Death wobble- fixed!!

[73TAWM]

You're thinking this:

​

​

describes an out of balance wheel?

Maybe you have different experiences with an out of balance wheel, but whenever I've had really shitty balancing the steering wheel would shake like hell. Yes, there's going to be a tiny bit of front end movement associated with that steering wheel shake, but not "crazy front end movement."

The first time it happened, my wife said "the jeep started shaking really bad, like the steering wheel was hard to hold and I had to slow down and it went away". Then it happened to me around 55-65 mph and it was shocking how much the front end of the jeep moved left and right really fast like a wobble, and the steering wheel was hard to hold. Instinct said to slow down, so I did and it stayed that way until it was almost stopped because I had to pull over, you couldn't control it. Got started again and was fine until I noticed hitting a bump and I could feel it coming on again. This time I sped up and it went away. Someone said that you can't speed through death wobble to fix it and to check my balance. I did that and it fixed it. It's happens about twice between rotation and I take it in to check balance and it fixes every time. They are using sticky weights and they just fall off. Happened on the spare when I shut the gate.

What I'm really saying is, just because someone thinks they have DW, they might not actually be experiencing DW. And a quick tire balance that's very cheap, can assure it's not something worth spending hundreds on. But most respondents don't ask simple questions to make sure. They just start rattling parts. If they say it starts when they "hit a bump" and "it goes away", chances are it's a bad balance wheel.

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[Ratbert]

The first time it happened, my wife said "the jeep started shaking really bad, like the steering wheel was hard to hold and I had to slow down and it went away". Then it happened to me around 55-65 mph and it was shocking how much the front end of the jeep moved left and right really fast like a wobble, and the steering wheel was hard to hold. Instinct said to slow down, so I did and it stayed that way until it was almost stopped because I had to pull over, you couldn't control it. Got started again and was fine until I noticed hitting a bump and I could feel it coming on again. This time I sped up and it went away. Someone said that you can't speed through death wobble to fix it and to check my balance. I did that and it fixed it. It's happens about twice between rotation and I take it in to check balance and it fixes every time. They are using sticky weights and they just fall off. Happened on the spare when I shut the gate.

What I'm really saying is, just because someone thinks they have DW, they might not actually be experiencing DW. And a quick tire balance that's very cheap, can assure it's not something worth spending hundreds on. But most respondents don't ask simple questions to make sure. They just start rattling parts. If they say it starts when they "hit a bump" and "it goes away", chances are it's a bad balance wheel.

It's pretty rare (from what I understand) for those weights to "just fall off". I had that happen on Top of the World, but that's the only time mine have needed to be balanced. That's 49k miles on 37s (shitloads on boulders) with one remedial balancing.

I'd suspect that something's wrong with yours. Or maybe the shop doing the balancing hasn't figured out how to attach weights / want the repeat business?

 

[danidragonfly]

Happy yours is gone to- it was the worst..

Yes, no issues at all now.

 

[73TAWM]

It's pretty rare (from what I understand) for those weights to "just fall off". I had that happen on Top of the World, but that's the only time mine have needed to be balanced. That's 49k miles on 37s (shitloads on boulders) with one remedial balancing.

I'd suspect that something's wrong with yours. Or maybe the shop doing the balancing hasn't figured out how to attach weights / want the repeat business?

Rare? Pretty damn common with mine. I've even told the shop (Big O) to clean the wheels with alcohol and the guy at the counter says "we clean them with brake cleaner", well that should work I say but either it doesn't work or the numb skull doing the actual work doesn't actually clean them. They fall off constantly on mine. It's been fairly rare on the rest of our vehicles but for whatever reason it happens frequently on my 37s. The next time it goes in, I am crawling under right there in their parking lot and putting a piece of black Gorilla tape over them, after I wipe the surrounding area with an alcohol wipe. What caused me to figure out it was the weights falling off was about a week after I had them balanced, I shut the tail gate and heard a noise. Looked down and seen two of the weights laying on my rear bumper.

I dread the day I actually get DW, but when I do I will be going through the cheaper fixes first.

 

[Ratbert]

Rare? Pretty damn common with mine. I've even told the shop (Big O) to clean the wheels with alcohol and the guy at the counter says "we clean them with brake cleaner", well that should work I say but either it doesn't work or the numb skull doing the actual work doesn't actually clean them. They fall off constantly on mine. It's been fairly rare on the rest of our vehicles but for whatever reason it happens frequently on my 37s. The next time it goes in, I am crawling under right there in their parking lot and putting a piece of black Gorilla tape over them, after I wipe the surrounding area with an alcohol wipe. What caused me to figure out it was the weights falling off was about a week after I had them balanced, I shut the tail gate and heard a noise. Looked down and seen two of the weights laying on my rear bumper.

I dread the day I actually get DW, but when I do I will be going through the cheaper fixes first.

I'm guessing you won't see cleaned off spots when you crawl under there.

Maybe they're using cheap AF weights that have wimpy tape? Or not pressing them hard enough?

 

[ForestRanger]

The first time it happened, my wife said "the jeep started shaking really bad, like the steering wheel was hard to hold and I had to slow down and it went away". Then it happened to me around 55-65 mph and it was shocking how much the front end of the jeep moved left and right really fast like a wobble, and the steering wheel was hard to hold. Instinct said to slow down, so I did and it stayed that way until it was almost stopped because I had to pull over, you couldn't control it. Got started again and was fine until I noticed hitting a bump and I could feel it coming on again. This time I sped up and it went away. Someone said that you can't speed through death wobble to fix it and to check my balance. I did that and it fixed it. It's happens about twice between rotation and I take it in to check balance and it fixes every time. They are using sticky weights and they just fall off. Happened on the spare when I shut the gate.

What I'm really saying is, just because someone thinks they have DW, they might not actually be experiencing DW. And a quick tire balance that's very cheap, can assure it's not something worth spending hundreds on. But most respondents don't ask simple questions to make sure. They just start rattling parts. If they say it starts when they "hit a bump" and "it goes away", chances are it's a bad balance wheel.

 

[ForestRanger]

Yesterday (3.27.26) on I-90 South between Tomah and Madison WI, sections of that highway are very rough due to heavy semi traffic. I came through several rough pavement areas at 60-70 mph and the front wheels began shaking violently. Not sure if this is what you-all to refer to as the "death wobble" however once I moved past the rough patch and onto smoother pavement I did slow a bit and the shaking stopped; happened again a mile or two further. My first though was to replace the steering damper and also check ball joints and control arms. 2018 Wrangler JL with 78K miles and on-road stock tires. On your advice in these posts, I will check balance weights too.

 

[Gangplank]

What lift & shocks / stabilizer did you go with?

 

[ForestRanger]

Have Rancho adjustable on the rear, no lifts. Front is stock...no changes yet.

 

[73TAWM]

Yesterday (3.27.26) on I-90 South between Tomah and Madison WI, sections of that highway are very rough due to heavy semi traffic. I came through several rough pavement areas at 60-70 mph and the front wheels began shaking violently. Not sure if this is what you-all to refer to as the "death wobble" however once I moved past the rough patch and onto smoother pavement I did slow a bit and the shaking stopped; happened again a mile or two further. My first though was to replace the steering damper and also check ball joints and control arms. 2018 Wrangler JL with 78K miles and on-road stock tires. On your advice in these posts, I will check balance weights too.

It's not DW.
This is a classic case of out of balance wheels. DW has to be fixed because it does not stop. Now there will be plenty of people who think they had DW, bought a bunch of parts they didn't need and the issue went away but the issue likely stopped because they got a rebalance after taking it in after the part swap, or the shop did the balance after they did the part swap.

Try that and see if it fixes your problem. If not, those parts will still be there waiting to be added to your ride. I have over 60k miles on my rubicon and have not swapped jack yet.

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