death wobble, please help!!

[Semper FI]

I have an appointment to get this thing aligned tomorrow, this is one of the best guys I have ever seen at this. The question I have is, how can you tell if you have a bad belt in a tire? I put the front tires on the back and the back on the front and it got better. Less death wobble now but not totally gone. Could it have been a bad belt in a tire? I have had them all balanced and it will ride fine until the wobble hits. I looked it over as close as I could and found nothing loose, it only has 26,000 miles on it. I had 2 mechanics look it over also, nothing. I have talked with an alignment shop also. He told me that he has just done 3 Unlimited like mine that have had the same problem. On one of them he said he had to replace one tie rod end and it had just over 50,000 miles on it. The other 2, well less the 50,000 miles, he had them put a dual steering stabilizer on them and they were curried. He had the other guy do it also because, just after the first guy left the shop it started all over. I have already replaced the trac bar and put a dual steering stabilizer on it. Could it be the belts in one of my tires? I have the Firestone Destination AT's on it. I did not pick those tires, they were on it when I bought the jeep. The tires are brand new

 

[Fireghost239]

First of all, a steering stabilizer doesn't cure death wobble. It MAY mask it. If your running gear is set up properly, you can run without one at all. All of the actual death wobble I have seen has been caused by a loose track bar, either at the axle or frame end. I had it on one of my jeeps and there was so little play on the frame side it wasn't noticeable, but a little tightening and it disappeared. Also on your jeep, an alignment consist of setting the toe if all components are good and not damaged. The other components are not adjustable. Even though the track bar was replaced, recheck the torque on the nuts.

 

[Semper FI]

but what about the tires? Can they/will they cause death wobble? I guarantee you all of the bolts are right at spec, I just put the trac bar on 2 days ago.

 

[JPNinPA]

Tires and wheels can cause DW. Mud in a wheel or bent rim can cause it. Speed balance the tire.
Do a dry steering test. You will likely find track track bar moving at the bushing. It shouldn't. Look for any movement in TRE and bushings. Bad wheel bearings, ball joints and even control arm bushings go bad and need to be checked.

Ditto on stabilizers they do not cure anything.

 

[jeepsterchip]

The best place to start is to do a road force balance and indexing procure to find the firm spot of the tire and the lowest radial runout in the wheel. Match the two and retest. I had to do this on mine. It worked like a charm. I work in a shop so it was easy for me to do it. You will have to find a shop that knows how to do it and has the proper equipment.

 

[Semper FI]

Rubi is now fixed, thank God!! Took it to an alignment shop this morning and he did several things to it. The "toe" was out by about an inch, he balanced all 4 tires, the new trac bar's jam nut, that I just put on, had become loose, and adjusted the steering box taking out the free play that was in it. He also found that one of the stock sway bar links is going bad, not that it had anything to do with the death wobble. It now runs down the road straight and true without the death wobble!!

I had just put that trac bar on about a week ago. I had only driven 100 miles if that, since I had put it on. I had all the tires balanced about 3 weeks ago. If I were you and have death wobble, I would start all over again if you want to get rid of it. Nothing hurts, other than the wallet, if you do check it twice.