RedRockWrangler

Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm having a problem recently with a death wobble or steering wheel shake. It happens around 35MPH, but that's not really 35MPH because the speedo is off due to the 35's. It seems to worsen if I hit a good bump at that speed. The steering wheel shakes quit a bit until I slow down greatly or maybe speed up a bit. It seems to shake a lot worse then a wheel out of balance issue so I'm not sure it's that. The Jeep is an 08 2 door X model, with a teraflex 2.5 bb with shock extensions, and 35" BFG All terains. We've gotten some snow recently so I was thinking it could be an ice build up thing, but after looking underneath I didn't see anything that seemed as if It would have an effect. I'm going to let the Jeep sit in the garage at work tonight to see if the heat melts some ice I can't see but otherwise does anyone have any advice or possible causes? Maybe alignment? Do you think I need an adjustable front track bar? Thanks very much in advance for any help.

wayoflife

as always, i would start off by checking your track bar bolts to make sure they are tightend to 125-130 ft lbs of torque with your jeep on the ground. more than likely, they have come a bit loose. i would also check your ball joints as it is not uncommon for them to go bad quickly. mine have gone out in as little as 7500 miles and gave similar sensation. of course, given enough time, the oscilation that can result from bad ball joints can loosen up thinks like track bar bolts and that will cause DW.

RedRockWrangler

Thanks, I'll check that everything is tight on my lunch and I'll throw it in the garage afterwards to let everything melt off and see if that fixes it. I appreciate the advice.

jeepmedic

Have you possibly lost any tire weights ? I had the DW when I had borrowed some other smaller wheels while waiting for my 35's. Went away when I put the heavier tires on....sounds like thats not your problem though

good luck.

spinlock

It's interesting that you mention ice/snow build-up because building up snow balls on your tires would not cause the DW, but the additional spinning mass would make it more obvious or worse.

As WOL said the trackbar is the culprit in many cases, so it is the first place to look.
Check the ball joints along with all other joints and bushings for play on both your steering and suspension systems, particularly your steering stabilizer.

Make sure your alignment is correct and your wheels are balanced.

Something is loose, worn out or out of spec.

JPop

After my recent death wobble episode, I would recommend removing the steering stabilizer while you're sorting it out. Makes it easier to find out when you actually have the fix and better feedback from what the cause is.

RedRockWrangler

I checked the track bar and all the bolts were tight. I wonder if when the lift was originally put in if the bolts were tightened on the lift or the ground. Maybe i should loosen everything then put the Jeep on the ground and sock the bolts back up.

I decided to try the stealership as the Jeep is under warranty. The service advisor just called me and told me the issue was due to a faulty steering stabilizer. As many other have mentioned in other posts regarding death wobble mention the stabilizer only masks the real issue. We'll see how the Jeep drives when i get it back tomorrow and go from there i guess. The shaking got pretty violent when hitting a good bump at the right speed so we'll see if the stabilizer even masks the issue well enough to give my Jeep back to me.

I suppose if the stabilizer fixes the issue enough for the Dealer to give the Jeep bacl to me i'll be on my own to figure out the real issue so i'll probably remove the steering stabilizer while trying to figure it out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.