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Death Wobble Fix

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Old Jun 19, 2012 | 07:25 PM
  #1  
02BlueWJ's Avatar
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From: OC, CA
Year: 2002
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Default Death Wobble Fix

Hi All,

I don't post on here much, but I have lurked and researched here quite a bit since I bought my WJ. Like many of you, I had terrible death wobble right around 45-50 mph. The speed limit on a lot of the streets around here is 45 mph, so it's been hell. My wife drives the WJ more than I do, so she's been harping on me to get the thing fixed. In my research I found a lot of different possible causes and solutions. I also found KevinsOffroad.com. They have a great page on the death wobble.

So, I recently bit the bullet and spent the $425 (including shipping) on their complete death wobble cure kit. I might have been able to try replacing one or two things at a time, but I didn't want to hassle with it. I installed the kit last week and it immediately cured the death wobble, COMPLETELY. I put the kit in and drove it immediately, without rotating the tires or getting and alignment, and the death wobble was gone. I tested at all speeds up to 80 mph. My wife and I are very pleased with the results.

The kit includes a beefy 1.25" adjustable track bar, poly track bar bushings, a heavy duty steering stabilizer, a secondary stabilizer w/ mounting kit, and all necessary hardware.

Here is the link to the death wobble page and their death wobble package.

I am in no way associated with Kevin's Offroad. I'm just a satisfied customer passing along the good word. I hope this helps somebody solve their problem.
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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 06:43 AM
  #2  
TwistedZJ's Avatar
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From: Colorado
Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 6.4l 500+HP
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Well, you have now successfully temporarily stopped DW from happening, now it is time to fix it. Let me know your set up and ill try to help you. Unfortunetely two steering stabilizers aren't going to FIX a wobble, a healthy front end should never need a single SS, I've never had one on my jeep. The problem is somewhere else unless your trackbar bushing was absolutely shot
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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 07:17 AM
  #3  
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From: NJ/NY
Year: 2001
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
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Originally Posted by TwistedZJ
Well, you have now successfully temporarily stopped DW from happening, now it is time to fix it. Let me know your set up and ill try to help you. Unfortunetely two steering stabilizers aren't going to FIX a wobble, a healthy front end should never need a single SS, I've never had one on my jeep. The problem is somewhere else unless your trackbar bushing was absolutely shot
I totally agree with Twisted. I have an XJ and I had a very bad case of DW and what I did after replacing what I thought were the problems, I drove it WITHOUT the steering dampener. When everything checked out great without it, that's when I re-installed the dampener.
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Old Jun 21, 2012 | 03:38 PM
  #4  
02BlueWJ's Avatar
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Year: 2002
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Originally Posted by TwistedZJ
Well, you have now successfully temporarily stopped DW from happening, now it is time to fix it. Let me know your set up and ill try to help you. Unfortunetely two steering stabilizers aren't going to FIX a wobble, a healthy front end should never need a single SS, I've never had one on my jeep. The problem is somewhere else unless your trackbar bushing was absolutely shot
My WJ is a completely stock 2WD with a 4.0L. It had 118k miles on it when we bought it and the wobble was already there, though I think it got a little worse in the past 25k miles.

I'm not sure what else could cause the wobble, but I literally installed this kit with no other changes, and the wobble was gone. No tire rotation, no wheel alignment, no other parts swapped. The fix could very well come down to the new durometer bushings in the track bar, but I went with the whole kit because I didn't want to have to keep messing with it.
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 08:23 PM
  #5  
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From: Colorado
Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 6.4l 500+HP
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All I'm saying is that there's a good chance your fix is only temp. Untill those stabilizers wear out. I hope the trackbar was it though! I guess keep us updated
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Old Jun 22, 2012 | 11:06 PM
  #6  
02BlueWJ's Avatar
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Thanks for the heads up. It's been great, so far. Not a hint of wobble even when hitting bumps at the speed I used to dread (45-50). I'm not positive what was causing it, but it's gone, so I'm happy. If the durometer bushings in the trackbar wear out, I've got an extra set that came with the kit for backup.
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