Death Wobble and repairing it.

[J Smith]

On some other Jeep related blogs, you will find threads about Death Wobble. The more I read some of them, the more I see people who don't "know more than a 5th grader" about the subject; telling others how to repair something they know nothing about. The amount of misinformation, from guys who I believe think they know what they are talking about, is simply amazing.

Think about this a minute: If you have a steering and suspension that is working properly, even if you have bad or out of balance tires, have you EVER heard of even one person who had a Death Wobble? I can guarantee you haven't.

So why is it that all these "experts" point to tire problems first? They want you to balance or replace your tires first. Please do yourself a big favor and ignore these guys… they may mean well, but they have no clue.

Now, I do not profess to know everything, but having had several successes at repairing Jeep Wranglers (primarily TJs and JKs), I do feel much more qualified to write an entire article on Death Wobble, for both diagnosing and repairing it. It's been a long while, but I was trained and then worked in an alignment shop. Many shops have techs who are much more experienced in other repairs than I will ever be, but if they have no experience with DW, they won't know what they are doing. DW is a tough repair… even if you have experience.

Take a few minutes to read the following article and watch the videos from Teraflex about aligning a TJ with a high end suspension lift just installed. Yes, the lift will be different than the one on your rig… the alignment process will be the same if done properly.

If you have a Death Wobble problem and either do or have done everything the article tells you to, I can nearly guarantee you will be able to repair the problem the right way.

Here is the link -- Happy Trails 4wd: Death Wobble

I hope you never have this problem, but if you do, please listen to someone who has way more experience than the average tech. That experience is the only way you'll fix it unless you're just lucky.

 

[TerryMason]

That's a good article. We've got our official death wobble article here:
http://www.jeepz.com/forum/suspension/29510-wrangler-death-wobble-what-causes-how-fix.html

 

[jps4jeep]

So using your logic an impropperly balanced tire will not provide feedback that can be felt through the steering wheel at certain speeds?

 

[J Smith]

So using your logic an impropperly balanced tire will not provide feedback that can be felt through the steering wheel at certain speeds?

I don't know if you are attempting humor or are serious. Anyone would expect to have "feedback" from a badly out of balance tire. That would be felt as wheel hop or if it is severely dynamically unbalanced, as a vibration in the steering wheel… but NOT Death Wobble (if your suspension and steering are working properly). You could feel that from either a front or rear tire. Ever have a death wobble from the rear?
There is nothing logical about it.
Unbalanced tires may initiate a DW if the steering and/or suspension are not sound because they are not sound. A sound steering and suspension cannot do a DW. It's just that simple.

 

[superj]

the time i had it, it was the steering damper. everyone says that can not be it but i put a new one on and never had a problem again. i got rid of the truck two years later but during that time i installed a 3" lift and 31" tires and still no trouble. it was an 85 comanche.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Unbalanced tires may initiate a DW if the steering and/or suspension are not sound because they are not sound. A sound steering and suspension cannot do a DW. It's just that simple.

This is a sound statement, one that many don't understand. There are two aspects to DW, something that initiates the wobble (pothole or tire inbalance) and something that allows the wobble to escalate into full-blown pucker Death Wobble (loose or worn steering/suspension components).

 

[JPNinPA]

This is a sound statement, one that many don't understand. There are two aspects to DW, something that initiates the wobble (pothole or tire inbalance) and something that allows the wobble to escalate into full-blown pucker Death Wobble (loose or worn steering/suspension components).

Exactly!