Gave myself death wobble!

[Krawler]

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.

No, I purchased the basic Fox 2.0 stabilizer which cost ~$160.

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[Halstem1]

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

Hey Chris! Uh... you kinda just gave me more questions which may warrant a private message. Based on what you're saying, my extra 1/8 inch toe in didn't cause the DW, then something else did. If the only other change was a Synergy tie rod and drag link and everything was torqued correctly... is it possible to get a bad tie rod end? And if so, how would one check that? Because your post is suggesting I replace the 2 parts I just installed that had 35 miles on them. But if those were the only 2 changes, makes me question if that didn't cause it. Thoughts? And please don't take that negatively. I just talked to Scott at synergy this morning and ordered more synergy parts so I'm not hating.

 

[AllJumpStyle]

So, you changed 3 things: The tie rod, drag link, and toe setting. What I meant, is it is likely you could have run into the same issue if you didn't replace any of the components, but just adjusted the toe the same as you did. If you had any play in the steering box or had any other components loose or worn, this toe setting could have exacerbated the issue. The problem is, now that you have had death wobble, you have to essentially start at square one and inspect everything.

 

[Badweissenbier]

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.

generally from my knowledge DW is caused by loose hardware ie warn out joints or possibly caster problems . However I can see how flexing parts can also cause it.
Don’t forget it is a Jeep and they don’t drive/respond like any newer car or truck.
when I hit bumps in the road it does tend to move things around a bit whereas my truck just soaks them up. A little bounce here or there is normal. Now if the steering wheel takes off back and forth in your hands that’s a different story.
A while back the dealer changed out my steering damper. They proceeded to install it upside down. (Btw it won’t work that way )My initial thoughts were ‘ this feels looser than before’ it still drove fine but had less resistance to turning until I hit a good sized bump in a curve. No DW but it definitely jerked the wheel around. I flipped the shock over and after a bit of driving it was back to normal. I even towed my trailer with it on wrong and didn’t have any problems.
My point is if your getting any oscillations in the steering something is loose, flexing badly or way out of whack. Can a previous DW hurt parts ? Sure , but I’d expect it to have really been bad to hurt something.
To check ball joints and tie rod end you have to unload them, ie make it where theres no weight on them. Then just grab or pry lightly and look for movement , specifically movement where the other parts don’t move with that part. Your looking for just the slightest bit of slop too. It’s not that your looking for it to move in inches it’s that you looking for it to move in thousandths of an inch. Even the tiniest amount of play can cause problems.

 

[Arterius2]

Get more caster, that alone should probably quelch your death wobbles.

 

[Halstem1]

generally from my knowledge DW is caused by loose hardware ie warn out joints or possibly caster problems . However I can see how flexing parts can also cause it.
Don’t forget it is a Jeep and they don’t drive/respond like any newer car or truck.
when I hit bumps in the road it does tend to move things around a bit whereas my truck just soaks them up. A little bounce here or there is normal. Now if the steering wheel takes off back and forth in your hands that’s a different story.
A while back the dealer changed out my steering damper. They proceeded to install it upside down. (Btw it won’t work that way )My initial thoughts were ‘ this feels looser than before’ it still drove fine but had less resistance to turning until I hit a good sized bump in a curve. No DW but it definitely jerked the wheel around. I flipped the shock over and after a bit of driving it was back to normal. I even towed my trailer with it on wrong and didn’t have any problems.
My point is if your getting any oscillations in the steering something is loose, flexing badly or way out of whack. Can a previous DW hurt parts ? Sure , but I’d expect it to have really been bad to hurt something.
To check ball joints and tie rod end you have to unload them, ie make it where theres no weight on them. Then just grab or pry lightly and look for movement , specifically movement where the other parts don’t move with that part. Your looking for just the slightest bit of slop too. It’s not that your looking for it to move in inches it’s that you looking for it to move in thousandths of an inch. Even the tiniest amount of play can cause problems.

Every response I read gives me more questions. haha. For what its worth, I totally understand jeeps and solid axles and stuff. My current "issues" are a comparison to the same jeep 2 weeks ago. I'm trying to decide how much is in my head after conducting the wobbles and how much feels different.

I'm working on the caster thing. Lower control arms are ordered. However, the caster is the same as the caster was 2 weeks ago. But still.

So one thing you said that resonated... the steering damper. So all week I've felt the steering feels "light". The Synergy relocation kit advises to flip the SS over so the plastic boot is on the wheel side. This is opposite of factory. They do it so the factory boot doesn't come in contact with the tie rod. Yours would have been flipped top to bottom, but still. Apparently orientation matters. Maybe that is a thing. A member on here has been telling me the SS matters and to upgrade it.

Everyone keeps referencing loose or warn parts. I know. I get that. But the vehicle has 10K miles and the several of the parts (Everything but the axle?) has 3K miles on it. So if nothing is loose... it debunks everyone's theory of loose or warn parts.

 

[Martindfletcher]

Every response I read gives me more questions. haha. For what its worth, I totally understand jeeps and solid axles and stuff. My current "issues" are a comparison to the same jeep 2 weeks ago. I'm trying to decide how much is in my head after conducting the wobbles and how much feels different.

I'm working on the caster thing. Lower control arms are ordered. However, the caster is the same as the caster was 2 weeks ago. But still.

So one thing you said that resonated... the steering damper. So all week I've felt the steering feels "light". The Synergy relocation kit advises to flip the SS over so the plastic boot is on the wheel side. This is opposite of factory. They do it so the factory boot doesn't come in contact with the tie rod. Yours would have been flipped top to bottom, but still. Apparently orientation matters. Maybe that is a thing. A member on here has been telling me the SS matters and to upgrade it.

Everyone keeps referencing loose or warn parts. I know. I get that. But the vehicle has 10K miles and the several of the parts (Everything but the axle?) has 3K miles on it. So if nothing is loose... it debunks everyone's theory of loose or warn parts.

mine had loose ball joints when I brought it home.

 

[Halstem1]

mine had loose ball joints when I brought it home.

No sh*t. Interesting. I'm definitely going to check them. was it covered under warranty?

 

[Martindfletcher]

No sh*t. Interesting. I'm definitely going to check them. was it covered under warranty?

I just pulled the pins and tightened them up. Honestly it didn’t give death wobble. I just had the slight vibration with bumps and certain roads. My pitman arm also came loose. I have a pretty early 2018. Honestly I would check everything before going to dealer.

 

[Halstem1]

I just pulled the pins and tightened them up. Honestly it didn’t give death wobble. I just had the slight vibration with bumps and certain roads. My pitman arm also came loose. I have a pretty early 2018. Honestly I would check everything before going to dealer.

The dealer couldn't even follow the instructions and install my mopar lift correctly. I try to not go back unless I have to.

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