Beetlebz

That's not the worst idea. I'm going to do exactly that. Thanks!

Beetlebz

So after several days of driving (including going out of my way to hit trouble spots on the highway) I'm confident that my death wobble is fixed.

I still get the wiggle in the steering wheel if I hit bumps just right at the right speed but it no longer throws the jeep into a death wobble. All other times the jeep handles and rides perfectly fine. Is that also something that needs to be addressed? What could it be? I was thinking tie rod or drag link ends but they all feel great and theres no play when I jack up the front end and try to move my wheels with a long crow bar. Ball joins and rod ends all seem fine.

resharp001

I like to use a shovel as you get even more leverage vs. a crow bar. Have you measured your actual net lift? I know you mention you thought it was ~3".



Are you still in the middle hole on the brackets, or did you move to the next one? Sounds like what is left is just some bump steer which is common. Unless you have actual alignment specs, hard to pinpoint what your actual caster is currently. You might also just be in that no-man's land that you're not high enough to do a DL flip, but your DL angle is on the steeper side, contributing to a little bump steer. Not the end of the world as long as you're confident your joints are good. The downside to having a little bump steer is if you do have a joint crap out down the line.....bump steer + bad joint will probably net bit of a wobble again.

Beetlebz

It's a terraflex 2.5. I've read reports that its anywhere from 2.5" at the front to 3 and everywhere in between, and 2" in the back. It sits alot more like 2 and change at the front.

After a week of death wobble free driving, I had to pull over for a wobble 3x this afternoon on the way to work. I'm at work for another 28 hours and I'll recheck the tightness on the track bar

Beetlebz

Just had a chance to crawl under the jeep. I don't have a torque wrench handy but both ends of the track bar are tight. Like, I cant move the wrench with my foot tight. The AEV bracket bolts are all tight. Once I get a break today I'm going to have a co-worker sit in the jeep and turn the wheel, see if I can visually spot any play in the track bar, tie rod ends or drag link ends. Beyond that I'm completely at a loss. I had a week of fantastic, wobble free driving before it came back with a vengeance. It's worse (as in more frequent and less predictable) than it was before.

resharp001

This is not a good enough check. It looks like there are a couple Harbor Freight Tools in the general Milford, CT area. At the very least, go pick up at cheap 1/2" drive 2' breaker bar (assuming you have 1/2" drive socket) using a 20% off coupon. Ideally you'd have a 2' 1/2" drive 50-250 ft lbs torque wrench, but at least a big breaker bar gives you the same leverage for $10. You'd be surprised the leverage you get with 2' vs. "foot on a wrench".

I'd still not rule out my initial thought of BJs as well. I'd inspect them again, very closely, as they are the most common culprit behind TBs. Use a shovel instead of the crow bar for increased leverage when trying to force the wheel in an upward direction.

Beetlebz

The wrenches I'm using are old MAC long handle wrenches, not regular ones, these are about 2x or longer the length of a standard box-end wrench, I'm confident I can get to 100ft-lbs with them, but unfortunately I'm still at work. I'm limited to what I have in the car and that torque wrench sitting on my work bench at home is worthless until I can get there.

I can however check for bushing play and rod ends as well as ball joints. I'm sure theres a shovel here somewhere.

resharp001

Are your DL, TR, and BJs factory units still? What year is this patient? I've found that bad DL or TREs usually result in simple bump steer without drastic effects unless there is another gremlin in the system. I originally queued in on the "shimmy" description in the OP cuz I've always described bad BJs as a shimmy feeling, like you're changing lanes in a road construction zone and you transition from one lane that is lower/higher than the one beside it. I would say with a bad BJ, you can pretty much trigger feelings at will just by hitting big bumps or potholes intentionally. Bad BJs don't hide themselves very well as they play a predominate roll in the system. Also though, the fact that you've had a wobble now put some additional strain on everything else. If the BJs are factory, keep in mind that this is what they look like inside (not that beefy) -



It doesn't take a whole lot to crack one of those caps on the lower BJs....and once one of those tabs is cracked or broken, it's compromised. You've not mentioned an upgrade so far in this thread so just highlighting the most obvious places to start focusing on.

I've dealt with wobbles before. They suck royally and are scary.....and make you nervous to drive it again. Hopefully can get your situation figured out here soon.

Beetlebz

Everything up front save for coil springs, sway bar links and AEV geometry brackets is original. I've bent the tie rod so that was replaced with a crown part but not an upgraded part. Shes a 2016 with about 60k.

I'll do my best to describe the shimmy... it feels as if the wheel is spring loaded if I hit a bump unevenly. Think of a diagonal speed bump that's really gentle going 30mph+ (maybe a good crack in the asphalt or a paving seam). That will cause the steering wheel to deflect but then recenter itself with a sproing, like those spring stoppers behind a door in a house, it sproings back and forth getting less and less until it stops over the span of maybe 1 full second. Its quick. If it's a more dramatic bump that's just the right blend of being uneven (from tire to tire) and in elevation OR if it's a really rough section of road which causes this reaction several times in quick succession it goes into a full on side to side wobble.

Now, after tightening the track bar last friday and having no wobbles at all for a whole week, it only takes one good uneven bump to throw the jeep into a full on, pull over and slow down to under 20mph to get it to stop. When I say it's worse today than last week I mean it takes less of a bump to cause it. It honestly FEELS like the axle is shifting back and forth under the jeep which makes me want to try replacing the track bar (or the bushings, I have a set of urethane laying around), but I will give it an honest to goodness proper torque when I get home. I'll also point out that on clean asphalt the jeep tracks and rides beautifully, not to say I dont have bad or A bad ball joint(s).

Also, I thank you and everyone else that's contributed to helping me get to the bottom of this.

resharp001

Other than TB bolts and joints, the 3rd thing that can happen, but is a bit less common, is that the hole in the frame side bracket can get wallowed out after having a good solid wobble (as that bolt takes some abuse during a wobble and the bracket is weak). If you happen to remove the TB, inspect the holes on both the front and back of that bracket to ensure they aren't oval'ing out any. At 60k miles, and with a factory TB, I'd be surprised if those bushings aren't still ok. That style of bushing is pretty sturdy.