SOLVED: Pre-Death Wobble

[MaineBumpkin]

…. Finally replaced the ball joints and all good no more death wobble. Went with Dynatrac.

Seems to me OEM ball joints are a common issue. Our 21 JLUR has 2.5” Mopar lift and is on 35” Dick Cepeks. After our latest 5 tire rotation at 40K it’s developed the wobble. It’s really bad going around long curves at speed (40+), especially if pavement has imperfections. I thought maybe some lugs were lose but they are all snug. Thanks for your confirmation of what I suspected, I’ll check them first.

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[RFR JLR 2.0]

Both shops I brought it to said ball joints didn’t look bad. I wanted to upgrade anyway and had them replaced. Glad I did and it solved the issue.

 

[omnitonic]

Uhh, if you’re really living on the edge financially sell the Jeep... Hopefully a good job comes your way.

The worst part is that I have a good job. I went through a divorce, and then inflation ramped up. There isn't much I can do but sell stuff, but I don't want to sell my stuff. I'm not there yet.

It really pains me that I can't just fix this problem the right way. If it needs ball joints, I should change the axle seals and axles (they're both leaking a little) while I'm in there, and so on, and so forth. Plus the clutch. I don't know if I could even sell the Jeep while it's under recall.

I haven't done anything yet, due to working all the hours. I'm hoping it's just tires. My next move is going to be swapping the fronts side to side. If that doesn't help, I'm going to try different tires up front until I find the best combination. If that solves the problem, I'll probably just stop rotating the tires, and replace the set when I burn up the rears. I already got 38k and change out of a set of mud tires, which ain't bad.

 

[word302]

The worst part is that I have a good job. I went through a divorce, and then inflation ramped up. There isn't much I can do but sell stuff, but I don't want to sell my stuff. I'm not there yet.

It really pains me that I can't just fix this problem the right way. If it needs ball joints, I should change the axle seals and axles (they're both leaking a little) while I'm in there, and so on, and so forth. Plus the clutch. I don't know if I could even sell the Jeep while it's under recall.

I haven't done anything yet, due to working all the hours. I'm hoping it's just tires. My next move is going to be swapping the fronts side to side. If that doesn't help, I'm going to try different tires up front until I find the best combination. If that solves the problem, I'll probably just stop rotating the tires, and replace the set when I burn up the rears. I already got 38k and change out of a set of mud tires, which ain't bad.

Yeah I get it. Just don’t let the Jeep bury you cuz it can happen fast. Your front tires will wear faster than the rear. You should still be able to rotate. I’ve had excellent luck with Nitto tires. They balance easy and take a beating.

 

[omnitonic]

Yeah I get it. Just don’t let the Jeep bury you cuz it can happen fast. Your front tires will wear faster than the rear. You should still be able to rotate. I’ve had excellent luck with Nitto tires. They balance easy and take a beating.

The more I think about tires, the more I keep thinking I should just cut my losses and change these out. They're developing the kind of weird wear that causes weird oscillations that cause weird wear. They still have 13/32" of tread, but the tread is not even, and they don't ride well. The tires might be the worst thing wrong right now. My ball joints could be shot, but they don't seem bad to me.

There is a woman with a yellow JK who wheels all the same stuff I do, and she runs street tires on her Jeep. I almost feel foolish with these giant, expensive mud tires on this thing.

 

[MaineBumpkin]

Mine turned out to be bad steering stabilizer and drag link.

 

[kermudjin]

I have a '21 JLU Wilys with a TeraFlex 2.5" lift kit, TeraFlex 9550 shocks, and Rock Krawler track bars fore and aft, running 315/70R17 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ P3 tires, 50k miles on the Jeep and 40k miles on the wheels and tires.

I rotated my tires a couple days ago, and all of a sudden, I'm getting significant side to side oscillation of the steering wheel whenever I hit a bump. It's not death wobble, but if you cranked this phenomenon up just a little bit more, I can see how it could become death wobble.

When I had each front wheel up, I shook it top to bottom and side to side, and everything was very tight.

I dunno. I'm not sure where to go from here.

I have a 2018 JLU Sahara all stock (a 4 year lease), that had the wobble from the beginning, but it got worse over time—starting at lower speed, even as low as 65. I had the factory fix a year ago, which definitely helped. But in the later fall the wobble came back! I looked all over the web for an explanation, and found a fascinating YouTube video, where the fellow explained that the problem is not only the front end solid axle, but a problem of harmonics in the chassis, both side to side and front to back.

I got to thinking, how can one dampen frame harmonics, and hit upon the idea that different tire pressures ought to work to cancel such harmonics! Well, turns out, my tires were under pressured when the cold weather arrived (32-34lb), and simply bringing them up to 38 made the problem less noticeable. Taking the front to 40 left and 38 right, and the rear to 35 left and 37 right was like magic!! Wobble gone!! Now it takes a pretty severe piece of road at >80mph to even begin the vibrating harmonic in front, and it almost never goes to full on Death Wobble! Even after a tire rotation, I still have not gotten a wobble, without changing pressures.

Since I solved the wobble problem, I decided to keep the vehicle by after-lease purchase this summer, rather than trade it in!

Try changing tire pressures to see if it helps. Just be aware that there may be uneven wear at 35 and 40lb, so rotate and reinflate to new pressures more often!

 

[omnitonic]

Try changing tire pressures to see if it helps. Just be aware that there may be uneven wear at 35 and 40lb, so rotate and reinflate to new pressures more often!

That's a really interesting idea! I hadn't thought about overall dynamics front and back. I do have one tire with more pressure than the rest. It was the spare, and it's on the right rear. I didn't bother to adjust the pressure, since it's only like 2 psi higher. It's not much different, but that is a difference.

The death wobble is getting worse quickly. Whatever is bad about this current configuration seems to be feeding back on itself in a negative way. I've gone from eyebrow-raising bump steer to a repeating wobble that lasted for some time. Not uncontrolled death wobble, but death wobble is a more severe version of what I'm already experiencing.

I'll try dicking with the tire pressure first. If I don't see pretty dramatic improvements there, I think I'm going to skip rotating the tires again, and just replace them. They're not in bad shape yet, but they're cupping out, and that's not going to get better with mileage. I can probably find some kid to buy them for his beater and get a little back.

I think I'm going to go with a cheaper tire this time, and I'm going to go with all terrains instead of mud tires. I don't drive in much mud since I became a lot more active. I just need to get to the trail head where I hike now, instead of driving the trail. I only do hard wheeling a few times a year now. I guess I got it out of my system that first year.

 

[omnitonic]

I tried diddling the pressures +5 -5, and I tried rotating the tires. The current spare has more irregular wear than average, so I left it there, and just did a criss-cross rotation.

It still felt deathly wobbly. No appreciable difference.

So I decided to tie a couple loops of rope around my neck, and lean out over the edge of a cliff to buy a set of Falken WildPeaks.

Changing the tires around revealed the death wobble. The tires had irregular wear. If it is my ball joints, then I gambled badly. That's the thing. Nobody can really say with certainty what my deal is. It's a hunting expedition at best.

So I took a shot at the tires first. I probably should have been running ATs anyway, since I drive 24,500 miles a year on pavement, and 500 miles on dirt.

 

[Roky]

I tried diddling the pressures +5 -5, and I tried rotating the tires. The current spare has more irregular wear than average, so I left it there, and just did a criss-cross rotation.

It still felt deathly wobbly. No appreciable difference.

So I decided to tie a couple loops of rope around my neck, and lean out over the edge of a cliff to buy a set of Falken WildPeaks.

Changing the tires around revealed the death wobble. The tires had irregular wear. If it is my ball joints, then I gambled badly. That's the thing. Nobody can really say with certainty what my deal is. It's a hunting expedition at best.

So I took a shot at the tires first. I probably should have been running ATs anyway, since I drive 24,500 miles a year on pavement, and 500 miles on dirt.

Hi Michael,
If…more likely…when, the wobble is still there when you put on the new tires, then change the ball joints…. Been my experience on these JLs that they don’t always present when performing the ball joint test, and are likely the reason for your irregular tire wear in the first place…..Also…. even though you have the RK track bar, which is a very good product, it’s still a wearable/rebuildable linkage….Double make sure that the frame side bushing doesn’t need to be rebuilt….have a friend turn the wheel back and forth while you watch it, and the other end links while you’re at it…..Sometimes people forget that aftermarket stuff does wear and often times over look them as a possible suspect…….

 

[omnitonic]

Hi Michael,
If…more likely…when, the wobble is still there when you put on the new tires, then change the ball joints…. Been my experience on these JLs that they don’t always present when performing the ball joint test, and are likely the reason for your irregular tire wear in the first place…..Also…. even though you have the RK track bar, which is a very good product, it’s still a wearable/rebuildable linkage….Double make sure that the frame side bushing doesn’t need to be rebuilt….have a friend turn the wheel back and forth while you watch it, and the other end links while you’re at it…..Sometimes people forget that aftermarket stuff does wear and often times over look them as a possible suspect…….

Thank you for tapping me on the shoulder, and pointing out my blind spot.

The track bar frame side bushing is obviously shot. That should be an easy fix.

 

[omnitonic]

Thank you for tapping me on the shoulder, and pointing out my blind spot.

The track bar frame side bushing is obviously shot. That should be an easy fix.

Or not, actually. After digging around 30 minutes, I still have no idea what parts to order for an "integrated anti-wobble joint." I'm going to have to call them. Yikes!

 

[Roky]

Or not, actually. After digging around 30 minutes, I still have no idea what parts to order for an "integrated anti-wobble joint." I'm going to have to call them. Yikes!

Read in here, track bar is same principle as frame side lcas

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...brands-suspension-general-conversation.68964/

 

[omnitonic]

Read in here, track bar is same principle as frame side lcas

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...brands-suspension-general-conversation.68964/

Okay, thanks. That doesn't look too bad. Parts on order. I'm curious how bad the bushings are going to turn out to be.

 

[word302]

Okay, thanks. That doesn't look too bad. Parts on order. I'm curious how bad the bushings are going to turn out to be.

You need the small joint tool as well if you don't already have one.

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