death wobble

[luis]

I know its been covered on here before but I need to understand it more. I have a 97 tj no lift just slightly bigger tires. Only wobbles when I turn the wheel slightly going between the speeds of 50-60 mph. Above 60 its fine. The more I turn the wheel the worse the shaking gets. I had the tires balanced. Steering seems tight I'm really stumped... Help?

 

[mtnmad]

put your front end up on jack stands and grab each wheel and see if you have any excess play in your steering components or bearings. have you ever used fix a flat in one of the tires? that stuff makes it impossible to balance the tire. iff you have u need to break down that tire and clean it out.

 

[luis]

put your front end up on jack stands and grab each wheel and see if you have any excess play in your steering components or bearings. have you ever used fix a flat in one of the tires? that stuff makes it impossible to balance the tire. iff you have u need to break down that tire and clean it out.

There isn't any excess play on either side. I'm checking the alignment now. All the bushings look good

 

[luis]

I took it to brakes plus and they said its a combo between the steering shaft and the steering stabalizer. That sound about right?

 

[mud4feet]

I took it to brakes plus and they said its a combo between the steering shaft and the steering stabalizer. That sound about right?

Nix on the steering stabalizer.....it would only mask the true problem.

 

[luis]

Nix on the steering stabalizer.....it would only mask the true problem.

Well my current one is blown. The steering shaft does have play on it. Conects the steering will to the steering box

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Often times it's a bad axleshaft ujoint or a bent axleshaft when the vibe only occurs when turning the steering wheel.

Is it full-blown death wobble that requires you to slow down to regain control or is it a cyclic vibration that you can drive through?

 

[luis]

Often times it's a bad axleshaft ujoint or a bent axleshaft when the vibe only occurs when turning the steering wheel.

Is it full-blown death wobble that requires you to slow down to regain control or is it a cyclic vibration that you can drive through?

I can drive the vehicle straight and it won't wobble. It's when I'm turning it wobbles to the point were I need to slow down. I can drive through the wobble nor have tried it seems to get worse as i let it happen. This is only in 2wd havent tried in 4wd

 

[redneckjeepman]

i have had the same problem and had the steering box, sway bar, and ujoint replaced and it only temporarily fixed the problem it isnt as bad as it was before, but it still wobbles around those speeds

 

[glock21]

check your hubs.

 

[phall92139]

No answers or solutions here, just more information. I ran across this some time back and thought it may help explain some of the possibilities:

Yucca-Man: Death Wobble

Thank you to yuccaman for the info.

 

[luis]

check your hubs.

I'll check those. But I did take it in to brakes plus. They checked it for free and said it was the steering stabalizer and the steering shaft. But I honestly don't trust em

 

[superj]

steering stabilizer is cheap. if your is blown, might as well get a new one anyway

 

[Rallydevil]

Had same thing on my 99 took it to a local alignment guy said he had work on ton of jeeps with DW replaced every thing under the sun and it comes down to tire balance or bad tires period. He rebalanced my tires and I don't have a problem. But u have to go to a shop were they know what the hell their doing.

 

[luis]

Had same thing on my 99 took it to a local alignment guy said he had work on ton of jeeps with DW replaced every thing under the sun and it comes down to tire balance or bad tires period. He rebalanced my tires and I don't have a problem. But u have to go to a shop were they know what the hell their doing.

Ya and here in az they r a dime a dozen

 

[luis]

steering stabilizer is cheap. if your is blown, might as well get a new one anyway

Ya there like 50 bucks. Not to much of a big deal

 

[mud4feet]

Had same thing on my 99 took it to a local alignment guy said he had work on ton of jeeps with DW replaced every thing under the sun and it comes down to tire balance or bad tires period. He rebalanced my tires and I don't have a problem. But u have to go to a shop were they know what the hell their doing.

Pretty much what I said in another thread........has been my personal experience with my '03. Tires, tires, tires - probably the cheapest thing to cure.

 

[stevejill91]

I've seen tires do it and heard of a bad shock as well. There are multiple possibilities. Tires or shocks would be my first. Swap the tires front to rear and see what that does

 

[luis]

I've seen tires do it and heard of a bad shock as well. There are multiple possibilities. Tires or shocks would be my first. Swap the tires front to rear and see what that does

Im gona do that as soon as I scrape all the mud out of the rear wheels

 

[ljrubitm]

Check your track bar bolt. make sure the bolt hole is not out of round, even if its tight.
Also check your ball joints, wheel hubs. How much tread is left on yous tires? I had a 06 TJ that would do this everytime the tread would get low. I talking way less then half.