Need help with death wobble

[jeepingib]

@roaniecowpony is already steering you in the right direction. Check every joint closely. The two person method, with one behind the wheel works even without the engine running in my experience. Just have them wiggle the wheel back and forth fairly quickly, and if a joint is developing some play, you can feel it 'click' as it goes from one side to the other. My guess is that it will be ball joints. The factory ones don't like to play with 37s for many folks, and adding the taller springs may have been just enough to put the wear point into an unstable point vs where it was before.

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[Pape]

the teack bar is torqued. I just replaced the bolts tonight with 9/16s bolts and retorques them.

i have the mc sector shaft brace but havent installed it yet since it requires rivnuts.

think the aluminum steering box can have that much play?

Would the 3.5” springs alone exacerbate a wobble?

i can check for balljoint play tomorrow evening after work. I hope thats not it. I already have a bunch of parts to buy soon. Not to mention the enormous amount ive spent the past six months

While clamping force is the main way to conduit the vibration causing DW do not neglect the hole clearance. When you changed the bolts was a lot of play before torq it down ? especially now that you got DW this wear component way faster

 

[Sportacus]

While clamping force is the main way to conduit the vibration causing DW do not neglect the hole clearance. When you changed the bolts was a lot of play before torq it down ? especially now that you got DW this wear component way faster

no there was not a lot of play. The old bolts are so close in size to the new ones i wasnt sure the new ones were even bigger.

ill check the ball joints as well as having someone move the steering wheel back and forth quickly while i check for play. I had my wife moving it but not quickly, and i was looking for anything but not feeling.

 

[Sportacus]

My video i posted of the drag link moving up and down, is that normal? I assume so sinces its brand new and its moving at the ball joints ends. I assumed it would be stiff like the trackbar.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Rumor has it @roaniecowpony will diagnose the cause of your death wobble if you bring over some decent steaks and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.

There's some truth to that. The part about me eating the steaks and drinking some Sonoma Coast Pinot, anyway.

 

[Terrymo]

There's some truth to that. The part about me eating the steaks and drinking some Sonoma Coast Pinot, anyway.

You take your chances on the rest of it I guess,

 

[roaniecowpony]

You take your chances on the rest of it I guess,

Yeah, Temecula pinot is dog piss, Santa Rita Hills pinot is sketch, Santa Lucia Highlands pinot is hit or miss.

 

[Terrymo]

Yeah, Temecula pinot is dog piss, Santa Rita Hills pinot is sketch, Santa Lucia Highlands pinot is hit or miss.

Well sadly I’m one of the unwashed peasants who doesn’t appreciate fine wine. I think I tried a $10 bottle of Lancers way back in college and had some really expensive wine at a restaurant in Monterey around the same time and they tasted the same to me…not good.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Well sadly I’m one of the unwashed peasants who doesn’t appreciate fine wine. I think I tried a $10 bottle of Lancers way back in college and had some really expensive wine at a restaurant in Monterey around the same time and they tasted the same to me…not good.

Well, I recently had to stop drinking beer. Now, it's wine or whiskey for my jeep consultation. So, if you don't buy that round of beer for the whole forum, I can live with it.

 

[Sportacus]

Well, i didnt have available help this evening to test the ball joints. I did grab a 2’ pry bar and try to see if i could feel any movement by myself, no such luck.

so….. i decided to give chat gpt’s advice a try lol. I had loaded up some pics of my front tires (very well worn Patagonias). Chat got said it believes that to be the most likely cause. So i grabbed a oair of still decent 33s i have in the backyard and tossed them on the front. I proceeded to drive to the nearby DW bridge looking like some kind of Hot Wheels jeep dragster to see what happens……and…….nothing happened. No death wobble lol. Nice and smooth.

i gotta get off my ass and go gave my new 37” tires put on and try it again.


Tomorrow ill have to pull the jerp out and take a pic of the jerpster in the daylight lol

 

[MegaZoso]

Measure your caster at the case spreader holes . Minus the floor. Odd your floor would be 0.0 flat .
Get the angle up to 6 degrees. Your steering wheel should center itself after making a turn if you caster is right . If center feels vague then you likely dont have enough angle back. 3.5 springs requir longer lower arms. Top ones can remain stock. Mopar ones arent enough. You need 3/16 to a 1/4” more length. If you jeep drifts one way or the other when braking you may need to adjust that lower arm out one full turn. ( 16th of an inch)
After all this you can almost drive without a steering stabilizer . Adding brackets can add bumpsteer. Throuws off the geometry in other ways. Try reducing steering stabilizer dampening to reduce the steering wheel from bumping so hard. .

 

[Sportacus]

That angle finder pic i posted is sitting on the case spreader. Ill put the angle on the floor but i doubt it is much. I wont be able to make any real adjustments till i get my new MC control arms after Memorial Day. My steering stabilizer is the non-adjustable fox ts.

The jeep doesnt drift at all. Never has.

thank you for your input. I do appreciate it.

ill put my new tires on this weekend and see how it is.

im just glad i can pilut off of the balljoints for a while, maybe BF. Right now i need to get the front control arms and rcv axles (leaking cv boot). Eventually an MC tie rod…

By next week, i will have put as much into this jeep as carvana says my jeep is worth

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