Today I experienced DEATH WOBBLE 😉

[dgorsett]

I have personally experienced death wobble in my ‘68 Bronco years ago. Mine was caused by a completely worn out front end track bar bushing. If you have not personally experienced this, if you do you will be changing your shorts! It’s terrifying and in a short wheelbase vehicle it can put you upside down really quick.

Same on 67 F100. I rebuilt the steering box, fixed it.

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[AgentKooper]

Wow, I have had DW about 8-9 times in my TJ and, while the first few times were surprising and a little unsettling, I never thought I'd squeeze a nugget out over it. I just recognized it for what it was, slowed down a bit until it disappeared, and resumed course. But I also worked on correcting it by checking all of the parts that can cause it and, after a while, didn't experience it again. For those of you spraying butt-mud over this, I'd hate to see you in a real crisis without a set of Depends on.

Okay hero.

 

[goatman]

I rented a Jeep Sahara 4 door in Houston and it had 268 miles on it - basically brand new...driving to the office and WTF! It is insanely scary...I pulled over and examined all the tires I just knew a wheel was about to come off...could not find anything wrong. Got back in and it drove fine the rest of the way to the office...2 days later going to meet friends for dinner and it happened again. Back to the hotel that night and called the rental company to come and get it and deliver me something else. It is insane...what causes it on a brand new Jeep?

ANYTHING with a bit of play in the steering or front suspension, or a tire out of balance or a tire separating or out of round. There is a harmonic that straight axle vehicles are susceptible to. Everything has to be tight and good. The stabilizer shock on straight axles is there to fight that harmonic. Most folks think the shock is to dampen steering, and while it can do that, it's purpose from the automotive engineers is to fight the harmonic that causes death wobble. IFS vehicles don't come with steering stabilizer shocks, don't need them.

 

[da_jokker]

While I’ve not experienced this deathwobble I’ve had a tank slapper on a sport bike at the racetrack and it is indeed terrifying

Years ago I was on a bike ride, came out of a turn and just as I was straightening out I hit a bump or something. Handlebars starting violently going back and forth (aka tank slapper) And I was doing 70+ mph.

For what seemed like an eternity they continued to slap.. so much so that I remember getting over the initial shock and thinking to myself, okay you're going down so just get ready.

The handlebars continued to slap... At this point I had to have gone at least a couple hundred feet if not more, and up ahead was another turn which obviously there was no way I was going to make.

So I had no choice and I basically just stiff armed the handlebars... To my surprise the tank slapping stopped and I dropped the bike in and made the turn.

I literally had to pull over, get off the bike and kiss the ground. Legs shaking, the works. (Clean undies).

When I got home, I discovered the bike had been shaking so bad, that the two light bulbs in the tail light came out of their sockets, Hit each other and shattered!

Side note, my old 25 year old XJ drove like a dream, and my current JK with 100k miles drives even nicer...no death wobble for me.

 

[old goat]

I experience death wobble every morning when I get up , this 66 YO body has a lot of loose rods in it's system LOL

 

[Saskwah]

and if you didn't actually experience it, and can't prove you saw it,
don't clickbait others acting like you did.
I guess following the above story up with
Cool Story Bro
Is the only way I can finish

FYI,
I have experienced ACTUAL Death Wobble. I had a cotter pin fail, and the castle nut backed out allowing my tie rod to drop and literally only have one wheel connected to my steering wheel.
This is fix I did so I could drive home [At 10mph]

Old School, love it

 

[Bradnewt]

I had a 2006 Jeep TJ and would experience death wobble at speeds around 50 mph. I quickly learned that the problem was caused by out of balance tires. I bought the lifetime rotation and balance package with a new set of tires and would take it in twice a year to get the tires balanced and rotated. One of the issues that causes death wobble, is that the Jeep front end is very narrow. If you are a fan of dirt track sprint cars, you know that their front tires wobble until they get up to speed and it has to do with the narrow front geometry.

 

[HideoutBronco]

Could be a host of things. Trac Bar bolt torque or bushings, tie rod ends torque or bushings, drag link torque or bushings, bad wheel/unit bearings, bad or worn balljoints, improper toe, tire out of balance, tire cupped, etc. On a new Jeep, I would guess its one of the less drastic of those options

Actually is a known issue that is caused by a failed steering damper. I had two replaced and they eventually redesigned it.

 

[Wanted33]

I've seen a Jeep on the freeway with a tire that looked insanely out of balance.
Is that death wobble?
I swore that wheel was going to come off.

Probably not Kim. If you ever see it, you won't forget it. I've never experienced it, but if I did i would nearly give my Jeep away.

In the first couple minutes you can see what a shit show it is.

 

[Destroyer]

Actually is a known issue that is caused by a failed steering damper. I had two replaced and they eventually redesigned it.

As others have stated on this thread, the damper just masks the light harmonic vibration that comes with a solid front axle. You should be able to run ANY solid front axle vehicle without a damper and not experience death wobble if everything else with the tires, steering linkages, trac bars, bearings, balljoints, etc is fine. It is not caused from a non-existent/bad damper.

I'm also aware of the several TSB's related to the JL's and the damper. Its easier and more cost effective for Jeep to throw on a "redesigned" damper with a more significant shock charge to mask more of the vibration then it is for them to troubleshoot and correctly fix each and every Jeep that suffered from this.

 

[sardog12]

As others have stated on this thread, the damper just masks the light harmonic vibration that comes with a solid front axle. You should be able to run ANY solid front axle vehicle without a damper and not experience death wobble if everything else with the tires, steering linkages, trac bars, bearings, balljoints, etc is fine. It is not caused from a non-existent/bad damper.

I'm also aware of the several TSB's related to the JL's and the damper. Its easier and more cost effective for Jeep to throw on a "redesigned" damper with a more significant shock charge to mask more of the vibration then it is for them to troubleshoot and correctly fix each and every Jeep that suffered from this.

This is exactly correct. It has always amazed me how many people want to come off as experts and never have taken the time to research what the causes of DW could be. I'm also amazed how many people have bought into the damper story that Jeep has pushed. It isn't rocket science. The most difficult part of diagnosing it is the number of elements that can cause or contribute to it.

 

[HideoutBronco]

This is exactly correct. It has always amazed me how many people want to come off as experts and never have taken the time to research what the causes of DW could be. I'm also amazed how many people have bought into the damper story that Jeep has pushed. It isn't rocket science. The most difficult part of diagnosing it is the number of elements that can cause or contribute to it.

I have had a number of solid axel trucks and they will will eventually do this without a proper steering damper. For how long after adjustment are your " tires, steering linkages, trac bars, bearings, balljoints, etc " Perfect. It is there for a reason, vibrations happen. With out the damper, they get worse. I spend a lot of time and considered having min Lemoned. What was I supposed to do wait for the JMU? The newer designed damper solves the issue as it prevents the dealth wobble from starting. Didn't come off as an expert - stated a fact. Didn't "buy in" did my research and accepted their resoultion. Oh and I have had 12 solid axle SUVs.

 

[Bdisco]

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