JL owner here. I’ve read so many stories about JL ball joints that appeared tight but were actually bad & the cause of wobble! Lots of good HD balljoints on the market.
Geez Tom, you have the same luck as me on this one...work on it all day, call it good and then the very next minute it lets you down! You'll get 'er in the end !
BALL JOINTS ! Trust me ! If the bushings don’t do you any good. The moving of the bolts I found were from the severity of the violent shake. My gladiator had it at 10k miles. The factory ball joints do not like 37’s. I replaced dang near everything on the front end with no fix. Until ball joints, I threw in the new metal cloak baller in Jeep rebuildable joints and had no trouble after that.
Noticed the Fabrats welding gloves, i have a pair and love em. As soon as layoff season is over up here in Ohio I'm gonna get me a few more pairs. Keep a pair in both vehicles and an extra pair for the shop.
I am kind of an old timer, AND definitely not a mechanic, but back in my younger days when we put oversized tires on our vehicle, we used a 2 stabilizer shock system.
I had horrible death wobble on my ZJ, anything over 40mph and that sucker would bounce all over the road! It turned out to be the sway bar end links. All the bushings were basically disintegrated, plus the end links seemed to have been made from drinking straws. Remade the end links out of heavier tubing, slapped in new bushings and everything cleared up.
I had the same issue a month ago, for me me it was a wobbled out hole where the trackbar connects to the Axle. A similar fix to what you did was deployed. I am 99% better, but I wonder if other holes are having the same issue.
Simple. If everything is tight and balanced, it's simply toe. Start slightly toed in, and move it out til it quits. Other things may make it stop, but your root cause is your front tires fighting. They actually load up, bend the tire, and hop. So many people are lost on this it's crazy. Big footprints are worse, especially on sticky pavement. I've experimented with it alot in my 62 years. The adjustment is touchier than you would expect. I can make both my trucks deathwobble with a 1/2 turn of my tierods either direction. Road crown will make a neutral toed setup front tires go towards each other and possible cause dw. My 40s are about 3/8 toed out to run true.
Greetings from south central BC, thanks for the video. Have an '03 Dodge 2500 Cummins that had death wobble in a significantly frightening way. We've found keeping fairly fresh upper and lower ball joints, as well as replacing the steering components - drag link, tie rod and dampener - with '08 parts which were heavier helped. Also it's worse with worn front tires. Once the tread is about half done, the tires are too hard somehow and when one hit say an overpass or other small bump at highway speed it'd start it. Hope that helped you or someone out there.
I've got a 2016 JKU and had death wobble. Chrysler barely puts just enough caster in them when they get just a bit of wear in anything they develop death wobble. I changed the lower links to some adjustables. Added a couple of degrees into it and never had a problem since. Oh and steering dampeners don't survive death wobble at all.
Death wobble can be a combination of several of several items. The first thing I do is rotate the tires and see what if any changes it makes. In the past year I had a square body that fixed the problem. A XJ that greatly reduced the problem. The XJ needed a control arm and track bar bushing as well. Not the first time I've experienced similar things. ROTATE THE TIRES. Good luck
Replace all the bushings. Replace with rubber as polyurethane has better durability but transmits more vibration. I had a 91 gmc with 38's. Get to 62mph and youd better be holding the wheel with both hands.
I had wobble on my JL when it had less than 10K miles, it was under warranty and they replaced a hub and stabilizer. your right about the jiggle when you hit a bump.
Did you lift the jeep off the ground and check your ball joints? Death wobble happens across the axle from one side to the other. the rear axle can also affect the front axle handling. I would put the whole jeep on a chassis lift allowing the axles to float, then check for freedom of movement at all four corners. replacing my ball joints and going to ones that can be lubed fixed the problem in my case.
When components look ok … I always rotate tires first … then test drive again …the tire wear on this one looks as they are due rotation … My findings on death wobble is its one thing sometimes, two things part of the time , 3 things others times and all things rarely … I think fix the worn hole , new shocks , rotate tires correct the psi…. Check caster and toe in …
Look into getting a track bar sector shaft brace to help stiffen the steering box to the frame, there have been some known issues with some wiggle and worse, the steering box tearing off the frame. Synergy seems to make a good one.
Definitely replace the steering stabilizer once you get it narrowed down. They can't handle much death wobble before they're toast. Good to see ya hanging around Paul's shop, seems to be working good for both channels. Heck I didn't know who you were before fabrats. Anybody that's cool with Paul is cool with me.
Hey Tom, just to let you know I had that same problem on a Dodge and a Chevrolet and they both were running 39 inch Baja Mickey Thompson’s and as soon as I swap those out for 37’s BFGoodrich, the whole thing stopped never had a problem again, so you might wanna look at your tires if they’re a little bit old sometimes or the side walls week sometimes that can make that death wobble thing happen so look at your tires Before you go change a whole bunch of parts. OK thanks Tom.
Do what you wanna do I replaced the steering stabilizer I replaced the tire rod the tire rod ends. I did all that and nothing helped until I changed those tires.
Had death wobble on my JKU, but.......I had solid steering for 3 years, the needed to replace my drag link, the ends finally gave up on the oem. My issues were two, I tried mixing components from after market suppliers, then went from a dual to single steering stabilizer to allow the other parts to fit. $1500 into it, multiple shops trying to figure it out, I replaced the new fancy drag link with a new oem drag link, replaced the new single steering stabilizers with a new exact match of the dual stabilizer a shop removed.....no death wobble.
Need more + caster your driveline looks way to straight coming off the diff, 6 degrees caster or a bit more if you can, 1/8 or 1/4 toe in, I’ve also seen km3 contribute to death wobble, also Teraflex drop brackets work amazing on the ride. Replace all hardware with grade 8 bolts torque to spec you’ll never have a problem 👍
I’m not saying I haven’t done hack stuff like that but it would have taken an extra 15 seconds to not mess up the bushing lol. Your track bar bracket is probably also wallowed out.
Seen a post on some channel and a guy commented its from cheep rough country lift kits 😂 everyone jumped on his comment and told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Its the steering components that go bad and make trucks do the Death wabble 😂
Yep, I agree. He has adjustable lower arms. I’d be pretty sure about 2-3 full turns to lengthen those lower arms would most likely fix his problem until he gets a proper alignment done.
That mount wouldn't be helping but not enough negative castor will definitely give you the death wobbles. Find someone that knows how to do a proper wheel alignment not just the toe in.
This has been a major problem with ALL 4X4s ever since the first one mainly has to do with caster and camber with most needing the front end rotated to cure this !!! It has been DOCUMENTED in many, many videos by many, many mechanics !!! That being said just fix it !
When components look ok … I always rotate tires first … then test drive again …the tire wear on this one looks as they are due rotation … My findings on death wobble is its one thing sometimes, two things part of the time , 3 things others times and all things rarely … I think fix the worn hole , new shocks , rotate tires correct the psi…. Check caster and toe in …
JL owner here. I’ve read so many stories about JL ball joints that appeared tight but were actually bad & the cause of wobble! Lots of good HD balljoints on the market.
At first i didnt recognize u but i knew Pauls shop immediately! 😅
Geez Tom, you have the same luck as me on this one...work on it all day, call it good and then the very next minute it lets you down!
You'll get 'er in the end !
could you drill the original hole out bigger and then weld in a tube sleeve with the same ID as the OD of your bolt?
BALL JOINTS ! Trust me ! If the bushings don’t do you any good. The moving of the bolts I found were from the severity of the violent shake. My gladiator had it at 10k miles. The factory ball joints do not like 37’s. I replaced dang near everything on the front end with no fix. Until ball joints, I threw in the new metal cloak baller in Jeep rebuildable joints and had no trouble after that.
Had same issue on a TJ, replaced all the bolts with full length shoulders and welded 1/4" to both sides of the bracket, fixed!
Noticed the Fabrats welding gloves, i have a pair and love em.
As soon as layoff season is over up here in Ohio I'm gonna get me a few more pairs.
Keep a pair in both vehicles and an extra pair for the shop.
I am kind of an old timer, AND definitely not a mechanic, but back in my younger days when we put oversized tires on our vehicle, we used a 2 stabilizer shock system.
I had horrible death wobble on my ZJ, anything over 40mph and that sucker would bounce all over the road! It turned out to be the sway bar end links. All the bushings were basically disintegrated, plus the end links seemed to have been made from drinking straws. Remade the end links out of heavier tubing, slapped in new bushings and everything cleared up.
I had the same issue a month ago, for me me it was a wobbled out hole where the trackbar connects to the Axle. A similar fix to what you did was deployed. I am 99% better, but I wonder if other holes are having the same issue.
Edit to add, 2018 JL with 35s and a 2.5 Geolift.
Simple.
If everything is tight and balanced, it's simply toe.
Start slightly toed in, and move it out til it quits.
Other things may make it stop, but your root cause is your front tires fighting.
They actually load up, bend the tire, and hop.
So many people are lost on this it's crazy.
Big footprints are worse, especially on sticky pavement.
I've experimented with it alot in my 62 years.
The adjustment is touchier than you would expect.
I can make both my trucks deathwobble with a 1/2 turn of my tierods either direction.
Road crown will make a neutral toed setup front tires go towards each other and possible cause dw.
My 40s are about 3/8 toed out to run true.
Greetings from south central BC, thanks for the video. Have an '03 Dodge 2500 Cummins that had death wobble in a significantly frightening way. We've found keeping fairly fresh upper and lower ball joints, as well as replacing the steering components - drag link, tie rod and dampener - with '08 parts which were heavier helped. Also it's worse with worn front tires. Once the tread is about half done, the tires are too hard somehow and when one hit say an overpass or other small bump at highway speed it'd start it. Hope that helped you or someone out there.
I've got a 2016 JKU and had death wobble.
Chrysler barely puts just enough caster in them when they get just a bit of wear in anything they develop death wobble. I changed the lower links to some adjustables. Added a couple of degrees into it and never had a problem since.
Oh and steering dampeners don't survive death wobble at all.
Death wobble can be a combination of several of several items. The first thing I do is rotate the tires and see what if any changes it makes. In the past year I had a square body that fixed the problem. A XJ that greatly reduced the problem. The XJ needed a control arm and track bar bushing as well. Not the first time I've experienced similar things.
ROTATE THE TIRES.
Good luck
Big hammer Tom hang around Paul long enough and that jeep is going to be a 1000 percent better
Replace all the bushings. Replace with rubber as polyurethane has better durability but transmits more vibration. I had a 91 gmc with 38's. Get to 62mph and youd better be holding the wheel with both hands.
I had wobble on my JL when it had less than 10K miles, it was under warranty and they replaced a hub and stabilizer. your right about the jiggle when you hit a bump.
Did you lift the jeep off the ground and check your ball joints? Death wobble happens across the axle from one side to the other. the rear axle can also affect the front axle handling. I would put the whole jeep on a chassis lift allowing the axles to float, then check for freedom of movement at all four corners. replacing my ball joints and going to ones that can be lubed fixed the problem in my case.
death wobble = High pucker factor😂
great as always
I recently took my 2021 JL in with a wobble at 65mph, and they replaced the steering dampener as per a service bulletin.
When components look ok … I always rotate tires first … then test drive again …the tire wear on this one looks as they are due rotation …
My findings on death wobble is its one thing sometimes, two things part of the time , 3 things others times and all things rarely …
I think fix the worn hole , new shocks , rotate tires correct the psi…. Check caster and toe in …
Look into getting a track bar sector shaft brace to help stiffen the steering box to the frame, there have been some known issues with some wiggle and worse, the steering box tearing off the frame. Synergy seems to make a good one.
Punch in track bar sector shaft brace in UA-cam university and or look at the videos that synergy has.
My 3/4 chev does that when I apply the breaks. Had brake work done on it and still does it. They say they can't see anything.
Definitely replace the steering stabilizer once you get it narrowed down. They can't handle much death wobble before they're toast. Good to see ya hanging around Paul's shop, seems to be working good for both channels. Heck I didn't know who you were before fabrats. Anybody that's cool with Paul is cool with me.
Hey Tom, just to let you know I had that same problem on a Dodge and a Chevrolet and they both were running 39 inch Baja Mickey Thompson’s and as soon as I swap those out for 37’s BFGoodrich, the whole thing stopped never had a problem again, so you might wanna look at your tires if they’re a little bit old sometimes or the side walls week sometimes that can make that death wobble thing happen so look at your tires Before you go change a whole bunch of parts. OK thanks Tom.
Do what you wanna do I replaced the steering stabilizer I replaced the tire rod the tire rod ends. I did all that and nothing helped until I changed those tires.
I am betting the drivers side is the same issue. 😊😊😊
Had death wobble on my JKU, but.......I had solid steering for 3 years, the needed to replace my drag link, the ends finally gave up on the oem. My issues were two, I tried mixing components from after market suppliers, then went from a dual to single steering stabilizer to allow the other parts to fit. $1500 into it, multiple shops trying to figure it out, I replaced the new fancy drag link with a new oem drag link, replaced the new single steering stabilizers with a new exact match of the dual stabilizer a shop removed.....no death wobble.
Wow this patch job should help but as you seen on the test run there's more issues that need to be addressed Tom. Good luck with it!
Need more + caster your driveline looks way to straight coming off the diff, 6 degrees caster or a bit more if you can, 1/8 or 1/4 toe in, I’ve also seen km3 contribute to death wobble, also Teraflex drop brackets work amazing on the ride. Replace all hardware with grade 8 bolts torque to spec you’ll never have a problem 👍
Seen death wobble on a lot of rigs, usually its the steering shock, this time is what you fixed. I see stuff forced to stay together.
Why does Paul's shop look soooo clean? LOL
Thats crazy
I check my caster anytime I mess with my CA.
There is an amazing amount of people commenting that don’t actually know what death wobble is yet claim they had it and “fixed” with a stabilizer 😂
I’m not saying I haven’t done hack stuff like that but it would have taken an extra 15 seconds to not mess up the bushing lol.
Your track bar bracket is probably also wallowed out.
May be out of alignment and need a tire rotation.
Don't forget to put atleast 3° of camber
track bar is the issue
Those bolts are ridiculously high torque requirements. Might have been the lift installers mistake. Re-torque after 500 miles.
Seen a post on some channel and a guy commented its from cheep rough country lift kits 😂 everyone jumped on his comment and told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Its the steering components that go bad and make trucks do the Death wabble 😂
It's interesting how everybodies theory is different.
BALL JOINTS!
Yeah, that is very dangerous. Needs a front-end overhaul.
A frame mount
Why not use a new bolt? Seems stupid to me.
Tracking death wobble I’ll tack weld a bolt just to confirm my suspicion
Track bar ?
Most likely but we have already replaced it once
Jepp really went down hill when Chrysler bought them!
Caster root of the evil
Yep, I agree. He has adjustable lower arms.
I’d be pretty sure about 2-3 full turns to lengthen those lower arms would most likely fix his problem until he gets a proper alignment done.
That mount wouldn't be helping but not enough negative castor will definitely give you the death wobbles.
Find someone that knows how to do a proper wheel alignment not just the toe in.
This has been a major problem with ALL 4X4s ever since the first one mainly has to do with caster and camber with most needing the front end rotated to cure this !!! It has been DOCUMENTED in many, many videos by many, many mechanics !!! That being said just fix it !
What’s your name are u now working for Paul I quit watching fab rats ever since Ben left the fab rats just couldn’t stand Michelle
Poor design and construction ! Too big a tire !
Problem ? It's a Jeep.
Still saving for one😂😂
Another words, don't buy a Jeep 😂😂
When components look ok … I always rotate tires first … then test drive again …the tire wear on this one looks as they are due rotation …
My findings on death wobble is its one thing sometimes, two things part of the time , 3 things others times and all things rarely …
I think fix the worn hole , new shocks , rotate tires correct the psi…. Check caster and toe in …