***SOLVED*** Troubleshooting death wobble after lift

[Tyderian]

Thanks for sharing, @Tyderian. Assuming there have not been any issues since you wrote about this in February?

I’ll confirm the wheels are balanced once I have ruled out the possibilities already mentioned in this thread. I’m trained and think like a scientist, so changing only one variable at a time is a near must for me.

No problems since then. I've driven it plenty and at all speeds. Narry a wobble.

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[Deleted member 64316]

Providing update about this issue. Checked the torque on front track bar bushings and all was good. Proceeded to install Teraflex front track bar bracket yesterday and set the track bar to factory length as a starting point. Took it for a few rides and the issue seemed significantly improved but not entirely resolved. Took it out for about 20 miles and got up to 55 MPH. I did notice two times there was suddenly a slight shimmy in the steering wheel. Was paying close attention and did not notice any bumps in the road that might had caused this. I decided not to make any unnecessary changes to speed because I wanted to see what the Jeep would do. Both times it resolved itself without any intervention (i.e., stopping) and did not progress to death wobble.

I realized I did not provide a good description of the shimmy and death wobble in my earlier posts. The shimmy in the steering wheel always shows up first. It is very slight and becomes progressively worse in a relatively short time. I would estimate anywhere from 1/8 - 1 mile it would progress to death wobble. I noticed the shimmy would decrease and sometimes go away completely if I accelerated rather quickly or slowed down (both by braking and by downshifting). The shimmy did not remain steady and was not present 100% of the time I drove. It seemed to make a pattern of either increasing or decreasing intensity. When it did progress to death wobble, it would last only a few seconds and then would drive very smooth immediately afterwards. I did not have to stop for the death wobble to stop. I just let off the accelerator and coasted until it stopped. The fact that it would drive so smooth after the death wobble made me wonder if there was something binding in the suspension the first time this happened. As though the death wobble shook everything into place. That theory went away when it kept happening though.

Going to continue monitoring and will install Clayton front upper control arms to get caster around 6 in the coming days. Will update once I have more data to share.

 

[Deleted member 64316]

No problems since then. I've driven it plenty and at all speeds. Narry a wobble.

Been thinking about this possibility. If I understand death wobble correctly, it wouldn’t necessarily be caused by poorly balanced wheels and tires. These conditions would just introduce enough imbalance into the system that some underlying issue (the true cause of death wobble) would no longer be able to withstand the vibrations and death wobble would happen. Once your wheels are properly balanced, the reduced vibration no longer provides sufficient stress on the system to uncover the issues that cause death wobble. Maybe @Roky or others can correct me on this if I am misunderstanding suspension and steering geometry issues.

 

[Deleted member 64316]

Doesn't look like the front track bar bracket helped, as the dreaded death wobble showed up again today.

I noticed there was a decent amount of space between the Metalcloak front track bar bushing and the axle-side bracket I installed. Going to see if I can fit a washer in there in case it might have too much play in it. Suspect it might be something related to the track bar since I am noticing some changes in how the Jeep drives and in the death wobble since installing the bracket. Death wobble is not gone yet, but I seem to be on the right track thanks to input from forum members.

 

[Steveo]

TL;DR - Ball Joints

 

[Deleted member 64316]

TL;DR - Ball Joints

Ball joints are on my list of things to check, but pretty far down since this showed up immediately after installing new coil springs and rear control arms.

 

[Deleted member 64316]

Posting an update for others to reference in case similar issues show up for them. I have added the Clayton Offroad front upper control arms since I last posted here. Set the caster to 6 degrees. Added the front uppers and adjusted caster in my driveway with a digital angle finder, so figured it would not be exact. Still experienced issues with shimmy and death wobble after adding the front uppers and track bar bracket.

So I decided to go to an alignment shop this morning. Turns out the toe alignment was pretty far off. Got that set back to within spec. Also found out my caster is right at 5.8. I’m pretty happy with being so close considering this is the first time I have set caster angle. I will try to add some more caster in a few days. Either way, Jeep drives world’s better with the toe alignment within spec. Zero death wobble and tracking very well. I will update this thread if anything changes.

 

[Deleted member 64316]

Death wobble returned a few days after my last post. Discovered the alignment shop had left the tie rod clamp nut hand tight, so tie rod took the liberty of extending itself enough to cause create vibration.

Ordered Metalcloak toe alignment tool and did it myself after that. Significant improvement, but did not resolve shimmy completely. I had to either slow down or speed up when I felt oscillation increasing.

A few days ago I installed dynatrac pro steer ball joints. Same result- improvement for a few days, then I hit a pot hole and get death wobble this morning.

I have noticed there is some play in the tie rod. Same as discussed here- https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/tie-rod-play-and-noise.47754/. Need to test what @Roky mentioned about having someone turn the steering wheel while I listen for noise. Tie rod might be next in order to get replaced, along with the steering stabilizer.

 

[Deleted member 64316]

Finally solved the death wobble and shimmy I was experiencing. Thank you to all the members who contributed to the thread and messaged me throughout the process! Below is a list of things I did to resolve the death wobble and shimmy. In the end, the tie rod and drag link ended up being the last piece to the puzzle.

- Loosened and retorque all suspension components (done throughout this process anytime adjustments were made that changed bushing angles)
- Confirmed control arm and track bar bushings were in good repair and properly torqued.
- Realignment (also checked and adjusted multiple times throughout the process). Caster is now above 6.0.
- @TeraFlex front track bar axle bracket
- Roadforce balanced wheels and tires
- Replaced ball joints with Dynatrac ProSteer ball joints
- Replaced steering stabilizer with Fox Racing ATS
- Replaced tie rod and drag link with RPM Steering components

@Clayton Off Road Overland+ lift rides like a dream now. Thanks again to all who helped me get this figured out!

 

[Clayton Off Road]

Finally solved the death wobble and shimmy I was experiencing. Thank you to all the members who contributed to the thread and messaged me throughout the process! Below is a list of things I did to resolve the death wobble and shimmy. In the end, the tie rod and drag link ended up being the last piece to the puzzle.

- Loosened and retorque all suspension components (done throughout this process anytime adjustments were made that changed bushing angles)
- Confirmed control arm and track bar bushings were in good repair and properly torqued.
- Realignment (also checked and adjusted multiple times throughout the process). Caster is now above 6.0.
- @TeraFlex front track bar axle bracket
- Roadforce balanced wheels and tires
- Replaced ball joints with Dynatrac ProSteer ball joints
- Replaced steering stabilizer with Fox Racing ATS
- Replaced tie rod and drag link with RPM Steering components

@Clayton Off Road Overland+ lift rides like a dream now. Thanks again to all who helped me get this figured out!

Awesome! Super happy to hear

 

[Deleted member 64316]

Awesome! Super happy to hear

Talked to your shop a few times about this and they did some troubleshooting over the phone. Appreciate y’all being available after I installed the lift even though none of your parts were at fault!

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