Hope that caught your eye. I have got a real bad case of the dreaded death wobble. I was driving in town at about 55mph when I hit a large bump or dip in the road. My jeep started shaking like no other. This was no joult it was just down right scary! I slowed down to a stop. As I was slowing I looked out the window and saw my front wheel moving side to side almost turning me into oncoming traffic. It was skaing and moving all over the place. Anyways I limped it to the hotel tightened my tie rod, drag link, suspension, lug and steering damper nuts. Drove it and it is a little better.I tried to repeat the death wobble but only got it when I hit big bumps. The jeep has been driving with no problems for at least 800 miles. I am going to tighten up my ubolts today. After that one bump my jeep hasnt been the same. It was so sudden I dont know what else to do except go over every nut and bolt. If I cant get this sorted out. I am leaving my jeep in denver. Anyone know what else I should do?
DEATH WOBBLE TERROR
- Thread starter Sully
- Start date
Sparky-Watts
Banned
RE: Progress, almost done....
Avoid the bumps? Turn it into a mallcrawler? By a Kia? Give it to me? Yeah....I like that last one.
Avoid the bumps? Turn it into a mallcrawler? By a Kia? Give it to me? Yeah....I like that last one.
RE: Re: RE: Overflow 88 Cherokee
Sully, don't listen to Sparky. He drives a YJ.....he'd kill himself in a CJ. You don't want that on your hands. Just PM me with where it's at in Denver and I'll come pick it up.
It sounds like you have all of the possibilities covered. What about the ball joints?
oh yeah, J/K Sparky
Sully, don't listen to Sparky. He drives a YJ.....he'd kill himself in a CJ. You don't want that on your hands. Just PM me with where it's at in Denver and I'll come pick it up.
It sounds like you have all of the possibilities covered. What about the ball joints?
oh yeah, J/K Sparky
Inspector-Gadget
New member
CJ7 steering box upgrade
Hi-Ya, Sully,
When I first purchased the Bubbacon, it would sometimes do a dance-of-death under exactly the same conditions as your CJ -- always bump-induced, only at highway speeds.
For reasons entirely unrelated to the death-wobble, I replaced all four tires and wheels with another set.
Voila! Death-wobble cured!
Tire(s) out of balance, broken internal belt, bent wheel -- who knows?
But, since you were recently off-roading, tire internal condition/balance/wheel trueness, etc. might be ideas worth adding to your checklist.
Lots of rotating mass in those larger tires.
Regards,
Gadget
Hi-Ya, Sully,
When I first purchased the Bubbacon, it would sometimes do a dance-of-death under exactly the same conditions as your CJ -- always bump-induced, only at highway speeds.
For reasons entirely unrelated to the death-wobble, I replaced all four tires and wheels with another set.
Voila! Death-wobble cured!
Tire(s) out of balance, broken internal belt, bent wheel -- who knows?
But, since you were recently off-roading, tire internal condition/balance/wheel trueness, etc. might be ideas worth adding to your checklist.
Lots of rotating mass in those larger tires.
Regards,
Gadget
Bounty__Hunter
Super Moderator
RE: 4.0L ignition upgrade
Sully, what year and model jeep? How many miles? What suspension mods?
Sully, what year and model jeep? How many miles? What suspension mods?
JeepMonkey
New member
RE: parts needed
I too just experienced it for the first time in my TJ. Only on one stretch of road with quite a few evenly spaced cracks. And only while going about 70mph. Once I slowed down it went away and I never heard from it again. The Jeep drives just fine on every other stretch of road still no matter how fast I'm going. I'm going to get under mine real soon and re-tighten everything again anyway. Never hurts to do that I guess.
I too just experienced it for the first time in my TJ. Only on one stretch of road with quite a few evenly spaced cracks. And only while going about 70mph. Once I slowed down it went away and I never heard from it again. The Jeep drives just fine on every other stretch of road still no matter how fast I'm going. I'm going to get under mine real soon and re-tighten everything again anyway. Never hurts to do that I guess.
I had a bad case of the death wobble with my TJ about a year ago. I tried just about everything to get rid of it. Tightened the tie rods, replaced the traction bar, had the tires balanced, etc, etc. But whenever I hit around 55 and hit a bump or went around a turn, I'd be wobbling all over the place. BUt just like Inspector Gadget, I replaced all 4 tires and teh wobble magically went away. That was over a year ago, but just recently I've noticed it starting to come back a touch right back at 55 again. It's not severe yet, but I"m worried it's going to get worse. I may go get the tires balanced and see if that fixes anything. Just my 2 cents.
Bounty__Hunter
Super Moderator
Most common cause I've seen is a bad front track bar (tierod end) and cracked bushings in the control arms.
TwistedCU
New member
Well Sully, unless your tires are (like IG suggested) out of balance or damaged, I'd bet your alignment is out. Hopefully you cured it today with an alignment.
With the simplicity of your CJ's front end it doesn't leave too many options... bad bushings/joints, out of alignment, or tires. I doubt you'll have to leave it in CO... at least I hope you don't.
What a trip you guys are having
:shock:
With the simplicity of your CJ's front end it doesn't leave too many options... bad bushings/joints, out of alignment, or tires. I doubt you'll have to leave it in CO... at least I hope you don't.
What a trip you guys are having
:shock:
I tightened everything up and can at least drive it at 75. I measured the width from the front of my tires and the width on the back of my front tire. The front side it about 48 inches and the back is way off. About 49 1/2. It's suposed to be set 1/8 inch tow in. So I bent something. Probably another tie rod. Just replaced this thing too. Guess I will never stop breaking things......I am going to re-set the tow in tommorow.
Sparky-Watts
Banned
Gee, only an inch and a half tow-in? Sounds like my old '72 Mercury Capri!!
