Had the worst death wobble ever this morning. At 20+ mph it would start. Pulled over and happened again. Then again. Couldnt get anywhere. Limped back home. Swapped trackbars, bolts, retorqued, rotated tires. Still a no go. Having it towed down to sonora to the dealer to be all gone through and fixed. Jeep cost me a promising job interview.I might be over it.

 

Ahhh, that suck dude. I hope they're willing to resched the interview.

 

Death wobble is a an easy fix, if you have a buddy (or significant other) with you.

Have them slowly turn your steering about 10 degrees side to side while you sit under the front of jeep. Have them keep doing that while you look at each tie rod end, each drag link rod end and each track bar end.

If this is new death wobble (and not a newly built jeep), you will quickly see where your problem is.

Case and point. My jeep has been built for 4 years. I've never had death wobble. Ran the Rubicon this weekend. Once leaving I had scary death wobble. One of my buddies had stayed behind and I had my wife with me. We pulled over and he grabbed his tool bag while my wife turned the wheel and I sat under the front. Sure enough my lower drag link rod end had seen the bolt loosen (even WITH The cotter pin in there). We pulled the pin and wrenched down the rod end. Then I went to my bag and pulled a spare cotter pin out to insert and bend. Fine.

Got back on the road and still have some very minor death wobble. Drove about 7 miles and decide to pull over before hitting Wentworth springs Rd at 55 +, and check everything one more time. We did the same thing and this time saw the lower track bar bushing had movement. We quickly tightened it down and the car drove like stock again the rest of the way home.

I always carry a spare pitman arm, rod end and lower track bar bushing kit in my "parts" bag.

Don't be intimidated when dealing with DW. It is all fixable. If your rig has a new lift or mods and DW starts immediately, I'd first check as mentioned above. If that is not the case then your front end geometry is likely off because of the mod. Then you'd need to correct that problem for the fix.

Sorry you had the problem and the missed interview. I hope you're back on the road soon!

 

Thanks. It was a bad morning. Trying to wrench under a jeep in a suit at 6am on the highway was not thrilling. I towed the jeep to the shop an hour and a half away and rented a car. Just got a call from the mechanic and he said its due to a bad steering stabilizer. Its a new TF stabilizer btw. Im afraid I went to the wrong shop. Ill refer your checklist to the shop. Could bad ball joints be the culprit? This wouldnt be such a big deal in the city but living in bear valley this is a huge pita and I dont have a lot of choices.

 

Steering stablizer wont solve the problem. I don't even run one.

Ball joints are a problem in vary rare cases becuase they cause a different type of wobble. If you've ever had death wobble, bad ball joints wouldn't feel the same + your jeep would have the front wheels tilting in whill parked. That's usually a give a way. I'm not sure about if the ball joints were just beginning to fail and how that would feel...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVASX...e_gdata_player

Ive had it before but not as intense

 

What shop did you send it to?

I have had bad death wobble due to a faulty TF steering stabilizer. Called them up and they sent me a new one over night. The new one was leaking badly.

If you are in town tomorrow, call me. I am off work. Glad to look it over with you. I am pretty good at finding the causes. Have fixed it for a few people. But I will be out of town on saturday and sunday.

 

The steering stabilizer will only mask the real problem. Follow what Brad says one component at a time and you will find it.

 

Its beyond my knowledge. I went through planmans write up also. Ill give the shop till monday.
Stuka I thought about swinging by your office but thought an unexpected drop in would be rude. Took it to motherlode motors because they used to be a jeep dealer. Ill let you know when im picking it up.

 

Are they going to have your rig until Monday? I could run up there Sunday and see if we can track down the problem if you are going to have your rig back?