying and makes you never want to drive your jeep again but after 9 months of hell i finally just followed the diagnosis in this thread and have been dw free for almost 1 month now ha ha. I feel like a recovering alcoholic but that's how dw makes you feel. Even causes PTSD seriously!!! My best friend has a 4 door 2010 rubi and eventually went to a complete drag link flip kit with lots of welding and drilling to fix his death wobble but we never properly diagnosed it and probably could have saved him 2000$ if we had followed the diagnosis. Anyway just want to say thanks for the great write up and for helping explain why a solid front axle with 5 link gets out a Wack

 

I had a bad bout with DW on my stock JK (3years ago) and still think about it.. After I did several things, including new tie rod ends, it's gone... Not sure what fixed it... But when I read or see these DW threads I get that sick-helpless feeling again..Good luck!! And I too wish Jeep would have stepped up and did something...

 

Okay, did an install on Teraflex front lower control arms, the Teraflex specifications indicates to extend it to 24". BTW I have a 4" lift...to me it just seems way too long, I dunno. So someone else suggested to purchase an Angle finder, so the reading was 8 degrees! I've test drove on it it seemed fine and handled well, my driveshaft joint angles seemed fine. Is there any issues with this or is the Teraflex specified lenths off a lil'?