Jeep TJ Death Wobble

[red442joe]

^^^@swampratt...My first thought is bikes and off-roady vehicles are two totally different things...however, he might have something....
I would look at tie rods and increase negative caster angle (decrease positive), steering gear mounting stiffness, and steering shaft coupling play.

Joe

 

[Okie4570]

Replacing steering stabilizers only cover up what's wrong causing the wobble. There's not a steering geometry out there that can't be run without a steering stabilizer if setup properly and the parts are good. No experience with a TJ my but daughter's 07' JK has over 200k miles on it and has had 35" tires on it for about 150k miles of that. She started to develop a wobble and it turned out to be ball joints so I replaced those, and then about 40k another wobble started and it was the track bar so I replaced it with an adjustable track bar. It still has the original steering stabilizer on it.

 

[bink98xcab]

Make sure the pitman arm is tight and the u- joints on the half shafts are good. I've saw where they can have tights spots and can cause it. Btw,I have a tj with death wobble at the moment. Lol I've had the jeep for about 13 years now and it always seems to be a temp fix. I'm on 35'd with a dana hp30 up front/explorer 8.8 in rear.

 

[RC2469]

Stabilizer, track bar, ball joints, front shocks, wheels, tires, drag link and upper and lower control arms have all been changed. Everything I checked is roughneck tight.

 

[Okie4570]

I spent a good amount of time chasing my '04 TJ death wobble. I personally changed ball joints, track bar, drag link, upper and lower control arms, and front shocks. Still had wobble.
Took it to the big offroad shop in Yukon. Great owner and they did some troubleshooting and replaced wheels/tires and put a different track bar on. It helped, but did not alleviate the problem. I retorqued everything after a few hundred miles and that didn't help.
Short story now long... anyone know of an OKC/surrounding area shop that has knowledge and a history of success resolving TJ death wobble?

Tie rod ends and front wheel bearings? Track bar bolt hole has become oblong? That's an easy one to miss.

 

[RC2469]

Pitman arm tight. A little play in steering box, but understand that's normal and doesn't effect wobble. Haven't checked half shaft u-joints. I haven't heard that effects wobble, but I'm checking them anyway

 

[RC2469]

New track bar and tie rod ends as well. Haven't checked bearings. Will do.

 

[rlongnt]

The TJs normally get into a wobble when hitting a bump of some kind. The steering stabilizer counteracts that. It's not a band aid covering the real issue. The thing is there for a reason.

I know it's apples to oranges here but my cycle has a stabilizer too and it's geometry is rock solid. It does a job and they do it well.

 

[Okie4570]

Pitman arm tight. A little play in steering box, but understand that's normal and doesn't effect wobble. Haven't checked half shaft u-joints. I haven't heard that effects wobble, but I'm checking them anyway

A frozen ujoint caused occasional steering wheel grab on my 12' f350 dually Dana 60, so I can only imagine that it could do the same on a Dana 30.

 

[Okie4570]

The TJs normally get into a wobble when hitting a bump of some kind. The steering stabilizer counteracts that. It's not a band aid covering the real issue. The thing is there for a reason.

I know it's apples to oranges here but my cycle has a stabilizer too and it's geometry is rock solid. It does a job and they do it well.

That's bump steer, not death wobble though isn't it?