Fixing Death Wobble in the XJ
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Tom Tom's XJ has a horrible case of Death Wobble. He cures it and upgrades the suspension at the same time. He also makes a trip to move his son up to Idaho.
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You are so lucky to have such a great wife and really good kids.
That was great footage of the death wobble. For a second, I thought the whole front end was going to fall off.
That's what it feels like. Been there, done that.
Yeah. Inside the car anything not anchored down, flies through the air! Scary stuff from inside to the outside!
i want Tom to join the onX offroad challenge next year..really want to watch Tom methodically calculated and how to save money on the build..
The amount of patience you show while fighting bolts going in is amazing.
As a retired mechanic I can say that I’ve seen my share of death wobbles on Dodge trucks and jeeps. My experiences in diagnosing the culprit has lead to excessive play in the track bar on the drivers side 90% of the time and would fix the problem when replaced. It can be very pricey to replace the entire front suspension. I highly recommended starting with replacing the track bar if your funds are tight. Watching your videos really makes me miss working on similar types of projects. Thank you for the content. Keep up the good work 👍!
Always Nice To See Tom-Tom...& Mom-Mom🤣🤣
I REALLY enjoy how you are such a family oriented man. You and your wife truly do live under the Golden Rule.
Man I miss you at MORR,and the interactions with his crew. LOVING your own crew and new content, hope it makes you rich, you've certainly earned it! Congrats and count on me as a avid follower of your channel.
The editing of this video is outstanding, interspersed commentary and action is mixed together just perfectly
Audio level for the music is better too 😊
Your wife seems to be a very nice lady and great help love the safety glasses
I always have so much more respect for UA-camrs who talk and practice safety.
Nice to meet you, Dallin. Congrats and best of luck, Bridger. Thanks, guys, for raising great parents. 😀
Great to See You Tom & all You Viewers, I Wish all Fathers an Early Happy Father’s Day, You are Special. thank You for Being You!
Great Vidja Tom, I’ll Catch You on The Next One. Keep it Safe Out There.
This will be the First Year without My Dad, RIP James E. Cole Born 05/21/1943 & called Home 07/01/2023. Love & Miss You Like Crazy
Im sorry man. It doesn't get any easier, you just get more used to it. You know the "it" I'm talking about. If you need to talk to someone, please do so. Just talkin and maybe cryin dont hurt nobody, but it sure helps.
My papa and I were loggers and ran our own jyppo outfit. Bidding smaller jobs that a family size crew could easily deal with. Memories of Cuttin timber with my dad were the most fun I've ever had. He ain't gone nowhere. Neither has yours. He's watchin and takin care of what he can. You listen, you'll hear him.
18:15 Excellent 'alternate use' of a scissor jack! Way to use what you have on hand.
Been collecting scissor and bottle jacks for decades - every time I change vehicles or raid one for parts the jacks are scavenged. Have been clamping things in place with scissor jacks - like pressing panels into tension for welding etc.
Every time I ever dealt with death wobble it was always on a lifted vehicle and always a buildup of tolerances from wore out suspension parts. People say Jeep is the only one that suffers from this but I'm here to tell you that pickup trucks both Ford and Chevy do it too. Great video Tom keep them coming!
I agree, my 67 Bronco was bad, replaced all the bushings and steering ends…viola.
I’ve only experienced it on my friends stock TJ that was brand new and it did it a few times a week and it was worse than what Tom is showing here.
Yes 1997 F350 death wobble
Most death wobble I've seen/ heard of were in Fords and second in line was Dodge. Some are known for it but all can suffer from it.
62 Scout. Can’t remember, changed some ball joints, then added a pair of horizontal shocks, light ones, opposite to each other.
We would always drive around the carpark after having a vehicle jacked up to work on, to settle the suspension before measuring tracking or camber caster angles, you get much better results.😊
Tom, a few tips;
1. Ditch the flimsy tie rod you was struggling with for one out of a Jeep 5.2 ZJ. It's much thicker and will not bend as easy as the stock XJ one.
2. The XJ has a steering box spacer that sometimes will crack and cause the steering box to become slightly loose. Several companies make a replacement steel spacers instead of the factory aluminum one.
The thin factory ZJ tie rod will oscillate to and fro or up and down once you add bigger tires and can cause or contribute to "Death Wobble"
I'll second this. The ZJ tie rod is a pretty substantial upgrade, and inexpensive too. If you upgrade the steering box spacer be sure to get one that will allow for a future upgrade to a Durango steering box.
Hey Tom I am paraphrasing one the engineers who designed jeep suspensions here. When you have death wobble that has become this extreme he recommends you must rebuild the entire suspension for a proper fix. Basically every single nut, bolt, screw, bushings etc. all get wallowed out when death wobble occurs. All of them have to be pulled and replaced. He also warns about installing over powered steering dampeners without also beefing up other suspension components because it can lead to a situation where suspension damage accumulates over time but it is hidden by the over powered dampener until it fails suddenly at speed potentially leading to loss of control of the vehicle. I'm sure you are aware but there are kits you can buy for most jeeps that have significantly stronger fasteners and bushings than what comes from the factory.
We would always drive around the carpark after having a vehicle jacked up to work on, to settle the suspension before measuring tracking or camber caster angles, you get much better results.
Over greasing should be discussed, not stating low greasing. Each one of those joints only needs about 3 pumps from grease gun. Every time over greasing leads open loose joints only to eventually leads to death wobble as well with common ware.
Thats just standard advice for all trucks. All new front end. And a premium adjustable track bar. PSC hydro assist. Done.
Bah... you just change parts until it stop doing it... its a truck after all, too old to make it worth Changing everything like an engineer....
@joseph-mariopelerin7028 no. Adults fix things 100% so they're safe to a modern standard. Because their life is still in there. And you don't squeeze pennies when you already don't have payments.
I had never heard of this until my daughter had a Jeep just like that and asked for some help and I actually had no idea that the simple fix is to make sure that there are no warn parts and has a good alignment!
I’ve always heard you should leave all suspension bolts loose on the lift and tighten and torque after you put weigh back on em.
Watching you tackle the death wobble was cool! Question, would a spring compressor made your life easier on those springs? I dont know but I've said it before, diggin' the content with the no-nonsense, sensibility, and the way you engage the family. Awesome work and Happy Fathers day TomTom!
I'm glad you got the wobble cleared up. It was not safe as it was specially for a less experienced drivers.
First time I've ever seen the cameraman (camerawoman?) That's also using safety glasses. Good on you Tomtom!!
I for one really enjoy your background music!
Love your short, sweet, direct approach on your videos. You have a keen eye for moving things along where needed, but still providing the content to see how things are done. Keep doing what you are doing and it before long you'll be at 500k - 1M subs!! Peace and love to you and your family.
Tom, very happy to see you working on your own projects and sharing your own content. I really enjoy your attention to detail and sharing your step by step process with us.
Please. Please. Please. Either create, or buy into a library of background music. Something with at least some variety. I can only handle the choir scaling and guitar riff for about 2 minutes before you go on mute.
No music would be better! At least make it less volume by half.
PLEASE get rid of the background music. It is so annoying.
I agree- don’t need the music 😎
Hi Tom. I'll be 75 soon, and I've started modifying Suspensions since I was 18. Check every Swivel Point of the Suspension to ensure there aren't any worn or loose parts. If everything is tight and moves smoothly, then check the Caster Angle. The angle should be set negative. This will stop the wobble. Look at Dragsters. They all have a negative caster. It prevents wobble and ensures easier steering back to center going forward. Good luck 👍
No claw hammers were injured in the making of this video.
You want POSITIVE caster. Not negative. Think of pushing a hand cart. Negative caster is trying to get it to go straight with the handle out in front of the wheels. Impossible. Zero caster is with the handle straight above the wheels. Still impossible. Positive caster is with the handle laid back and behind the wheels as you push forward. The more you lay it back, the easier it is to keep straight. Of course, you can go too far positive, and all it will want to do is go straight, like a rail car on a drag strip.
Caster needs to be positive to combat death wobble, not negative.
Those recycled control arms are Rough Country. I got the same ones from a junk yard XJ, took the joints apart to clean and relubed them up. I’m at about 4” of lift on “Mountain Dew”. These control arms work great. It took about a day of work to get the caster perfect but now it drives arrow straight and no wobble.
Some things I've learned over the years:
1. Always tighten control arms with tires on the ground, not on the lift. They're a clamping connection, and if you tighten them without the vehicle weight you're clamping them in the wrong position.
2. Steering stabilizers do not fix death wobble. Not ever. They do mask death wobble until the forces overheat and wear out the stabilizer. Then DW appears.
3. Steersmarts, and some others, actually recommend a slight toe OUT to help keep DW at bay. It pre-loads the components using road forces and prevents the wobble harmonics from taking flight.
4. You have to check everything. Ball joints, control arm bushings, shocks, wheel bearings, trackbar and mounts, steering gearbox mounting bolts, Pitman arm nut, tie rod ends and mounts, caster angle, and toe. Any of them can contribute to DW.
Yes to No. 1! So many UA-camrs seem to not know this. 🙏
Unless you're using a four post lift and the wheels aren't raised.
Depends on the links, not all of them have to be on the ground before torquing them down 🤙🏼
@@jvallager true. Rubber bushings yes, rose joints no.
At times experienced parts have just enough of what it takes to get you back up and running. Thanks Robby and Matt for your donations!
I enjoy the mixup in your videos, between the builds and valued family involvement time. Refreshing change of pace. 👍👍 to all the hard.
Tom, that is by far the worst Death-Wobble I have ever seen. I'm 65 as of Yesterday. Keep it up, yer getting better and better!
Good job Tom! You should put out a T-shirt . . . I survived the infamous death wobbles! I had the same problem with severe death wobbles in my '01. Upon inspection there were so many things worn out and damaged that in saving time and money in the long run I opted to put in a full long-arm lift kit from Rough Country, which included new rear leaf springs (the old ones were sagging so bad that the front end aimed up towards the moon). It made all the difference in the world and I am very pleased 6 months into the installation. I have a very good mechanic that took his time, which included major welding to beef up the frame in making the kit work right. It aligned quite well and remains that way.
Tom Tom rules !
So happy to see the xj getting another upgrade
Love your videos and how you go about fixing things. Videographer is doing GREAT!
Tom the one thing we found was the track bar bushings.
Other loose parts contribute but the track is what we found to be the biggest contributor
Your wife is a good addition to your channel. It’s great to see her support for your new venture. I live in Blackfoot so I am always interested in your projects
The only thing I would say about the upper control arm install is that if you were to flip the adjustable link over then you can get to the zerk fittings easier. I had the death wobble in my xj, and what also reallly helped was replacing the stabilizer shock. Great work Tom Tom.
I used to travel the way Bridger travels, except without the vehicle on the trailer. I always moved by driving, with all my worldly possessions in my car.
Then, I lost my mind and got married, and that was the end of being foot-loose and fancy free.
She's been gone for 9 years now, and I still miss her.
Same here!!! I keep forgetting to call my ex's ex and thank him.
Ya know, I think it's more and more clear that Tom Tom doesn't have any interest in being angry - even when he's hammering away, he's got a smile on his face and he's treating his family quiet and respectful-like. Sure, that bolt's stuck as can be, but that's fine, that's how God made bolts. Really admire and respect that, and I try and echo that in my daily life.
There's a guy in New Zealand I watch that can fix anything. He once said to a buddy banging something in place, don't use your hand as a hammer! That little saying has really stuck with me and I constantly remind myself by saying it to myself, friends and coworkers! I'm 50 and work construction in commercial work with lots of steel being assembled. I know lots of guys with bad hand issues and multiple that have had to get surgery to deal with the pain!
Pick up your dead blow hammer and save yourself from years of pain! Don't Use Your Hand As A Hammer!
Love your channel, keep it up!
I was very happy to see Tom using anti-seize on the threads of those adjustable control rods. Anyone who ever even thinks they might have to fix something later should always use the stuff.
5 degrees of caster isn't nearly enough. The factory spec is 5.25 to 8.5, with 7 degrees preferred. You generally need at LEAST 7 degrees to keep death wobble at bay.
Always a pleasure to see Tom and wife.
Great vid Tom. Nice that Angela is so helpful with your shop work. My Angela , not so much but love her anyway 😂
Awesome that Angela has become more of yt star! Super cool to have the support of your family!
I first experienced death wobble back in the eighties, of course long before the www could help me figure out what was happening. Just an fyi, you can stop it by vigorously jerking the steering wheel back and forth for a few seconds 🤣
Thank you Tom for sharing this information with me !
Great video. I enjoy watching and learning. Am interested to see your D60s builds. Keep up the good work. I enjoy the family time you share also.
The day you left MOR you immediately left me in tears because, for me, you had been such an important part of the crew (like Lizzy ;) ) that i feared it would never be the same!!! I love watching Matts's videos so much, especially that ones when you were building or fixing something (i love the Bombi). But i was wrong! Your own channel ist great too!!! So now its even better because i have two channels to enjoy ;) Keep up the great work! Yor are a true inspiration and i am very jealous about your great skills fixing and building things! Greetings from Germany also to Matt and his Team ;)
love the recycle parts.
Idaho is also quite beautiful, thanks for bringing us with
My XJ with 31s was a Minnesota Winter Beast. That thing could go through 2 feet snow while passing snow plows. It was factory except for the 31s. Incredible offroad vehicle. I missed it when the engine went bad and I got an old GMC Envoy and lifted that right up to match the XJs snow capabilities.
Great diagnosis and fix, Tom Tom! Poor caster angle is the culprit of 99% of all death wobble. Yes, worn steering and suspension components are contributors, but with 4-6° of caster, you can drive a vehicle with completely missing track bar bushings, and ball joints and end links that can snap together and apart by hand, without experiencing death wobble.
Thanks for doing this video Tom. It confirms my beliefs about the resolution of my XJ issues. Time to get a full bushing kit.
For all the commenters, Tom made a fix and did a preliminary test and for that it stopped the death wobble. Loved the camera view. really showed up great. I have a 98 that's like de ja blue and we have some death wobble to work on. Also I have a spring compressor for struts that worked nicely to help with spring removal and install without having to drop the axle so far.
Nice Job Tom! Great having your sweetheart helping! Thanks for a good Video!
I had an 00 XJ that was driven hard and put away wet for 220k miles.
I found that nothing short of replacing the entire front end suspension would fix the death wobble. Had to do it 3 times over my ownership.
Fortunately its easy and relatively inexpensive.
Tom might look good in those turtleshell safety glasses too... lol
Love your patience, your attitude and your family. In addition to that you have great skill.
Y’all are looking real sweet making videos together. Congratulations on the empty nest early. Y’all have raised them to live responsibily. Great to see you Tom working on solutions. Be safe and take care.
Nice work Tom,Tom,wife done a Great job filming.truck runs Great too. Good people for sure.love brother skinner.
Good Job guys working together at the shop. Nice video, good Videographers work, and even learned something new. A total Win!
Well Done! Keep up the great job and good Luck for the UA-cam channel.
That spacer fix looks great! Very informative video thank you!
Great video Tom Tom 👍
Ace is the place.
FYI, Robby just got a new alignment machine. So far, they've only practiced on one vehicle. Maybe you could take yours there and offer it as practice specimen. 😉😉
So good watching you work !
I love this , and m doing a build with my girls 2000 xj . This just gives me more motivation . Thanks you sir
every time I watch tomtom, it's like watching a professional than all the amateurs, he reminds me of the early Saturday morning cars programs like 4 by 4 tv, four wheel drive channel there was others, they were all about fixing off-road vehicles, one guy converted his gasoline engine into vegetable oil, that you can get at any restaurant after they get done with it
Great job guys. Thank you 😊
A nuclear engineer just going for it, respect!
I've delt with this problem on more jeeps than I can count. You did a good job to start with the control arms. Not sure if you did or didn't change the upper control arm axle side bushings, but when the death wobble comes back, that would be the first thing I would change if you didn't already. Ball joints are also a regular culprit for death wobble as well. Great work on the channel. Keep it up👍
Tom, I’ve never screamed at the monitor while watching a video more than I was watching you install the coil spring spacers. Easiest thing to do remove the shocks. It helps tremendously droop the suspension. besides that I enjoy the content more than I can even phrase in a message. Keep up the great work and never stop getting better.
I’ve had death wobble in my old 2007 ram mega cab. It happened while I was going 75 mph down I-15. It was not a fun experience. I thought I had blown a tire. Took me awhile to figure out what had happened and that when I first learned of death wobble. Keep up the great work Tom Tom.
Love what you're doing here. With all the hand tool work I feel like i would be able to mickey around with my own rig instead of bugging my buddies all the time. I'd be working on a heavier rig, so i need to be careful and mindful, but you're giving me great ideas as to things to look for to reduce the wobble. Thanks for the insights
So I have a 2011 JK with a 3 1/2 inch lift. It has a bad case of death wobble. No on the long arms. After watching this video I am going to have long arms installed. Wow I did not know you used the same mounting points. Thank you so much for this video, opened my eyes.
Love your work Tom Tom. Thanks.
Thanks Tom and Angela. Great vid. And nice scenery too
Oh boy. Me and a buddy of mine did the tie rod ends and ball joints on my WJ years ago. Pretty sure it was the first time theyd ever been done. You talkin bout some work bud. My old Ford wasnt as bad as the Jeep was. Had to get a pipe wrench with cheater handle and we had to take turns. No we're not weak. Everything was loose. That mess was poppin like a son of a gun when it would finally turn. Was so glad when we got done with that. Good times lookin back now though. Can't physically do stuff like that anymore. Take care of your backs people. Thanks for the great content. God bless
Good to see your channel growing. Great videos keep ‘em coming!
Enjoying the tutorial and content. Keep it coming.
Your bench could really use some triangle supports, even temporary ones if you feel they are in the way, at least when loading it like that. Take the old control arms and use them would be one idea! Just put sprints in the mounting, then you could remove them easy when not needed! Just an idea!:)
Loving all the engine problem lights on the dash.
Thank you. Excelent video keep them coming cause there great
Great looking family. Both of you have done a great job raising them. BTW excellent repair on the jeep. Thanks for the video.
Simply just great to watch you work . Carl uk 🇬🇧
I have a 2007 Ram 3500 - replaced everything and still had death wobble after hitting a bump the right way. I finally fixed it by welding 1/4 “ thick steel over the old track bar bolt holes on the frame. The factory holes had worn enough that they caused enough play to allow the wobble even with all other joints replaced. On a jeep zj I had to reinforce the tie rod itself. It was flexing. Scary stuff, and the fixes are not always obvious.
What an awesome family pic! Love it!
I went one summer in St. George and that’s plenty for my life I will enjoy the cool mountains of Idaho all summer long. Your son is very smart
Great stuff, really enjoying your channel
These videos are so great! Also big applause to you Tom Tom for having such a good emphasis on safety. Very well done! Never knew what death wobble was and I sure learned a thing today.
Thank you Tom Tom. I really love your videos, your humor, your family participation, camera angles and editing. Back ground music is very pleasant.
Keep smiling buddy. Thank you.
As usual a great video. Very complicated but you solved the problem and entertained. Cool camping trip. Family time the best
Hay Tom. Just wanted to say I am enjoying your channel and I like how you're editing the videos. You're not telling us over and over what you're going to do, good mix of time lapse and live action.
I Love your shop and family. So glad you have a channel.
Just a great channel, love the way you explain everything so that anyone can understand... Aloha from Hawaii.
Tom Tom, don't think we didn't see those "pads" under the jackstands on your roll-around work table! I only wish I had that table (and a lift!) when we were swapping the K member on my son's Mustang. Super useful.
It's still new enough I hate to scratch it😄
Great video all round Tom, and great family too. When I used to set up toe on front wheels I used two sticks 3 or 4 fit long, one on each wheel rim edges make a mark roughly in the middle of the two crossed over sticks with a pencil then move to the rear and do the same you get wo marks, from there you adjust to get the toe! I never measured on the tyres as they can be bulged or not on the rim perfect of just misshaped.
Ok so you are absolutely correct there are several things that cause death wobble. Here's what caused mine....(92 XJ).
After installing a 3" lift, not reinstalling the front sway bar, this was great of road - death wobble on the hwy....reinstalled still wobbled... instructions said no spacers were needed for the sway bar....made 3" spacers reinstalled with longer bolts no more wobble....again this is what fixed my issues.... Keep up the amazing videos !!!👍👍
what a difference you made to the xj, great job sorting out the death wobble, thanks for sharing
I noticed that when you folks stopped at maverick, you forgot your snacks. But knowing you PB an J’s for everyone. 😂