DEATH WOBBLE TERROR

[Sully]

Hope that caught your eye. I have got a real bad case of the dreaded death wobble. I was driving in town at about 55mph when I hit a large bump or dip in the road. My jeep started shaking like no other. This was no joult it was just down right scary! I slowed down to a stop. As I was slowing I looked out the window and saw my front wheel moving side to side almost turning me into oncoming traffic. It was skaing and moving all over the place. Anyways I limped it to the hotel tightened my tie rod, drag link, suspension, lug and steering damper nuts. Drove it and it is a little better.I tried to repeat the death wobble but only got it when I hit big bumps. The jeep has been driving with no problems for at least 800 miles. I am going to tighten up my ubolts today. After that one bump my jeep hasnt been the same. It was so sudden I dont know what else to do except go over every nut and bolt. If I cant get this sorted out. I am leaving my jeep in denver. Anyone know what else I should do?

[Sparky-Watts]

Avoid the bumps? Turn it into a mallcrawler? By a Kia? Give it to me? Yeah....I like that last one.

[Junkpile]

Sully, don't listen to Sparky. He drives a YJ.....he'd kill himself in a CJ. You don't want that on your hands. Just PM me with where it's at in Denver and I'll come pick it up.


It sounds like you have all of the possibilities covered. What about the ball joints?







oh yeah, J/K Sparky :)

[Sully]

I am aligning it tommorow also and when I say leave it in denver I mean leave it there until I pass through on my way back from the east coast.

[Inspector-Gadget]

Hi-Ya, Sully,

When I first purchased the Bubbacon, it would sometimes do a dance-of-death under exactly the same conditions as your CJ -- always bump-induced, only at highway speeds.

For reasons entirely unrelated to the death-wobble, I replaced all four tires and wheels with another set.

Voila! Death-wobble cured!

Tire(s) out of balance, broken internal belt, bent wheel -- who knows?

But, since you were recently off-roading, tire internal condition/balance/wheel trueness, etc. might be ideas worth adding to your checklist.

Lots of rotating mass in those larger tires.

Regards,

Gadget

[Bounty__Hunter]

Sully, what year and model jeep? How many miles? What suspension mods?

[JeepMonkey]

I too just experienced it for the first time in my TJ. Only on one stretch of road with quite a few evenly spaced cracks. And only while going about 70mph. Once I slowed down it went away and I never heard from it again. The Jeep drives just fine on every other stretch of road still no matter how fast I'm going. I'm going to get under mine real soon and re-tighten everything again anyway. Never hurts to do that I guess.

[indiemo]

I had a bad case of the death wobble with my TJ about a year ago. I tried just about everything to get rid of it. Tightened the tie rods, replaced the traction bar, had the tires balanced, etc, etc. But whenever I hit around 55 and hit a bump or went around a turn, I'd be wobbling all over the place. BUt just like Inspector Gadget, I replaced all 4 tires and teh wobble magically went away. That was over a year ago, but just recently I've noticed it starting to come back a touch right back at 55 again. It's not severe yet, but I"m worried it's going to get worse. I may go get the tires balanced and see if that fixes anything. Just my 2 cents.

[Bounty__Hunter]

Most common cause I've seen is a bad front track bar (tierod end) and cracked bushings in the control arms.

	Track bar A track bar is a component of a car suspension system that provides lateral location of the axle. While the purpose of the rear suspension of an automobile is to allow the wheels to move vertically with respect to the body, it is undesirable to allow them to move forward and backwards, or from side to side. It is this latter movement that the track bar is designed to prevent. It is a simple device, consisting of a rigid bar running sideways in the same plane as the rear axle, connecting one end of the axle to the car body or chassis on the opposite side of the vehicle. The bar is attached on either end with pivots that permit it to swivel upwards and downwards only, so that the axle is, in turn, allowed to move in the vertical plane only.

[TwistedCopper]

Well Sully, unless your tires are (like IG suggested) out of balance or damaged, I'd bet your alignment is out. Hopefully you cured it today with an alignment.

With the simplicity of your CJ's front end it doesn't leave too many options... bad bushings/joints, out of alignment, or tires. I doubt you'll have to leave it in CO... at least I hope you don't.

What a trip you guys are having

[mingez]

Originally Posted by Junkpile

Sully, don't listen to Sparky. He drives a YJ.....he'd kill himself in a CJ. You don't want that on your hands. Just PM me with where it's at in Denver and I'll come pick it up.

[mingez]

Originally Posted by Sully

I am aligning it tommorow also and when I say leave it in denver I mean leave it there until I pass through on my way back from the east coast.

I maybe able to coax a friend to let you leave it at their house.
I'm not joking BTW

Again, that's a maybe, but let me know i'll make some calls.

[Sully]

I tightened everything up and can at least drive it at 75. I measured the width from the front of my tires and the width on the back of my front tire. The front side it about 48 inches and the back is way off. About 49 1/2. It's suposed to be set 1/8 inch tow in. So I bent something. Probably another tie rod. Just replaced this thing too. Guess I will never stop breaking things......I am going to re-set the tow in tommorow.

[Sparky-Watts]

Gee, only an inch and a half tow-in? Sounds like my old '72 Mercury Capri!!