Strongest damper to stop death wobble?
 

Stock rig. Go through dampeners every 6 months for years. What's the best one? Yes I know that there is a lot more to death wobble then the dampener, but I don't have time to stay on top of it.

sounds like you don't want to hear this but if you have DW on a stock rig you have some major stuff going on with your front end parts, and none of it is good.

Fix it, don't patch it with a dampener for the sake of safety.

Hydro assist until your front axle falls off

What size ram? 6" stroke or 8" stroke

Haha

Nothing's loose. Been chasing it since 20k miles or so when it was practically new. Typical dw story; Chrysler claims to have never heard of death wobble when I call them about it. Torquing bolts seems to help here and there. Upgraded all suspension bolts. Etc.

This is a very common problem and I have never heard of an axle falling off, so I am not too concerned about that. It'll only come off if it wobbles enough to brake it, which is why I want a strong dampener. My wife drives it mostly these days. Death wobble is like herpes. It never goes away but you can manage it.

Just do some duals and be done

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Death wobble can go away. Its not something you manage. Dampner is a band aid. Before my hydro i ran no stabilizer with no wobble...

Did you ever have dw before you ran without a dampener?

Yup many times. But i found the cause each time and fixed it properly.

Exactly. It never went away. You are managing it.

And you haven't had it since the hydro, right?

No i fixed it and continued to run no stabilizer. It was fully gone. I added hydro when i went to 41.5.


You need to fix your shit and stop saying you cant. Think about what your say as it makes zero sense. Realize how many vehicles run solid axles and don't "manage" death wobble. If it wobbles you have shit parts.

X2. Fix the problem, don't get mad when the band-aids keep falling off, figuratively of course. Unless your axle is actually falling off, then I'd probably get mad. There's a good write up for diagnosing death wobble. A properly maintained front end won't inherently have death wobble. Worn or loose parts create death wobble. Your JK is no more special than the rest. I'm lifted, bigger tires but with proper geometry and never had a wobble from stock till now. I also replace worn components when I need to.

Well like you said yours kept coming back even after you fixed it each time. That's exactly what happens with me. Even did the bolt upgrade, etc. Goes away, then comes back. You finally went hydro and now it's gone.

I have asked countless random stock JK owners of earlier years (07, 08, 09) about whether they have ever experienced it and the answer is yes every time. This is not due to shit parts. This is due to shit design. If you didn't need to worry about it you wouldn't need to have a heavy duty dampener.

I am not some kid with a Jeep who doesn't know a wrench from a vagina. I was an ASE certified tech, have a degree or two in mechanical physics and can fix a lot of things. I love my Jeep but anyone with a brain knows their design and build quality is garbage in some areas. Go back a few years and every other thread was about death wobble. It can be extremely hard to eliminate completely. You couldn't do it either. And it's not your fault it's ****ing hard to eliminate because the design and OEM parts are ass.

I know the write up very well and have done it and have gotten it to go away. But like you said A PROPERLY MAINTAINED FRONT END won't inherently have DW. That's what I have been doing. And the second something gets loose, it's back. The initial shake is the shake that leads to more problems. So, I want a stabilizer that keeps that from happening when something eventually is less than perfect.

It's no secret that there's a massive design flaw behind this.

My wife is now the primary driver. When it was me, I knew what to do and when to do it. But when I disappear for days on business and my wife is driving it, she can't stay on top of it. So I need a back up plan which is a better dampener.

Also I think I left out something important. I live in California. Our roads are terrible. I hear we have the worst roads in the country. Perhaps it is a bigger problem here?

had an 06 tj and now a 2012 jk. have never had a DW issue.

Do you know what death wobble is?

Pretty sure if your wife experienced it she wouldn't agree to drive it again.

Bump steer is typical of all solid front axle vehicles if that's what you are experiencing.

If it actually is shit your pants death wobble then take it to a shop (not a dealer) since you have no idea what you're doing. The jeep design is fine but it requires properly maintained components like any other designs out there. Are all your ends, bushings & ball joints original?

If you don't want to fix the problem then buy a full PSC hydro kit & be the first guy running hydro on a stock street driven jeep.

RC's dual setup? Half the work so they should last twice as long, right? :dontknow2:

Agreed. It seems logical.

I used Planman's thread last fall when I got death wobble and has been fine since then. I use a Teraflex VSS stabilizer with it because of my tires being slightly off balance. Definitely want to fix before masking though.

The Fox ATS would hide your symptoms the best without actually fixing your problem.

The ATS has a "through" design. Not to be confused with their regular one.

I think the real problem should be addressed though. Especially if your wife is driving it.

Yeah if it is true dw it needs to be fixed because something is causing it. But I also think it may not be, because a steering dampener wouldn't be able to hide true dw for 6 months at a time. On my rig my steering stabilizer is still good and I've had dw twice. Once from the trac bar and once from the drag link and tie rod.

Full on DW couldn't be stopped by 5 stabilizers.

It sounds like the beginning of an issue so catching it now will avoid a scary situation.

Have you upgraded the hardware to the bigger bolts?

Have someone turn the stwering wheel while you inspect everything joint.

I found a shimmy was due to what I thought was a tight track bar bolt but it wasn't torqued all the way.

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I have a 2012, and had to replace my ball joints. I replaced all the stock front end parts with after market parts. I have to grease the joints now at every oil change, but it is worth it. The stock track bar was shot at 20,000, and I had the proper size bolts in since it was almost new. Those plastic ball joints, and rod ends don't hold up. Fiat cheaps out on this stuff. Just like all the other car makers.

We're all missing key info here so let's start from the top.

Mileage?

What has been replaced in the front end?

What's original??

When did you torque your bolts??

Have you checked the torque on those bolts?


Let's start there before the sarcasm shit show continues?

You dont need a heavy duty dampener so yes it can be fixed. Your making assumptions on my rig, when it came back it was sometimes a year later and it was other worn parts. I wheeled hard then so replacing a part here and there every year was no biggie. My hydro choice was not from dw at all and had i still had small tires id still run no stabilizer. Apparently they just hand out ase because after reading your responses i view you as a a descendent of helen keller. Do people struggle with death wobble? Yes some do, but mainly because they dont know what there doing. If death wobble was on all jeep and just "managed" i doubt theyd sell so many the "design" for a solid axles is simple. It may seem less common on trucks and such as they are stronger. Many jeep people experience it more commonly as they put large tires on stock small axle. Parts wear faster... Maybe you need a ifs hummer?

:popcorn:

Oh no....a Hummer reference.

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Not necessarily.

Along 3 years, with 4" lift on 35"s, the JKUR has zero bump steer, even when diagonally crossing slow-bumps at 30mph. I can take both hands off the steering wheel and the Jeep keeps a straight line.

I had checked that everything is properly tightened 4 times by now.

I agree, my jeep stays true as well. What I was trying to say is that he'll feel imperfections in the road a lot more with a vehicle with 2 solid axles. And seeing as his front end is worn out he'll have a hard time keeping it straight.

Did you check your inner and outer tie rods. ? Any up and down play they are shot. Same with ball joints.

My death wobble fix was lower passenger bj and outer tie rod.

Our Jeeps need those constant steering corrections mainly because of the REAR floating axle. With every up/down movement it also moves sideways, and this steers the Jeep a bit off the driving line.

There are a few solutions which improve directional stability, all of them replace the rear radius arm, so the rear axle stays centered. I used the simplest one, the Full Traction CRC Link.
The phenomenon is worse on shorter wheelbase 2-drs than on 4-drs, so the improvement is even more noticeable.

I was waiting for you to mention the famous & life saving CRC link. Glad you like it.

Again, that's a post which contributes nothing but an attempt at sarcastic personal attack.
Silly.

So let's recap. 1) You have had DW 2) You fixed it and it never came back. You fixed it so well you didn't need even a stabilizer..3) But it sometimes comes back annually, requiring you to fix it 4) you bought the biggest stabilizer money can buy 6) But it never comes back.


:thinking: Got it. :rotflmao2:

if it wobbles theres a cause. the way your looking at it is a vehicle shouldnt need maintenance and if it does its designed wrong?.....i give up, you apparently have an abundance of knowledge, yet needed to try and post for help,just to tell people there wrong..interesting approach.

i had a death wobble @ 18,000 miles
 

stock everything , dealer replaced the stabilizer , lol i said your masking the issue and they insisted that stabilizers are 99 % the problem ! This was the service manager not a mechanic.
I drove away and on the ride home i got a bad wobble again :sad2:
replaced track bar, with heavy duty one & bolt kit and dw went away.
it still has a shimmy ever so slight since ive owned it no one can find the reason or feel it . anyway i like the jeep, but i never bought a vehicle in all my years that had so many issues from day one. id be on the list to say i think they use crap parts from the factory . My harmonic balancer opened up at 19,000 miles . front drive shaft at 21,000 . syncros in tranny at 3000 miles , 3 thermostats. rear brakes and emergency pads 15,000 the notorious emergency brake that is not even one. rear axle seal 20,000 miles. The track bar about 18,000 miles, im not wining about it because i wanted the jeep badly enough i even upgraded from my 2011 that leaked like a drain pipe. amongst other small issues in first year before i traded it in for the 2012. All in all you have to know what your buying into when buying a wrangler i think. not like buying a regular vehicle . Chrysler should have fixes for most issues by now id say , so no need in these things for all these years , im sure other manufactures have issues as well. but basicly you need to redo the whole front end from start lol

bottom line i doubt the steering stabilizer is your problem .
not that it matters if it helps but its kinda wasting money on somthing that isnt the problem

I had death wobble 2 yrs ago. Found I had som sloppy control arm bushings had em changed and no death wobble since. I consider that fixed.
Since you aren't looking to actually fix the problem you already answered your own question
Get hydro assist

front lowers?
 

can you replace the stock bushings easy ? never even thought of those contributing to a wobble

Should be an easy swap and yes bad ca bushings can cause dw.