Death wobble trouble
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Moreno Valley Ca.
Death wobble trouble
I have been doing research on this site for some time now, but this is my first post. I would like to say hello first, before I start.
I appologize for the long winded post, but I would like to give as much info as possible.
I bought a 2008 wrangler X Unlimited almost new in 2009, took it out on some trails and I really loved it. so I decided that I wanted to fit 35 inch tires and get a bumper and winch and try some more challenging trails, with 37s and a regear in the future possible. I wanted to minimize changes, so I did my research .
stock (before I started):
2008 JK 4 door
32 in stock tires with 17 inch rims
hard top
auto trans
378 gears (or somthing like that, I cant remember)
mods:
Rugged Ridge HXD winch bumper with ends and pre runner hoops
Warn Power Plant winch
Hella Rally driving lights
KC spots (windsheild braket mount)
Teraflex 4 inch full flex short arm lift kit with shocks
the kit included:
front and rear springs
1/2 inch spacers front and rear
upper and lower adjustable control arms front and rear
rear track bar relocation bracket
front adjustable track bar
teraflex 9550 shocks
new brake lines
I also got:
2.5 inch teraflex front spacers to compensate for the massive sag I got when I installed the bumper and winch.
2.5 inch spidertrax wheel spacers front and rear (so I could fit 35s on my stock rims until I could afford the rims with 4.5 inch backspacing).
I installed the bumper and winch first. The stock front springs sagged to the point that the bump stops were almost touching.
I then installed the lift kit myself, very well engineered and fairly straight forward to install. I used this forums installation walk through, it was a big help. After 3 days of work, and doing the front end alignment procedure that I found on this site I was ready to go. The lift looked great and my JK was level and looked ready for the trail. Originally I wasn't going to install the wheel spacers until I got the new 35 inch tires, but the brake lines were very close to the tires so I installed them with the stock tires for now. I drove it around town and no problems, it tracked perfectly and the steering wheel was centered and snapped back after a turn, but on the freeway at 65 mph I got death wobble. I had to pull over to get it to stop, a Highway patrol officer pulled up and was very concerned, he thought my front end was falling off.
I called 4WD hardware in Riverside, where I bought my parts and told them about my problem, I also looked around on this forum. The concensus was that my track bar was not torqued properly and/or my alignment was not correct.
I re-torqued my track bar to 130 ft/lbs, re-checked all my torqued bolts and I added a Rancho steering stabelizer. I took it on the freeway and still had death wobble, if I slowed down it would stop but I couldn't go over 65 mph.
I took my JK to 4WD hardware so that they could check it out and do a proper alignment.
The JK was ok on the way home, but the next day on the way to work, DEATH WOBBLE!
I went back to 4WD hardware, they checked out my Jeep again. They were very helpful, most everyone there is into Jeeps and has a lot of experience with Jeeps and lifts. They seemed a bit perplexed though as to why I was still having the problem. The guys at 4WD talked to Teraflex, the guys at 4WD Hardware/Teraflex had several suggestions, and thoughts. They thought that the 2.5 inch spacers on the front springs might have elevated the track bar and other components beyond the geometric limit of the track bar to hold the front axel. They suggested removing all or most of the spacers or, install a drag link flip/frame brace/track bar relocation kit.
Having spent more money on my Jeep than my wife would like already, I decided to pull out the 2.5 inch spacers and put 1 inch spacers in. After the switch there was a bit of a rake but not too severe. I took the JK out for a test drive and DEATH WOBBLE!
Now to my question for you all. If I take out the 1 inch spacer, which is 1/2 inch more than the kit came with, will that solve my problem? Should I spend the $450 on the flip kit+the cost of installation?
I have seen and spoken to several JK owners with 3 and 4 inch lifts that do not have the same problems that I am having. Even the techs at 4WD Harware say that this is not the norm. Usually 6 inch lifts or higher have to install the flip kit. Am I missing somthing or is there somthing else I should check or do?
I appologize for the long winded post, but I would like to give as much info as possible.
I bought a 2008 wrangler X Unlimited almost new in 2009, took it out on some trails and I really loved it. so I decided that I wanted to fit 35 inch tires and get a bumper and winch and try some more challenging trails, with 37s and a regear in the future possible. I wanted to minimize changes, so I did my research .
stock (before I started):
2008 JK 4 door
32 in stock tires with 17 inch rims
hard top
auto trans
378 gears (or somthing like that, I cant remember)
mods:
Rugged Ridge HXD winch bumper with ends and pre runner hoops
Warn Power Plant winch
Hella Rally driving lights
KC spots (windsheild braket mount)
Teraflex 4 inch full flex short arm lift kit with shocks
the kit included:
front and rear springs
1/2 inch spacers front and rear
upper and lower adjustable control arms front and rear
rear track bar relocation bracket
front adjustable track bar
teraflex 9550 shocks
new brake lines
I also got:
2.5 inch teraflex front spacers to compensate for the massive sag I got when I installed the bumper and winch.
2.5 inch spidertrax wheel spacers front and rear (so I could fit 35s on my stock rims until I could afford the rims with 4.5 inch backspacing).
I installed the bumper and winch first. The stock front springs sagged to the point that the bump stops were almost touching.
I then installed the lift kit myself, very well engineered and fairly straight forward to install. I used this forums installation walk through, it was a big help. After 3 days of work, and doing the front end alignment procedure that I found on this site I was ready to go. The lift looked great and my JK was level and looked ready for the trail. Originally I wasn't going to install the wheel spacers until I got the new 35 inch tires, but the brake lines were very close to the tires so I installed them with the stock tires for now. I drove it around town and no problems, it tracked perfectly and the steering wheel was centered and snapped back after a turn, but on the freeway at 65 mph I got death wobble. I had to pull over to get it to stop, a Highway patrol officer pulled up and was very concerned, he thought my front end was falling off.
I called 4WD hardware in Riverside, where I bought my parts and told them about my problem, I also looked around on this forum. The concensus was that my track bar was not torqued properly and/or my alignment was not correct.
I re-torqued my track bar to 130 ft/lbs, re-checked all my torqued bolts and I added a Rancho steering stabelizer. I took it on the freeway and still had death wobble, if I slowed down it would stop but I couldn't go over 65 mph.
I took my JK to 4WD hardware so that they could check it out and do a proper alignment.
The JK was ok on the way home, but the next day on the way to work, DEATH WOBBLE!
I went back to 4WD hardware, they checked out my Jeep again. They were very helpful, most everyone there is into Jeeps and has a lot of experience with Jeeps and lifts. They seemed a bit perplexed though as to why I was still having the problem. The guys at 4WD talked to Teraflex, the guys at 4WD Hardware/Teraflex had several suggestions, and thoughts. They thought that the 2.5 inch spacers on the front springs might have elevated the track bar and other components beyond the geometric limit of the track bar to hold the front axel. They suggested removing all or most of the spacers or, install a drag link flip/frame brace/track bar relocation kit.
Having spent more money on my Jeep than my wife would like already, I decided to pull out the 2.5 inch spacers and put 1 inch spacers in. After the switch there was a bit of a rake but not too severe. I took the JK out for a test drive and DEATH WOBBLE!
Now to my question for you all. If I take out the 1 inch spacer, which is 1/2 inch more than the kit came with, will that solve my problem? Should I spend the $450 on the flip kit+the cost of installation?
I have seen and spoken to several JK owners with 3 and 4 inch lifts that do not have the same problems that I am having. Even the techs at 4WD Harware say that this is not the norm. Usually 6 inch lifts or higher have to install the flip kit. Am I missing somthing or is there somthing else I should check or do?
JK Freak
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 623
Likes: 0
From: Longmont, CO
