How to Beat Death Wobble! (An Algorithm to Diagnose The Issue)

[Grace213]

Hi...I have made it through step 2. The two pics I have attached appear to be the ball joints for both the tie rod and drag link on the passenger front wheel. I am able to rock both the tie rod and drag link slightly and get some movement within the ball joint. Is this normal or a possible culprit to me experiencing intermittent DW. My 2018 wrangler JLUS has rubicon shocks and springs with a 1/2 spacer in front to accommodate additional weight of winch (sag). 45000 miles and factory rubicon wheels and BFG KO tires.

Appreciate your thoughts and feedback.

David

Did you ever figure this out? I can also rotate my tie rod and drag link by hand forward and back. I went to a local dealer and tried to rotate them on a new Wrangler and they did not move. I'm unsure if those joints can be replaced with new one or if it is best to suck it up and buy aftermarket ones. 2019 JLU Sport 82k miles that has the steering box TSB completed.

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[Hartdt]

Did you ever figure this out? I can also rotate my tie rod and drag link by hand forward and back. I went to a local dealer and tried to rotate them on a new Wrangler and they did not move. I'm unsure if those joints can be replaced with new one or if it is best to suck it up and buy aftermarket ones. 2019 JLU Sport 82k miles that has the steering box TSB completed.

Thank you for looking into this. I took my wrangler to the dealer to evaluate. They had previously replaced my steering stabilizer (~ 30,000 miles) due to recall. It appears that they installed it backwards (arrow pointed to rear of jeep versus front) and the unit had failed. Not sure the installation issue was causing me a problem, but the stabilizer failure may have. A replacement Mopar stabilizer has been on back order for several months. I ordered a Fox stabilizer that should arrive next week. Guess I will see if this helps some prior to beginning replacement of the tie-rod joints. I also recently replaced my tires with new BFG (same size and style) and this seemed to help some as well.

 

[OGPizzaBoy]

I just experienced this a few days ago, happened once since then. Hopefully I can get it diagnosed and fixed before it gets much worse. Thanks for the info!

 

[JeepCares]

I just experienced this a few days ago, happened once since then. Hopefully I can get it diagnosed and fixed before it gets much worse. Thanks for the info!

Hi! If you need support at the dealership, feel free to let us know.

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[martoaj]

Just $0.02 here, but a steering stabilizer replacement "fixed" my DW. At about 4000 miles my '22 Sahara 4xe developed a terrible shudder over any bump, and that turned into full-on wobble on freeway bumps. The dealership wanted to start with the stabilizer, and I was inclined to let them do what they needed to do considering I'm under warranty. They replaced the stabilizer and nothing else, and now the front end is rock solid again. I've been driving in the cold, long road trips, 70-80 mph on bad Vermont highways, and everything's drum tight.

The official wording on the service paperwork was they found an "air pocket" in the stabilizer, fwiw.

Sure there may actually be a deeper issue at play here. But I don't care; the truck drives wonderfully now, and I didn't have to lose my mind trying to track things down.

 

[Thinman]

25K miles, Metal Cloak 2.5 (Rocksports), 37"

Started about a month back. Subtle left hand turns or bumps on left side started it the most.

Steering stabilizer replacement fixed it up. Was stock (with the MC relocation), replaced it with the Rocksport.

fin (for now...)

 

[Jbudz511]

So I've had my JLU sahara altitude for about a month and it had what i thought was worsening death wobble. It has been colder so my tire pressure was in the low 30s. I finally aired up to 36. I have the 32in Bridgestone duelers and that seems to have taken care of it. If slightly low tire pressure is enough to set this off is there somewhere else to look or is that sometimes enough?

 

[Shadowridr1]

First and foremost, dw is cause by steering components being loose or worn out
1.draglink
2.tierid
3.trackbar
4.ball joints
5. LCA'S
any of these 5 will and can cause DW. A steering stabilizer is nothing more than a shock for the steering. It's only function is to reduce road feedback into the steering. If you have DW, or starts a a shimmy then goes to DW, I would check the trackbar first, then draglink then tierod. On mine I found play in the draglink at the pitman arm. I also tested the ball joints. I had literally no movement, but because of how they were made I decided to replace them anyway. When I got to them they were completely trashed.....I put in the new teraflex ball joint and the DW was gone. Only other thing I did was the steering stabilizer which just helped tighten up the steering. I do have shimmy still, but I have not changed out the draglink and tierod which both also have bad ends.

 

[Jtphoto]

DW is definitely hard to diagnose and many times the cause is unseen to the casual mechanic. Stock trackbars can easily become the problem with fatigue, sloppy bushings that appear tight, sloppy bolts, or in some cases the trackbar actually flexes at the hoop. As stated by the OP the steering stabilizer is not the problem your Jeep should be able to run without it, it is a safety feature only.
I had the start of DW a couple months ago after a long day trail ride. I changed out, what appeared to be, a perfectly good (45,000klm) trackbar with a much heavier MC trackbar which solved the problem.

The key is to address the problem the first time you get even a wobble. Every time you have a DW or wobble episode it takes more parts with it till eventually it becomes a major repair job.

 

[VJT]

I haven't seen anything detailed on here providing an algorithm for diagnosing and fixing true DW and felt this method may help save folks alot of time, money and headaches. As parts wear out, this issue seems to eventually affect the majority of solid axle vehicles(especially when lifted) and I waded through ALOT of info dealing with recent DW that ran the full gamut. This included significant time researching, working on it, talking with a dealer, going to 2 offroad shops and talking with several very knowledgeable guys on here to learn how to isolate the root cause. Most know it can be caused by 1 issue or a multitude of issues combined and unfortunately, it seems there are alot of misconceptions and many Jeep owners/dealers/offroad shops don't know how to properly diagnose it and simply give up or blindly start throwing costly new parts at it. Or they resort to blaming the steering stabilizer...when in reality, a properly setup jeep should be able to drive without DW with the steering stabilizer taken off.

At 29k miles, my jeep began experiencing true DW driving 25-45mph over certain pot holes/manhole covers and I had to brake below 5mph or stop the jeep for it to stop. I slowly drove home and retorqued everything and worked with an experienced friend performing steps 1-4 listed below without fixing it. I then tried to ask the lead mechanic at my dealer if he would check ball joints while the jeep was there for yet another electrical issue. The mechanic referred me to a well known local offroad shop(no surprise...it's lifted 2.5" on 37s) and they couldn't find the cause after 3 days and essentially did nothing more than what I had already done and even charged for it.

I took it to another shop that claimed they would do whatever it took to find the root cause or they wouldn't charge anything. This shop had a different approach and was calculated...it was apparent they had alot more experience working on DW. They treated it like the jeep has a 100% curable disease and they're a physician trying to efficiently and cost effectively isolate the root problem(s) and fix it. They had a checklist for ruling out potential causes beginning with the most common that are the least expensive/easiest to check. They also emphasized the importance of properly inspecting each part because many people unknowingly overlook issues and spend alot more $/time chasing it than should be needed. Below is the algorithm that was used and I will be following in the future:

1. Have a knowledgeable person lay under jeep with someone rocking the steering wheel back and forth from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock and look closely for movement/slop in the trackbar/draglink/tie rod bushings and then firmly pull on them to see if you get any movement. It's even better to do this with a tire against a curb to add stress to help uncover slop in a bad joint. Pay careful attention to the trackbar joints as it seems to the be the culprit the majority of the time. Also, pull on control arms to see if anything feels loose. If any joints or brackets have movement, inspect further and check mounts/brackets to see if welds look good and nothing is obviously bent/flexing. Retorque or replace as needed and test drive it.

2. With the jeep on the ground, loosen bolts in trackbar/draglink/tie rod and control arms and rock the jeep and then retorque to spec to make sure bolts weren't loose or bound up. Check lugnut torque and grease joints if you have greasable joints and haven't recently. Test drive jeep.

3. Lift each front tire off the ground at the axle and use a pry bar under tire to lift up and check for movement at ball joints. This typically works if ball joints are in very poor shape flopping around. However, you likely won't see movement if the ball joints are moderately bad and arent applying preload to the knuckles like mine and several others have experienced. Ball joints may still be the root cause of DW, so dont rule them out based on this test alone. The 1st offroad shop I took it to stopped at this step and thought they had eliminated ball joints as the cause bc they didn't see any movement and they felt it was unlikely on a 2 year old jeep with 29k miles mainly riding on lightweight wheels and 33" and 35" ko2's. Fully inspecting them requires significant labor removing the brakes & knuckles and is addressed in the last step.

4. Check shocks and steering stabilizer(bolts and compression for consistent compression/extension) and make sure steering box is bolted to frame at proper torque.

5. Have wheels/tires rebalanced dynamically....or better yet, swap on a friends set of wheels/tires.

6. Check alignment and caster.

7. Retorque ball joint castle nuts to spec and insert new cotter pins.

7. Time to start swapping in different steering parts and checking the bolt holes to see if they are wallowed out and then test driving it after each new part. I had my takeoff stock parts available and used them. Begin with trackbar and test drive it...and then draglink, tie rod.

8. If none of that is fixing it, you're narrowing it down to ball joints or steering box with ball joints being much more likely. Time to get serious and have an experienced shop disassemble the brakes/knuckles and check preload on ball joints.(6 hour ish job) The mechanic said my ball joints weren't applying preload on the knuckle, but were not flopping around like you see with ball joints that are completely shot. He said that is a classic sign that the ball joints are the culprit and replaced them with Dana Spicer ball joints and reassembled everything.

With the new ball joints, the jeep drives like new. Very frustrating and drawn out experience....glad it's resolved!

I was wondering if the DW resolved itself. I am just experienced DW on 2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport with 15K miles; all stock w/ exception of Rubi wheels. Dealership suggested steering damper and will instal under warranty. From what I am reading, I don't have faith that this will correct the problem. At the same time, the dealership is offering a tire sale of buy 3 get 4th tire free. I am thinking of just increasing tire width to 255 instead of stock 245. I was interested in BF Goodrich KO2
255/75/17. Do you think that this if going to have any effect on the DW issue? If I go for the tire change, will it impede the the dealership warrant if the DW continues? Your thoughts.... thanks,

 

[Tech Tim]

 

[Jmos4]

Hi,

Not sure how similar but a friend had a 2005 Ram 2500 4x4 with death wobble, changed everything still had it, out of desperation he changed the steering box and fixed it guess there was a valve that went bad inside the gear box.

I have a 22 JLUR as well with 35's (E's) and no wobble just a little vibration but suspect it's the balancing beads.

Good luck it's a annoying issue.

Regards,
Jim

 

[Smcdowell]

Hi,

Not sure how similar but a friend had a 2005 Ram 2500 4x4 with death wobble, changed everything still had it, out of desperation he changed the steering box and fixed it guess there was a valve that went bad inside the gear box.

I have a 22 JLUR as well with 35's (E's) and no wobble just a little vibration but suspect it's the balancing beads.

Good luck it's a annoying issue.

Regards,
Jim

Would you say it's better or worse after the balancing beads? I am considering throwing some in my Cooper STT 37's.

 

[Jmos4]

Would you say it's better or worse after the balancing beads? I am considering throwing some in my Cooper STT 37's.

Hi,

I put them in from the get go but with tire sensors it's hard to keep them all in while seating the tire so I lost a little, little road vibration but nothing Luke a death wobble.

Regards,
Jim

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