Don Parrish

'08 Wrangler Unlimited. About a year ago professionally installed Bilstein steering stabilizer to help control (?)/prevent (?) death wobble. (We had experienced an event.) Seemed to take care of the problem but now the Bilstein is beginning to leak fluid and should be replaced. A local highly regarded Jeep aftermarket builder suggested they thought an OEM stabilizer is superior to Bilstein. So the question is what is the experienced considered opinion on this topic? OEM, Bilstein, or what? This Jeep has never been off road. 81,000 miles. Thanks for any suggestion. Don Parrish. Phoenix

An unrelated story to my question: Just had the rear bolt for the left lower control arm depart the Jeep. You do not want to have this experience. It is somewhat "death wobble" on steroids.

Rednroll

You don't need a steering stabilizer, especially one to correct any DW related problems.

You need to find the source of your DW and fix that. You should be able to ditch the SS altogether. So it doesn't matter which one you get but the stock is fine

jeepmojo

but costly too ! if i had the extra cash id go that route , good reviews on handling after installs .

spmitchell86

I went with crown (cheapest) since I bent quite a few of them before I smartened up and relocated it above the tie rod. If your blisten is leaking after only a year I would try something different.

EDIT: You don't need a professional installer either, like 15 min and an 18mm socket wrench. One bolt on each side.

nthinuf

Agree with rednroll. Your new bilstein stabilizer is leaking because you did not fix whatever was actually causing the shimmy/deathwobble. It has spent the last year beating itself to death trying to compensate, and has finally given up.


https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/

Don Parrish

nthinuf: Bilstein working too hard...I never really thought what may be the obvious.

rednroll: For a Wrangler Unlimited that only travels on paved roads and highways (some highways in AZ may seem like "off-road"), where would you start to find and fix DW? This topic must have been beat to death several times over the years. Sorry to bring it up but can it be fixed without expensive mods? (I have a '46 CJ2A and a '53 CJ3A and DW was and is a problem with them to this day.) Don Parrish

Rednroll

Yes, it's been covered. One of the better guides to trouble shooting DW is posted by Planman on this forum.

It's actually one of the stickied threads over here:
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...obbles-260145/

One of the common problems is usually related to the front Track bar mounting bolts.

Are you running a lift with larger tires, and are you still running the stock front track bar?

If you are, then it may be in your best interest to upgrade the front Track bar to an HD replacement if you haven't already. Most DW problems are related to the front Track bar.

See this TF install video which explains it well, of larger tires and the stock TB as it relates to DW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrlhfooc-Xc&feature=youtu.be