Oh my god, not another Death Wobble thread! NO! NO! NOOO!!!

    Irony sucks doesn't it? I recently had this happen on the WJ I owned. Is that the ACTUAL track bar you own? If so, I am betting that is where your problem is. It could be one of two possibilities...


    1. No matter how tight you have made the track bar bracket, once under load it is finding a bit more movement. There has been enough corrosion behind it that it has extra space in places that should be against the sub frame. Solution-- Weld it to the frame.


    2. If that is the EXACT track bar you have, then its likely that the poly bushing is bad on the one end. Its hard to tell by horsing it around with a pry bar, but I can almost guarantee that is your problem. That track bar is a JKS track bar (that is what Kevins Offroad sells), and Kevins Offroad actually offers a heavier durometer bushing for that style because many folks with WJ's have had this problem. This new bushing is the closest thing to STEEL that any plastic can actually be. You can hardly dent it with your finger nail. Get that bushing, and it should fix that problem. Keep in mind, the new bushing is TIGHT AS HELL to get in, but it works. If you have poly bushings on BOTH ends, then replace them both. Let me know if you need help sourcing these. Look under the WJ stuff on their website and you should be able to find them.


    I had crappy tires on my WJ, and I hit a bump wrong and got death wobble. Once it happened it kept on happening because it wallowed out the track bar bushings enough to create space. You may have had another problem that initially caused your death wobble, but since it happened once it was enough to "make room" in the bushings.


    A.

    Quote from Andy in Pa.


    Irony sucks doesn't it? I recently had this happen on the WJ I owned. Is that the ACTUAL track bar you own? If so, I am betting that is where your problem is. It could be one of two possibilities...


    1. No matter how tight you have made the track bar bracket, once under load it is finding a bit more movement. There has been enough corrosion behind it that it has extra space in places that should be against the sub frame. Solution-- Weld it to the frame.



    Done. When we reinforced the frame, we welded the bracket. The bolts I mentioned earlier are the ones that go vertically into the frame; we tightened those down in addition to the welding.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Quote from Andy in Pa.


    Irony sucks doesn't it? I recently had this happen on the WJ I owned. Is that the ACTUAL track bar you own? If so, I am betting that is where your problem is. It could be one of two possibilities...
    2. If that is the EXACT track bar you have, then its likely that the poly bushing is bad on the one end. Its hard to tell by horsing it around with a pry bar, but I can almost guarantee that is your problem. That track bar is a JKS track bar (that is what Kevins Offroad sells), and Kevins Offroad actually offers a heavier durometer bushing for that style because many folks with WJ's have had this problem. This new bushing is the closest thing to STEEL that any plastic can actually be. You can hardly dent it with your finger nail. Get that bushing, and it should fix that problem. Keep in mind, the new bushing is TIGHT AS HELL to get in, but it works. If you have poly bushings on BOTH ends, then replace them both. Let me know if you need help sourcing these. Look under the WJ stuff on their website and you should be able to find them.


    I had crappy tires on my WJ, and I hit a bump wrong and got death wobble. Once it happened it kept on happening because it wallowed out the track bar bushings enough to create space. You may have had another problem that initially caused your death wobble, but since it happened once it was enough to "make room" in the bushings.


    A.



    This seems to be a very real possibility - that the bushings could be a likely culprit. In fact, I'm going to focus on this before anything else; it just makes the most sense - especially since it's happened to me before.
    :bang:
    I thought the leverage of a prybar would be enough to detect movement, but maybe not. We didn't actually take the track bar off and directly inspect the bushings.
    :doh:

    Yes, that is the EXACT trackbar. A brief history: I purchased and installed it in February 2008, back when Kevin was claiming he manufactured it and before he admitted it's a JKS. One of the earliest of the many times I've had death wobble, the culprit was those very bushings, so in October 2009 I installed the Hard-KOR SUPER-hard Rockwell Durometer bushings, which are, I would guess, the bushing of which you speak:



    So it's been nearly 5 years and many beatings at RC and Big Dogs. Maybe it's time to do them again. I'll spend the few extra bucks and get the full kit:

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Yep, those are the bushings. I broke my 1920's 100lb vise trying to press those suckers into the track bar for the WJ... they are hard!!!


    I would actually be tempted to replace the bottom end of the track bar with the JJ version. I think JKS offers this... (?) When you take the track bar off, take a very good look at the axle mount/coil buckets/LCA mounts. Having DW has a tendency to weaken factory mounts/welds pretty badly.


    I am sure you know this, but think of DW as a progressive problem. It happens once and in the process weakens other components. Then you fix one thing, but other components have been weakened to the point that they will now also cause it.


    If a caliper is sticking, its very likely you would feel it when you spin the wheel/tire with it off the ground. If you don't feel a caliper dragging when you sping the wheel/tire with it off the ground, it could still be a caliper if it wasn't bled properly and there is air trapped in one of them. Basically, one caliper would get more braking force than the other causing a pull to one side. You would feel that pull to one side though while driving if that were the case.


    Just some more food for thought..... :wavey:

    Quote from Andy in Pa.

    I would actually be tempted to replace the bottom end of the track bar with the JJ version. I think JKS offers this... (?)



    Despite it's retirement from wheeling? It's no longer being subjected to crazy flex.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Quote from Andy in Pa.


    I am sure you know this, but think of DW as a progressive problem. It happens once and in the process weakens other components. Then you fix one thing, but other components have been weakened to the point that they will now also cause it.



    I certainly do know that. In my original post, I mention a list of things - ball joints, LCA bushings, UCA bushings, TREs, etc. that were repaired or replaced. This took place over a period of a few months. I did not discover that I had this long list of components that had failed simultaneously. It was more a progression of: fix one thing > drive it for a while > experience violent Death Wobble a few times > find the next thing wrong (which was most likely caused by the just-occured DW) > fix NEXT thing > drive it for a while > experience violent Death Wobble a few times > rinse, repeat...


    Death Wobble like a virus - self-replicating.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Last week, I forgot to post up that (just before the trackbar discussion) in order to rule-out the steering box, we had already swapped the Durango steering box out for the stock unit, but didn't take it for a test drive until later in the day.

    The Death Wobble was so violent, it broke the bolts off the steering box. I guess we ruled out the steering box as the problem.
    :doh: :censored: :bang:

    Needless to say, I ordered the new trackbar bushings and did nothing else to the Jeep other than replace the Durango box.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Quote from deadfeat





    That's funny, because I recently picked up a stock XJ, and despite it's not being lifted, when in the cabin it's essentially the same - it looks mostly the same inside and it has that Jeep road-feel. I guess I have been conditioned to always be on high alert for DW, so whenever I go over a manhole cover or a pothole or whatever, the tiniest feedback vibration in the steering wheel sends me into a psychological DefCon 5 and triggers me to prepare for emergency maneuvers.
    :o

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Where does it come from. Your seat our your steering wheel. This may be difficult to tell I understand because it will radiate threw the entire jeep eventually. But if u can narrow it down to the front or rear end first.

    Quote from CLAYMONTLIVEIN


    Where does it come from. Your seat our your steering wheel. This may be difficult to tell I understand because it will radiate threw the entire jeep eventually. But if u can narrow it down to the front or rear end first.


    True Death Wobble is always a front end thing and it assaults the driver through the steering wheel.


    If it's coming from the rear of the vehicle and/or up through the seat, that would be a different problem entirely.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    clean the mud out of the wheel rims sounda funny but cacked mud in the inside of the rim is the only thing that ever gave my wobble on my old yj

    hey john I second the track bar.anything with the polyurethane bushings are always iffy.at least triple check it anyway

    Quote from J-Man


    hey john I second the track bar.anything with the polyurethane bushings are always iffy.at least triple check it anyway


    New bushings arrived last week; I should have them in this week.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    that's cool good luck.I think that kind of bushings great if you just go to the beach and hit a blue every once in awhile but the way you wheel you need some curry joints :mrgreen:

    Quote from altierior

    True Death Wobble is always a front end thing and it assaults the driver through the steering wheel.


    If it's coming from the rear of the vehicle and/or up through the seat, that would be a different problem entirely.


    I beg to differ. I had a Death wobble issue for a long time and changed and tightened a lot of parts until I happened to look at the rear track bar . I noticed that the lower track bar mount had loosened up and was causing the rear end to shift around which in turn threw the front end into a DW. Definitely do not rule out the rear.

    2000 Sahara, All custom...
    2000 Cherokee Police package, Beater....


    I may be slowest and the stupidest

    Quote from 2000sahara


    I beg to differ. I had a Death wobble issue for a long time and changed and tightened a lot of parts until I happened to look at the rear track bar . I noticed that the lower track bar mount had loosened up and was causing the rear end to shift around which in turn threw the front end into a DW. Definitely do not rule out the rear.


    Rear track bar? XJs ain't gots no fancy-schmacy rear track bars. :innocent:

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Seriously though, we did give the rear suspension a good once-over. I replaced a driveshaft u-joint, but other than that, everything seemed okay.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login