Death Wobble, possible foul play

ldwinell

New member
In 1999 I bought a 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0 and had a lift, tires, and wheels put on it. There were only 2 other seperate occasions that I started to experience the death wobble. It was always a simple fix by replacing 2-4 of the tires. I was told that the low tread was the cause. Basically its been a nice riding vehicle with no suspension issues.
2 years ago the death wobble came back however 2 new tires didnt fix it.

The death wobble occurs at speeds between 35mph - 50mph if you hit any bump with the right front tire. I have to literally come to a complete stop for it to end. I never realized how bad the street conditions are untill now. In a one mile stretch, I will go into a full blown death wobble 1-3 times. I did find that if I loaded the back with lots of weight it wouldn't wobble. Due to the lack of funds to fix it, my jeep has sat for about 1 1/2 years.

I have now begun to have work done on it and it still wobbles, only now putting weight in the back no longer helps and the wobbleing begins when I reach about 35mph
without hitting a bump. So again it just sits. This is the work thats been done so far.....
1. new gear box
2. replace track bar
3. replace tie rod ends
4. replace upper control arm bushings
5. replace steering arm
6. balance tires
7. alignment (shop said all is good, everything torqued to spec, doesnt see any problems)

I am not mechanically inclined. I am at a loss, totally frustrated, running low on funds and without a vehicle.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

There is one other factor that may or may not play a role in this. In short there was this person I thought was a friend who ended up being a problem/stalker. He was doing things to my vehicles so I would need him to fix them (i.e., pull radiator plug, loosen oil filter, remove all but one lugnut on wheel, ect.). My death wobble started right after I saw on his computer that he googled "what causes a jeep to death wobble?" and he does not own a jeep. Can foul play be the culprit?
 
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Absolutely! Just loosen a bolt or two... Mud in a tire


Get tires speed balanced.
Do a dry steer test and look for loose parts.
Fix anything loose or broken.
Check axel or drive shaft u-joints...
Make sure your alignment is done at a place that understands jeeps or 4x4 alignments. Larger tires and a lift do not have the same geometry as stock so the numbers may change.


The things that stand out are that DW usually starts at 65 mph. And second by weighing the back down it doesn't happen.

Messing with a vehicle esp steering or brakes should be punishable by law...
 
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