Originally Posted by resharp001

Not meaning to get my feathers ruffled, but it really pisses me off when dealers say stuff like that cuz it's just flat out not correct. I'd venture to guess that practically none of those service techs actually experienced DW themselves on their own vehicle cuz most of them aren't driving these. For them to say it needs a SS is irresponsible and dangerous for the owner of the jeep cuz it's not fixing something that honesty could lead to a catastrophic event. Those guys are ok at turning the wrenches in the steps the book tells them to during a repair, but they just lack the real-world knowledge on some of this stuff, and they also don't get paid much to troubleshoot. The sad part is that this can happen to totally stock vehicles in addition to modified as the same components wear over time.

Just referencing your original picture, those look like factory ball joints (don't see a grease zerk) on a 2010 jeep. It also looks like an old Rubicon Express track bar maybe. Back in the day it was common to have crap poly bushing on one end and a heim at the other. I guess I never really noticed RE put that poly bushing at the axle side rather than the frame side like most others. Anyhow, either end of that TB could have suspect joints as well. As noted higher, have someone turn the steering wheel without the jeep on and watch the motion in those joints. You should not be seeing much movement at all. That TB is really one of the most crucial components in the entire front end. If you plan to keep that jeep for a while it would be advisable to get a nice TB with a bushing type joint on both ends, similar to what Metalcloak and Synergy are selling these days.

I'd go so far as to say that there are a few offroad shops that are really good, but there are also others that are crap. People just don't care to take the time to really troubleshoot an issue cuz at the end of the day they don't make much money for their time troubleshooting. I've seen it first hand with my dad up in Colorado when he had wobbles and a local shop there told him he needed a new SS . Seen it here locally with some shops and random people I've met along the way. It's really frustrating to me and why I am usually pretty vocal in wobble threads. I've dealt with this stuff myself and I know it can be really scary when it happens. Every once in a blue moon someone will roll through here with a wobble that turned out to have an uncommon root cause, but most of the time the gremlins are fairly easy to pinpoint.

Originally Posted by gatorhwk

I supposed I could have some warn components, but there was absolutely no indication of that until I installed this steering kit and removed the SS ... which I still find odd. Then again, I'm a new jeeper so still learning.

Originally Posted by Sv_dude

During death wobble, your front axle moves side to side. There’s one thing and one thing only that stops the axle from doing that, the track bar. Now, you can have other components that are worn and not cause issues by themselves. However, if these worn components are perturbed in some way, that can allow a slight excess movement which when transferred to the lateral movement of the axle, death wobble begins unless the track bar is suitable to stop that lateral movement.

Here’s why dealers and bad shops recommend a stabilizer: it’s cheaper and easier to use a stabilizer to minimize the other worn parts from causing a side effect of lateral axle movement. Chasing down one of a handful of problems may not be that bad but it’s still easier to slap a stabilizer on the steering system and be done with it.

That’s why it makes sense that you discover death wobble when you remove the stabilizer.

Originally Posted by gatorhwk

On a side note, is death wobble most prominent at low speeds?