I'd had a relatively drama free experience up until last February's road trip (Road Trip III in my signature). It was following that 2200 mile adventure that I started feeling the wobbles. Subtle, at first, but they've grown in intensity despite my efforts to keep them at bay. Now I'm dealing with full-blown Death Wobbles™ and dread going over 50. Here are the things I've done in the order they were done.

1.) Wiggled for loose components under load: None obvious
2.) Wiggled for loose components drooped: None obvious
3.) Performed alignment: caster, toe, center, wheelbase
4.) Tightened control arm bolts (upper and lower)
5.) Tightened track bar bolt (axle/upper track bar ball joint mount)
6.) Checked hub bearings (both good, no play)
7.) Replaced upper control arm bushings and hardware.
8.) Rechecked alignment: All adjustments in spec. (3/32" toe, 6.0º caster for Command-Trac HP D30 with 3" lift, wheelbase 101.75" passenger side, 101.25" driver side)
9.) Wheels/tires rotated in X pattern
10.) All four wheels/tires load balanced

Ball and U-joints all appear sturdy and play-free both under load and drooped. Pitman arm is tight and slop-free. Drag link and tie-rod are sturdy.

The only thing I see that strikes me as unusual is the amount of flex in my track bar bushing. The adjustable track bar (Rocky Road Outfitters) is only a year old and the bushing looks normal and undamaged but, as you can see from the video, it moves. A lot. The track bar mounting bolt is in good shape and the holes in the axle are not elongated. As you can tell, its the track bar moving, not the bolt that holds it in place. Could this flex cause my wobbles?

 

I'd say that much play could cause DW. I have these bushings in my TB. Not sure if they would fit yours correctly.

http://www.kevinsoffroad.com/cart/ha...-12-kit-p-290/

 

I would drop that side of track bar and see if sleeve has elongated/distorted the bushing. Happens to some poly, it can 'pack down' then sleeve becomes sloppy.

 

I pulled the track bar yesterday, the bushing and sleeve look practically brand new (because they are practically brand new). There's no elongation of the sleeve and the rubber seems firm. I splurged this afternoon and picked up the $16 2-piece poly bushing from NAPA... Fingers crossed that Rocky Road used the stock bushing OD.

Thanks for your suggestions and thoughts. I'll let you know how it goes with the poly bushing.

 

Noticed the 1/2" difference in wheelbase. Comes from the factory like that but folks do not want to believe it.

Is that the stock trackbar bolt, they are usually too small of diameter to fit the sleeve of aftermarket trackbar bushings. Are we seeing slop between sleeve and bolt?

Another thing, where is the resistance coming from that causes the bar to move like that? Is it just from the tires being on ground or is there binding in the steering that is causing it?

Usually poly bushings are very firm, that one seems squishy judging by all that movement..

 

Is that a poly bushing? Looks like I see a bit of grease around it. This is the warning that came with my poly bushings.

**Conventional petroleum-based lubricant or grease must NOT be used to lube or install poly bushings. These products will break down the polyurethane prematurely causing bushing failure. Please use only mineral-based lubricant, such as our KOR-1109 lube or a similar product from a poly bushing manufacturer.**

 

That is the stock trackbar bolt and fanciful nut. I will check their fit with the new (Poly) bushing sleeve and if there's slop, I'll pick up a new grade 8 that fits the sleeve.

The bushing seems squishy but it's difficult to tell exactly what's moving when it's bolted inside the mount.

It's a rubber bushing with a zirc fitting. Does anybody know if they make this poly-safe lubricant in a tube that will go in my grease gun?

 

Swap in a true two piece poly bushing and use the silicone grease that comes with the bushing while installing it. I have never had to re grease my poly track bar bushings after the install and they didn't wear or make noise. The Moog bushing will require a 7/16 bolt, the bolt hole in the sleeve is larger than stock. The Energy Suspension bushing is of better quality and cost about the same as the Moog.

 

Being a holiday weekend I was limited. I called my local 4 Wheel Parts Warehouse thinking they might have the Energy or Daystar bushings but, as usual, they had to order it because they don't stock anything but Brotruck accessories like 42" Mall Mudders and $3000 light bars to illuminate the freeway on your daily commute to the office. Both ChinaZone and O'Really's have 2-piece poly bushing but neither had them in stock.

NAPA was the only place that had one in stock. It's stamped RAMCOA and is Made in U.S.A. (just came in a plastic bag with a bar code. No box. No lube). Even if it's not the best quality, I'm hoping it will be better than the rubber one. If they improve or eliminate my wobbles I'll order the Energy bushings and keep the ones from NAPA as spares.

 

I've confirmed that it wasn't the bolt moving inside the sleeve as the stock bolt fits snuggly within the bushing sleeve. It had to be the squishiness of the rubber bushing material. The stock bolt is too small for the new bushing sleeve, though, so I'm off to the hardware store for a new bolt/nut.

 

I might double check that toe in. My .02, wobbling is the reason for toe in, keeps the suspension pulled slightly snug so it doesn't want to start to wobble.

I've also found them balancing my wheels while they were caked with dirt...(in the rim).

Cool race at Monaco this AM!

 

I haven't watched the race yet... shhhhhh.

According to the alignment specs for Command-Trac, the front should be toed between 1/16" and 1/8", Select Trac should have zero toe.

 

Good News!: My new polyurethane track bar bushing is awesome. There is zero flex in the bushing and I like that it allowed me to use larger, more sturdy hardware than the stock bushing. I also appreciate that Rocky Road used a stock bushing size on their adjustable track bar.

Bad News: Did not cure the wobbles. In fact, it seems to have had no affect at all. Oh well, time to start checking other things.

...and you're right, the race was great!

 

I guess this will become a Death Wobble™ Diary. Maybe I'll figure it out and, along with the hundreds of similar threads, help others out.

So I'm stuck in a bit of a paradox. My caster is at 88.5º and it should be at 87º. In order to get that additional 1.5º I will have to shorten my LCAs (or lengthen my UCAs, I assume?). The paradox lies in that my LCAs are already adjusted as short as possible and located as far back in their perch as possible so shortening is not possible. This is further complicated by my non-adjustable UCAs. I find it interesting that when I originally set the castor (when I installed the LCAs) I was not at the extreme limits of adjustment. Now I am, which suggests something has bent.

I guess I have two options at this point, weld in new LCA perches or purchase adjustable UCAs. Neither one is particularly appealing but they're both more appealing than having my arms ripped off every time my Jeep decides it would be funny.

On Friday afternoon I was driving home on a particularly empty stretch of road. The only other car was a BMW M3 driven by an unbelievably hot girl and she was right next to me. We made eye contact and smiled at each other. Despite the fact that she was 10-15 years younger than me, I could tell I totally had a chance. At that exact moment my Jeep started shaking violently. To make matters worse, when it threw my hands from the wheel I accidentally bumped the turn signal stalk and my windshield wipers came on top speed... despite the fact that it was a warm, sunny day. Jesus, that was embarrassing.

 

I know you want a video of the girl in the BMW but here's one of my new track bar bushing, instead...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWeN...ature=youtu.be