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Gave myself death wobble!

Halstem1

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I installed synergy drag link and tie rod last weekend. Just took for a longer drive. Experienced death wobble for the first time ever. Prior, it drive perfect. Is it just an alignment issue? I tried to set up the tie myself. Feel I should just take to an alignment shop. Does it matter which one or is any alignment the same?
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NJJeep Guy

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Definitely start with the alignment since you changed both parts. And recheck your torqued bolts post install too
 
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Definitely start with the alignment since you changed both parts. And recheck your torqued bolts post install too
Thanks. It has to be alignment, right? I didn't change anything else other than a steel bumper and winch. I made an appointment at a local shop recommended by my jeep club. I'll see what they say. Just hoping I didn't mess anything up.

I did get up early this morning and re-torque everything. Nothing was loose. I think my toe in was a little heavy so I adjusted that out about an 1/8". I took for a test drive on the road last night, and it appears better. Still has some "bump steer" going on.
 

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Bumper had zero effect other than putting a few more pounds on the front. They should be able to get the toe dialed in, and it will probably do okay
 
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Halstem1

Halstem1

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Bumper had zero effect other than putting a few more pounds on the front. They should be able to get the toe dialed in, and it will probably do okay
I got an alignment done this morning. I'll go test drive later and see if its fixed. I'm probably hypersensitive to it now but I never had any issues before.
 

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Bump steer is completely different than death wobble.
Death wobble is uncontrollable independent wheel oscillation caused by looseness or slop in ball joints, tie rods mounts etc...... you pretty much loose control.

bump steer is only a jerk on the steering when a wheel is moved by hitting something on the ground ie pothole rock etc....and you don’t loose control. It can be mitigated by Alignment and or a stronger steering dampener
 
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Bump steer is completely different than death wobble.
Death wobble is uncontrollable independent wheel oscillation caused by looseness or slop in ball joints, tie rods mounts etc...... you pretty much loose control.

bump steer is only a jerk on the steering when a wheel is moved by hitting something on the ground ie pothole rock etc....and you don’t loose control. It can be mitigated by Alignment and or a stronger steering dampener
Thanks. Whatever happened last night was very similar to "death wobble" I've seen on videos. I could not control the jeep. Left my lane of travel. Tried to accelerate out like you would with speed wobble on a motorcycle. That made it worse. Tried to stop and couldn't. Got slowed down to 10 miles an hour and it stopped and regained control. I don't know. Shit was scary.

I adjusted toe a little this morning and would describe my test drive as "bump steer". I would hit a bump and the wheel would wobble a little and deviate from my line.

I checked my torque specs. Only think I didn't check is the castle nut on the top of the tie rod because I don't have another set of cotter pins. I torqued those to 55# as instructed and put cotter pins in them.

I'll retest tonight. I don't know. I'm just an accountant that has watched too many youtube videos.
 

AnnDee4444

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Bump steer is completely different than death wobble.
Death wobble is uncontrollable independent wheel oscillation caused by looseness or slop in ball joints, tie rods mounts etc...... you pretty much loose control.

bump steer is only a jerk on the steering when a wheel is moved by hitting something on the ground ie pothole rock etc....and you don’t loose control. It can be mitigated by Alignment and or a stronger steering dampener
I would be willing to bet that bump steer could lead to death wobble. For example, a soft track bar bushing that deflects while the drag link movement is limited by the stabilizer would cause a certain amount of bump steer, and it could be the correct frequency to trigger the beginning of the steering oscillation.
 

Badweissenbier

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I would be willing to bet that bump steer could lead to death wobble. For example, a soft track bar bushing that deflects while the drag link movement is limited by the stabilizer would cause a certain amount of bump steer, and it could be the correct frequency to trigger the beginning of the steering oscillation.
I would agree with that, however if it is a continuous violent oscillation or turns into one, I would definitely look for something in the suspension/steering that’s loose or out of whack.
 
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Halstem1

Halstem1

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For what it’s worth, drove the same road and no issues. All that was adjusted was the toe.
I would agree with that, however if it is a continuous violent oscillation or turns into one, I would definitely look for something in the suspension/steering that’s loose or out of whack.
For what it’s worth, drove the same road and no issues. All that was adjusted was the toe. Should I be looking for other issues?
 

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If it’s not a problem and doesn’t come back I’d just run with it. Don’t know how far out your toe was maybe it was really out and that caused the problems
 
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Halstem1

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If it’s not a problem and doesn’t come back I’d just run with it. Don’t know how far out your toe was maybe it was really out and that caused the problems
I haven't had the "death wobble" level again but definitely getting some wobble over bumps. had one this morning that was noticeable. I was talking with Synergy this morning. They suggested that if you get bad enough wobble it can more or less "loosen" or stress the steering box to where you're prone to it more. Or at least feel more movement. Do you think that is possible? The guy I was talking to said they have seen it happen in a jeep off the lot and a jeep that had 30K miles on it. I'm paraphrasing but basically the stress from the violent wobble can cause looseness going forward making it more prone or obvious. Curious what you thought. Again, everything appears to be torqued correctly. I checked again. He suggested a sector shaft brace. So weird. I think i messed with something that was fine in an effort to make it great and instead made it worse.
 

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These Jeeps are so sensitive...it seems. I had a similar issue where everything was fine, rotated tires, and then enjoyed the wobble experience for the first time. In my case, the tires were way out of balance and the alignment was a little bit off. But once those issues were corrected, the balance on the front axle was restored. It seems it doesn't take much to get these Jeeps to drive like crap. However, once everything is in balance, the Jeep drives amazing.

And almost forgot to mention, I did upgrade the steering stabilizer to Fox. I had a recall on the previous stabilizer but decided to forego the dealership replacement.
 

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As you experienced, full-blown death wobble is violent. It is not uncommon for episodes of death wobble to damage otherwise new or good components. It was very common on the JK's for guys to be chasing their tails fighting death wobble replacing one part at a time and not replacing all the loose or worn components at once. Then they would get death wobble again and the part they just installed and thought was good was damaged and loose again. I'm just saying, once you experience death wobble, make sure you check everything and tighten or replace any loose or damaged items all at once. Here is a good writeup for reference as diagnosing is mostly the same, although there have been some additional issues specific to the JL concerning the steering damper, steering box, and electric power steering pump programming.
https://www.jkowners.com/forum/writ...th-wobble-fixing-non-dw-shimmies-wobbles.html

Make sure you do not have any of the issues remedied by some of the service bulletins out there for your Jeep. Tightening up the steering links and then having the alignment off could have exacerbated existing issues.

And lastly, like said previously, steering wobble or death wobble are due to oscillations in the wheels/axle. This is different than bump steer. Bump steer gets thrown around pretty loosely, but technically "bump steer" is related to your steering geometry. If your steering geometry did not change and your drag link or track bar have not been relocated, you can not have any more bump steer than the vehicle originally came with. While it can change due to bushing deflection, the links used in the front steering are long enough that this effect is negligible in these Jeeps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bump_steer
 
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Halstem1

Halstem1

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These Jeeps are so sensitive...it seems. I had a similar issue where everything was fine, rotated tires, and then enjoyed the wobble experience for the first time. In my case, the tires were way out of balance and the alignment was a little bit off. But once those issues were corrected, the balance on the front axle was restored. It seems it doesn't take much to get these Jeeps to drive like crap. However, once everything is in balance, the Jeep drives amazing.

And almost forgot to mention, I did upgrade the steering stabilizer to Fox. I had a recall on the previous stabilizer but decided to forego the dealership replacement.
I was trying to do the stabilizer last but at this point, its the only thing left to do. Did you do the through shaft and/or the adjustable stabilizer? That adjustable through shaft is so pricey.
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