Death Wobble.

I have read about everything on it but want to give the details and see what you all think.

5" lift, 35" tires, drop frame bracket and dropped pit. My control arms/tb are not adjustable as they are custom built by Moab Industries and I guessing the dementions were dialed in. Plus, I havn't had any problems and it has allways tracked fine so I am ruling those out. I have had the Jeep about 9 months, a little bump steer here and there but thats about it.

The SS is blown and I will put a new one on, but thats not the problem.

I hit a bump a couple days ago and it kicked in.

Now anytime I hit a bump going 25 mph or more it kicks in.

I retorqued the track bar and looked the brackets over and they feel and look fine. Also rebalanced the tires and rotate. The little bump steer I had at about 35 went away, wooo hooo.

Now check this out. I can recreate the wobble going about 25 on smooth ground by moving the wheel back and forth quickly, it kicks in. I have not heard of this one.

Do you think I knocked it out of alignment? Would that do it?

Could I have crushed a bushing?

My thoughts are the bump I hit jared something? I just cant see anything.

Help....

 

Bump.......

EDIT: Let me ask you. I want to list a few things here and tell me this...

1...Not likely at all...

2....possible...

3...very possible...

4...for sure...

I dont know if this is a way of narrowing it down...


slightly loose shock
blown shock
alignment
caster
camber
off set axel
factory track bar bracket that is not cracked
bent C
driveline
SS
ball joints
tires out of ballance
bad tire
roters
steering box

Add to the list if you think of more.

I just have to fix this and its driving me nuts. A person could spend alot of money for nothing and it would be nice to narrow it down, Thanks

 

Your toe may be off, if you've re-torqued everything and have no blown bushings, I do that first. Too much toe and youl'll wobble like a MOFO.

 

you may want to check for play in the ball joints? It has been mentioned that the stock ones are crap. Just a thought, I have the same problem on mine. the new tracking bar helped but it still tries to start back up on certain bumps. I have not checked mine yet.

 

Ok, I will check the ball joints, not sure how to do that but will look...

I checked my toe and it is 1/8 in......dont know. Should I go to 0 or less? Or 1/16"?

Wierd...on snow or ice no wobble. Im not kidding, I can not recreate it with out going some outragious speed to kill my self...Again wierd...But get back on pavement and look out!

My caster is 1 deg. Probably always has been but...?

no loose parts to notice...

I am ording new adjustable lowers and uppers... I think its a waist of money but I have to do something.

I am on a rig and can not take the highway to get home. I have to order parts and do the work myself but am lost here.. Christmas will take a hit...Santa got Death Wobble...

It is so scary that I would just soon park it...I do not know what else...

 

this is most likely a BIG part of your problem. you ever get a shopping cart at the grocery store and it has a wheel flopping all over the place - same thing. too little to no caster. this really needs to be addressed before you can really get this thing fixed.

double check your factory track bar mounts especially around the seams. check to see if there is any visible signs of fatigue or tearing. on the frame side, you may need to pull this bracket off to examine the factory mount thoroughly. if there is fatigue or tearing here, it will flex and this will allow DW to occur. so you know, toad just had this exact problem.

new uppers might be a waste but the lowers are not. new front lowers alone will allow you to set your caster to +6° and this will help out a lot.

 

you definitely do not want to be at 1 degree. minimum of 4.5. This will definitely cause the flighty steering. I,d bring it back and have Moab fix this as for custom work they should of known this.

Also run toe in 1/8 with that size tire and lift.

I suspect you also are going to need to recenter the axle under the jeep once you fix this stuff. Do you have adjustable track bars?

Also what I your pinion angle and do you have a 2 door?

 

toe in or toe out????????

 

toe in.
WOL has a thread that states ... 35's should be about 1/4 to 1/8
and 37's should be 1/8... < < < Search it and make sure of these numbers before you take my word.

I am curious what are the symptoms of incorrect toe ? But I guess I should start my own thread for that. haha.

 

Toe in 1/8 or 1/16 or 1/32, I actually have to run mine toe out 1/32 for proper handling. Gonna depend on how your tires are wearing. I actually may have to run mine like this because I had been running white letters out when I used my stock rims and switched to black out on my cragers. I tryed toe-in by micro amounts and couldn't run it without deathwobble on every bump. I also had been running these tires with about 1/4in toe out ever since installed. That too I think is also why I can't run toe-in right now. If I were you, since it's relatively easy to do, go 1/16 or 1/32 in and see if it helps. If there is no chage try a little toe out, if that's not it , toe isn't your problem.