DeepSky

Hey guys, I'm having a bit of trouble with a wobbly steering wheel. Here is the background:

A few weeks ago my trackbar bracket broke right off my axle housing going 30mpg down the road, needless to say it felt like my Jeep was falling apart (check out this thread https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-show-tell-33/game-what-did-i-break-how-bad-55023/). Anyway I got it back from the dealership last Wednesday with a brand new axle housing and Skyjacker steering stabilizer.

I centered the steering wheel perfectly, but I'm having some difficulty with death wobble. It's not too severe, but still kind of dangerous.

Between the speeds of 33 and 36 mph the wheel will shake back and forth pretty good, and within those speeds any little bump sends the front end into a mild death wobble.

What could this be? It has a brand new steering stabilizer, the trackbar is not bent...

Right now I'm thinking the tires may need to be re-balanced. Any ideas?

Blackjp4dr

Hey man, I had the same problem with the skyjacker stabilizer. I installed this after my lift and got a slight shake in the steering at 35-45. Inspected front end and found that the SS was chafing on the Frt trackbar mount (I think that is what it is called, look from the top down and see if the white paint is missing on the SS and starting to make a small gouge. That is what mine did.....installed original SS (skinnier) and problem went away.

If I were you wait until WOL responds, he'll get you fixed up!

wayoflife

more than likely, you never got rid of your DW and your steering stabilizer is just masking it enough to make it seem "mild". when you broke your track bar mount, the DW you had was probably sever enough to do all kinds of loosening of bolts and/or damage to your steering/suspension. first and foremost, pull your track bar and inspect the bushings carefully. also, check the mounting holes to make sure they aren't wollowed out. it is not uncommon to ruin bushings or wollow out mounting holes after an episode of DW. if they check out, you really need to make sure that you tighten the bolts to 125 ft. lbs. of torque and while your jeep is on the ground. then, you need to check your tie-rod joins, adjuster to make sure it isn't flexing or bent. definitly check your toe as DW can bend your tie-rod and change it and check your control arm jam nuts and/or mounting bolts as they can come loose as well.

MBATF

Once again, you have beat me to it...

DeepSky

Thank you for the replies guys, especially yours WOL. I'm still fairly new to the mechanical workings of the Jeep. WOL, where is that awesome diagram you made outlining the front end?

Also, if the bushings are shot, or the mounting holes are wollowed out, what kind of cost am I looking at?

Robar

This one?

DeepSky

OH! Some additional information. Not to say that my dealership doesn't know WTH they are doing (although that's how I've always felt about them). But when they replaced the axle housing wouldn't they have had to remove the track bar and tie rod, then re-torque them to spec when reinstalling?

I would hope they would bring additional problems to my attention, although they did send me away from the dealership w/o any steering stabilizer at all (wouldn't replace it because it was part of the lift kit which they said was under warrenty by their outsourced lift company).

DeepSky

Yes, thanks Wasn't there a larger version though?

Robar

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wayoflife

looking at your sig, i just realized that you have a 4" skyjacker lift. is it safe to assume that you still have the relocation bracket that came with it installed? if so, i can guarantee you that IT is the reason why you broke in the first place and more than likely, IT is still the reason why you have DW now. first and foremost, get rid of that thing and install a new adjustable track bar. that alone might fix all your problems.