Death Wobble in a stock JK Unlimited
JK Newbie
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Santa Teresa, NM
I have a stock 07 JK and the dealership replaced the steering stabilizer on miner. It was only a solution for about a week. I have had death wobble almost everyday since then. Now, they won't even look at my jeep 'til I put new tires on it. My tires have 50k on them. So, hopefully they will fix my issue after I get my new tires installed this week. 
Thread Starter
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 178
Likes: 0
From: Cypress, TX
Ok I am bringing this thread back to life to give my updates finally. I may repeat things I have already posted, but here goes.
I ended up taking the jeep to the dealership and they were unable to reproduce the problem during a 45 minute test drive. They did re-check the alignment again as well as inspect the rest of the front end and were not able to find any problems. Their official diagnosis was that the tires were causing the problem.
Prior to taking the jeep to the dealership I rotated the tires myself, putting the front tires on the back and the backs on the front and that did not change or solve the problem. After going to the dealer I took the jeep to Discount Tire and had them balance all 4 and put my 2 best tires on the front and that did not change or solve the problem. Discount also said that I probably have another 8-10,000 miles worth of life left and 3 of the 4 tires on the ground were still in pretty good shape. 1 tire had some cupping and was a little more worn but it is now on the rear driver's side of the jeep.
Earlier this week I got under the front end again to look and just realized my steering stabilizer is covered in oil while everything else clean. I took the steering stabilizer off and yea it is shot, BUT if the suspension is setup correctly you should not need a steering stabilizer at all so this does not really solve my problem.
After reading post #7 from this thread https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ferrerid=18999 I decided to give my track bar a closer look. Last night I unbolted each end of the track bar and found that the trackbar itself is in good shape, but the holes for the bracket on the axle end are about 1/16" larger than the bolt. On the frame side bracket bolt hole on the back of the bracket was this way as well while the front hole was just large enough for the bolt to pass through. Below are pictures to illustrate what I found.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
Would these bolt holes on the brackets being that much larger be causing my problems?
I ended up taking the jeep to the dealership and they were unable to reproduce the problem during a 45 minute test drive. They did re-check the alignment again as well as inspect the rest of the front end and were not able to find any problems. Their official diagnosis was that the tires were causing the problem.
Prior to taking the jeep to the dealership I rotated the tires myself, putting the front tires on the back and the backs on the front and that did not change or solve the problem. After going to the dealer I took the jeep to Discount Tire and had them balance all 4 and put my 2 best tires on the front and that did not change or solve the problem. Discount also said that I probably have another 8-10,000 miles worth of life left and 3 of the 4 tires on the ground were still in pretty good shape. 1 tire had some cupping and was a little more worn but it is now on the rear driver's side of the jeep.
Earlier this week I got under the front end again to look and just realized my steering stabilizer is covered in oil while everything else clean. I took the steering stabilizer off and yea it is shot, BUT if the suspension is setup correctly you should not need a steering stabilizer at all so this does not really solve my problem.
After reading post #7 from this thread https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ferrerid=18999 I decided to give my track bar a closer look. Last night I unbolted each end of the track bar and found that the trackbar itself is in good shape, but the holes for the bracket on the axle end are about 1/16" larger than the bolt. On the frame side bracket bolt hole on the back of the bracket was this way as well while the front hole was just large enough for the bolt to pass through. Below are pictures to illustrate what I found.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink
Would these bolt holes on the brackets being that much larger be causing my problems?
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
From: Charlotte, NC
My thoughts exactly. I finally tracked down my DW problem this morning (only started DW Sunday), and the hole on the axle bracket is wallowed out pretty bad. Got my Currie bracket riser today to fix the problem, and hopefully my DW. I dont have a SS on mine since I have a Rock Krawler tierod, and dont need it. Rolls smooth.