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1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th death wobble

Some Random Guy

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On my way to get my Jeep regeared today I got to experience the joy of death wobbles. I’m at under 8k miles, and under 500 with increased tire size/lift. This seems abnormal. Upon more reading, my ball joints may have been clicking since day 1. I never heard them while turning, which is why I didn’t think it was ball joints. But on the trail in 4L, I’d get a LOT of clicking going downhill when engine braking. I assumed it was my diff, but recently started going downhill in neutral. The clicking didn’t get better.
Is there something else I should examine before blaming the ball joints? I was hoping to make it to at least 15k before catastrophic failure. Should I try the dealership? That feels like a lost cause where they’ll just blame the tires/lift.
I’m looking to buy the dynatrac soon if nobody has other suggestions so I can get to breaking in my gears quickly when I get the Jeep back.
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On my way to get my Jeep regeared today I got to experience the joy of death wobbles. I’m at under 8k miles, and under 500 with increased tire size/lift. This seems abnormal. Upon more reading, my ball joints may have been clicking since day 1. I never heard them while turning, which is why I didn’t think it was ball joints. But on the trail in 4L, I’d get a LOT of clicking going downhill when engine braking. I assumed it was my diff, but recently started going downhill in neutral. The clicking didn’t get better.
Is there something else I should examine before blaming the ball joints? I was hoping to make it to at least 15k before catastrophic failure. Should I try the dealership? That feels like a lost cause where they’ll just blame the tires/lift.
I’m looking to buy the dynatrac soon if nobody has other suggestions so I can get to breaking in my gears quickly when I get the Jeep back.
Try tightening them up first , see if it makes a difference
 
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Some Random Guy

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Try tightening them up first , see if it makes a difference
The rapid and repeated onset made my do a knee jerk. Thank you. Do you think the regear shop would do it? I am almost clueless on regears, will they have the axle shafts out?
 

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The rapid and repeated onset made my do a knee jerk. Thank you. Do you think the regear shop would do it? I am almost clueless on regears, will they have the axle shafts out?
They’ll probably do it for you, yes axle shafts will be out.
 

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The rapid and repeated onset made my do a knee jerk. Thank you. Do you think the regear shop would do it? I am almost clueless on regears, will they have the axle shafts out?
Shafts come out during a regear.

I'd go under thr jeep and make sure everything is tight. Including control arms, track bar, tie rod, drag link, ball joints. Next step would be to check the toe of the tires. You can do it at home using methods described on this forum and others or have a shop do an alignment.
 

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Some Random Guy

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Shafts come out during a regear.

I'd go under thr jeep and make sure everything is tight. Including control arms, track bar, tie rod, drag link, ball joints. Next step would be to check the toe of the tires. You can do it at home using methods described on this forum and others or have a shop do an alignment.
I have alignment scheduled for end of August. Shops are really booked up here. I left a message with the regear shop, so if it repeats itself I’ll recheck the drag link and do a home toe test. I’m not looking forward to trying to do control arms again, lol. It should go quicker this time, but that was tiring getting the pre-load right at awkward angles.
 

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I have alignment scheduled for end of August. Shops are really booked up here. I left a message with the regear shop, so if it repeats itself I’ll recheck the drag link and do a home toe test. I’m not looking forward to trying to do control arms again, lol. It should go quicker this time, but that was tiring getting the pre-load right at awkward angles.
Next time you check torque use a paint pen to mark the bolt and nut. That way you can visually check in the future. I'm doubtful it's a control arm, to be honest, but it's worth checking if they are tight. The clicking noise sounds like the cause. Perhaps if you jump on the bumper or shake the jeep side to side you could recreate then track down the noise.

Check out this post on another wrangler forum. It's for a TJ but the suspension works the same way.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/diagnosing-and-fixing-death-wobble.82/
 
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Some Random Guy

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The shop called back, and said my Caster is reversed. He made it sounds like they think I should be running negative caster, so I will verify I understood him correctly tomorrow when I pick it up. They think some caster cam bolts will fix it.
I guess I'll try to measure the angle myself at home. If it is out of whack, I'll have to figure out where to go from there. Adjustable control arms seem inevitable if the shop is correct, but I like to verify things. I figured the geometry brackets were going to land me in the correct range, and since the only bolts I removed are frame-side, I don't think I messed anything up. Worst case, I need to survive until my alignment on the 24th.
 
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Shop was wrong. I’m at 6 degrees with a dial, but formal alignment is tomorrow. Torquing lower ball joints seemed to help, but I can feel it try to wobble. I loosened and retorqued my trackbar today. I remember frame side was super loose from the factory. I was also changing my oil and found this.
Jeep Wrangler JL 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th death wobble 34FC8146-497E-433B-85CD-3257ED761F1F

I find it looks alarming, but short of bending the ends of the upper control arm inward I don’t see a way to tighten it. This is a factory arm. Is this an issue? Should there be washers/spacers?

Edit, it’s normal.Link
 

jellis4148

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Shop was wrong. I’m at 6 degrees with a dial, but formal alignment is tomorrow. Torquing lower ball joints seemed to help, but I can feel it try to wobble. I loosened and retorqued my trackbar today. I remember frame side was super loose from the factory. I was also changing my oil and found this.
Jeep Wrangler JL 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th death wobble 34FC8146-497E-433B-85CD-3257ED761F1F

I find it looks alarming, but short of bending the ends of the upper control arm inward I don’t see a way to tighten it. This is a factory arm. Is this an issue? Should there be washers/spacers?

Edit, it’s normal.Link

That's the way it's supposed to look. You mentioned a lift recently. Don't know what kind you have, but make sure axles are centered. Also make sure they equal distance on both sides. I can assure you that 9/16" made a huge difference on how mine drove. No death wobble, but definitely drove weird.
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