Death Wobble

[Fizzlepop]

Hey guys, I could desperately use some help. I'm having death wobble, and my current fix I believe is just making it.

I brought it into a shop, and they did all the normal checks. No play in ball joints, everything is tight, they listened to wheel hubs with stethoscopes and heard nothing. No bent tie rod or drag link. Axle looks straight with no signs of damage.We even took off my wheels and tires and threw on some beadlock 37s.Toe was in .12, and caster was -6.5 driver.

Per a suggestion, they put toe to dead center. This didnt stop the wobble, but it did make it require a harder bump to trigger. After 12 hours, I asked them to adjust caster to -3.5 passenger which was told to me by a few friends. Lo and behold, a set of railroad tracks at 47 mph and it didnt death wobble. The steering wheel shimmies for a split second like it wants to, but tracks straight.

All of this is done with steering stabilizer off. If I put stabilizer on, it doesnt wobble. Obviously it's hiding the wobble, and it appears TO ME that a -3.5 caster is hiding it as well as I've never heard of such a shallow caster on a 3.5 lifted jeep on 35s

We are out of ideas, and clearly somethings amiss if toe is affecting DW and a shallow caster stops it.

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[Sting_NC_USA]

Unless I'm not understanding this correctly (possible), you definitely should leave the stock steering stabilizer on, or at least install an aftermarket one if you're wanting a higher-end or dual shock setup.

That stabilizer shock(s) takes the "hit" and neutralizes it. I'm not sure I'd say it was hiding it, as that's really what it's there for - to protect from jarring impacts that can trigger death-wobble. I'm sure others who are more technical with the mechanics of this will share more detail.

Just curious, why would you want to remove the stabilizer shock?

 

[Fizzlepop]

Everyone I've talked to, including Scott Blum, said in no way should the jeep go into death wobble with stabilizer off. It absorbs impact to create a smoother ride, but if I'm getting DW without it, somethings off.

The reason it's off, though, is because I've smashed two of them due to their location. While waiting for a relocation bracket, everyone and their mom said just run without one, you'll just have bumpsteer without it.

 

[Sting_NC_USA]

Everyone I've talked to, including Scott Blum, said in no way should the jeep go into death wobble with stabilizer off. It absorbs impact to create a smoother ride, but if I'm getting DW without it, somethings off.

The reason it's off, though, is because I've smashed two of them due to their location. While waiting for a relocation bracket, everyone and their mom said just run without one, you'll just have bumpsteer without it.

Gotcha', and it sucks you're going through this. Seems that if everything's tested and tight while on a lift, it wouldn't hit the wobble point, but then again, it's difficult to exert that level of stress on your components while on a lift. Hopefully another member here will be able to contribute more.

Here's the thread I'd read, maybe something there will add value: Death Wobble

 

[Jeepsk8]

So many things can cause DW. I would crawl under there when it's on the ground and have a buddy saw back and forth on the steering wheel, look for any movement in the track bar, tie rod ends, drag link, steering box. I'm sure they checked ball joints if they went through and listened to the hubs with a stethoscope. Track bar is the usual suspect. And yes, you should be able to drive without a steering stabilizer.

 

[Fizzlepop]

They did that as well. Absolutely no play in any component. They started talking about physics of spring sway causing it and shit because they were out of options lol

 

[Pistnbroke]

Have the front tires been balanced with beads, per chance?

 

[Fizzlepop]

Have the front tires been balanced with beads, per chance?

Yep, even threw on a seperate set of 37s that were beadlocked to eliminate that as a possiblity

 

[Pistnbroke]

I know that I have a set of Kevlar MT/R's in 35" that have tire beads in them and have found that sometimes they spin up fine, but as soon as I hit a bump in the road, they start to wobble the steering wheel pretty bad. I had the beads taken out and stick on weights installed (it took 16 ounces a tire) and it fixed the issue.

 

[Fizzlepop]

They arent beaded, sorry. They have the stock on weights

 

[Fizzlepop]

With the 37s on, it didnt happen at 40mph, but it did happen at 20 mph a few times. So, it stabilized the axle at higher speeds, but unstablized it at lower speeds

 

[vavaroutsos]

I read on a steering box manufactures site that a faulty steering box can cause DW. Apparently an oscillation can be setup in the internal control valve where it adds assist one way, then the other. We all know there seems to be some issues with the new JL steering box, so maybe this is one manifestation of the problem.

 

[Fizzlepop]

I can set the caster back to -5.5 and pull the fuse for the electric steering pump and see if it goes away. Cant imagine what death wobble with no power steering would feel like lol

 

[hansolowookie]

Tell me more about your suspension system. What have you installed?

 

[Fizzlepop]

Tell me more about your suspension system. What have you installed?

I have the Metalcloak 3.5 Gamechanger. All 8 control arms are solid and adjusted, torqued to spec. Same with trackbar. Axle is centered. The springs seem to sit inward, as you can see from the pic. They seem worse than they are because MC mounts their shocks outboard so it gives a weird view. Caster currently measures 3.4 passenger, 3 driver.

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