Death Wobble Victim=ME!!
04-20-2010, 08:21 PM
#82
JK Jedi
There is absolutely nothing wrong with running a BB with high quality coil spacers.
The reason you see it more prevalent with BB owners and incomplete 4" lift owners is that the lifts are more commonly installed by inexperienced people who either don't strictly follow install instructions, have poor instructions to follow, or don't know proper maintenance requirements post-lift.
Hellbound has had multiple problems for some time. I don't recall all his posts, but there probably was just one thing loose at one time (a trackbar or something else). Due to the incompetency of his dealer techs, the DW caused by likely one thing ended up damaging almost everything (ball joints, tie rod ends, trackbar holes & bushings, control arm holes, etc.). Since the DW was not fixed quickly enough, he has had to chase down the new sources that were caused by old sources. The only real way for him to finally fix it seems to be to replace everything (ball joints, trackbar, weld in washers in brackets, new tie rod with HD ends, new drag link, & likely some steering box repair). If his dealer techs were competent from the beginning, it would have saved him a lot of time and money.
Unfortunately, most dealer techs don't wheel there rigs. They follow the service manual without using their own logic & judgement. So, they try to fix wobbles & shimmies--including DW from loose & damaged components--by masking them with a steering stabilizer.
Do not run your rig with DW. Immediately fix it. Multiple episodes will almost certainly damage other components. The more components that are damaged, the more will become damaged.
The reason you see it more prevalent with BB owners and incomplete 4" lift owners is that the lifts are more commonly installed by inexperienced people who either don't strictly follow install instructions, have poor instructions to follow, or don't know proper maintenance requirements post-lift.
Hellbound has had multiple problems for some time. I don't recall all his posts, but there probably was just one thing loose at one time (a trackbar or something else). Due to the incompetency of his dealer techs, the DW caused by likely one thing ended up damaging almost everything (ball joints, tie rod ends, trackbar holes & bushings, control arm holes, etc.). Since the DW was not fixed quickly enough, he has had to chase down the new sources that were caused by old sources. The only real way for him to finally fix it seems to be to replace everything (ball joints, trackbar, weld in washers in brackets, new tie rod with HD ends, new drag link, & likely some steering box repair). If his dealer techs were competent from the beginning, it would have saved him a lot of time and money.
Unfortunately, most dealer techs don't wheel there rigs. They follow the service manual without using their own logic & judgement. So, they try to fix wobbles & shimmies--including DW from loose & damaged components--by masking them with a steering stabilizer.
Do not run your rig with DW. Immediately fix it. Multiple episodes will almost certainly damage other components. The more components that are damaged, the more will become damaged.
The more I chase this down, I am realizing that is exactly what seems to have happened. Driving it for months with severe wobbles on the track bar probably destroyed everything.
Next week I will be pulling the front control arms, how much you wanna bet those holes are egged too? I even have egged shock bracket holes and egged sway bar link holes!
Last edited by Hellbound13; 04-20-2010 at 08:24 PM.
04-21-2010, 07:17 AM
#83
JK Newbie
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Thanks for the write up...2 comments/questions:
1) Comment-I have seen many comments about "just fix it yourself" or "that's just what jeeps do, suck it up". I am a grown man who has owned plenty of cars and trucks, but I have never had one that would start to consistantly go out of control if I hit a small bump in the road. My suspension is bone stock. No lift-no large tires. A road going vehicle should not be manufactured that is going to do this (Death Wobble). I could understand if I had modified the thing or it was a freak occurance and something broke, but not bone stock and highway driving. I am really surprised we have not heard of a wreck occurring because of this.
2) Question-Assuming that the track bar is the culprit, what are you supposed to do if the bolt holes have been wallowed out? Replace the whole bracket?
1) Comment-I have seen many comments about "just fix it yourself" or "that's just what jeeps do, suck it up". I am a grown man who has owned plenty of cars and trucks, but I have never had one that would start to consistantly go out of control if I hit a small bump in the road. My suspension is bone stock. No lift-no large tires. A road going vehicle should not be manufactured that is going to do this (Death Wobble). I could understand if I had modified the thing or it was a freak occurance and something broke, but not bone stock and highway driving. I am really surprised we have not heard of a wreck occurring because of this.
2) Question-Assuming that the track bar is the culprit, what are you supposed to do if the bolt holes have been wallowed out? Replace the whole bracket?
04-21-2010, 07:29 AM
#84
JK Jedi
2) Question-Assuming that the track bar is the culprit, what are you supposed to do if the bolt holes have been wallowed out? Replace the whole bracket?
04-21-2010, 10:22 AM
#86
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NO WAY
We are 4x4 racers that fabricate our own rigs and also work as a full custom shop. It is not the installation is the BB kit that gets an already critic suspension setup over the edge.
PLEASE
dont blame it on the user or installator
IT IS JEEP TO BLAME
I never had DW in any of my other two Wranglers and if this car was not under warranty I would have already solve it.
In my opinion you cant run a rig with 32-33" tyres with as little as 2 degress as it will go into DW.
NOBODY
Shoul lift a JK without installing adjustable top suspension arms and being able to set the advance to at least 4 degrees.
Without that youre in Gods hands.
My 0.002 cents
eduardo
04-21-2010, 10:32 AM
#87
JK Jedi Master
Culprit : Installators incopentence???
NO WAY
We are 4x4 racers that fabricate our own rigs and also work as a full custom shop. It is not the installation is the BB kit that gets an already critic suspension setup over the edge.
PLEASE
dont blame it on the user or installator
IT IS JEEP TO BLAME
I never had DW in any of my other two Wranglers and if this car was not under warranty I would have already solve it.
In my opinion you cant run a rig with 32-33" tyres with as little as 2 degress as it will go into DW.
NOBODY
Shoul lift a JK without installing adjustable top suspension arms and being able to set the advance to at least 4 degrees.
Without that youre in Gods hands.
My 0.002 cents
eduardo
NO WAY
We are 4x4 racers that fabricate our own rigs and also work as a full custom shop. It is not the installation is the BB kit that gets an already critic suspension setup over the edge.
PLEASE
dont blame it on the user or installator
IT IS JEEP TO BLAME
I never had DW in any of my other two Wranglers and if this car was not under warranty I would have already solve it.
In my opinion you cant run a rig with 32-33" tyres with as little as 2 degress as it will go into DW.
NOBODY
Shoul lift a JK without installing adjustable top suspension arms and being able to set the advance to at least 4 degrees.
Without that youre in Gods hands.
My 0.002 cents
eduardo
Oh really? 
I ran a BB, no CA's, no death wobble. I ran a 4in Superlift for a year, no cambolts or CA's, no DW. You may wanna do a bit more research before you spout off something that apparently you have no idea of what your talking about. Maybe you being an installer/shop makes you want to shift the blame elsewhere.
Last edited by mkjeep; 04-21-2010 at 10:36 AM.
04-21-2010, 04:11 PM
#89
JK Junkie
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04-21-2010, 04:20 PM
#90
JK Jedi Master