Is there ANYTHING to do about the death wobble? Im on my 3rd Jeep, and I love them forever. But the wobble is getting worse in my 97 and its so annoying its almost to the point of me selling it and getting something else. But I dont want anything else. I could use some new tires before winter which may help a little, but my commute to and from work is always moving at about 55-60mph and thats when it starts...

 

Well... There is ONE thing you could do..

SEARCH!!!! Lol many threads already about death wobble and possible reasons.

 

You sure it's DW and not just a tire balance issue? Search, there are no less than 100 threads dedicated to the subject.

 

sorry I am new to these forums, I usually just use my Haynes or bring it to my guy if I cant do it... Considering Ive had a few of these cars Im almost certain its the DW. My last one I replaced to tires and it did help, but didnt go away. This one is dong it now every day. Bought it two years ago and it rarely happened then....although they are the same tires...

 

Go through suspension. It is worn out.

 

Oh yeah, theres that. By rear end sits a little lower than it should, and if I go over bumps too fast something bottoms out, im assuming the tires, but its kind of a knocking sound. I feel nervous carrying any weight, but itll do it when its just me in the car.

Would it be leaf springs? from what i see just climbing under is no cracks or anything on them. I did those once on a previous XJ and it was a nightmare, we had to grind them off... I would LOVE to replace the suspension but thats one thing I have never done other than leaf springs....any help would be appreciated.

 

No, death wobble is caused by the front end resonating. Loose suspension and steering components let this happen. You need to check the entire front end.

 

Yes, search and read. It is a long process to track down problems. Do it right!

 

if it doesn't start till i'm assuming you mean 55mph, then it's not likely death wobble, as that usually starts up around 30-35mph.

try new tires, borrow some first if you want to be sure. i'm pretty sure that will fix you up.

also, and i know i'm gonna get stormed for this, but how is the steering stabilizer?
when we bought our 97 tj about 9 years ago, it was wobbling on the test drive, they replaced tires and stabilizer and never looked back since.

 

I don't care what anyone says, I had Death Wobble (not a shimmy or a shake but a violent, rip-the-wheel-from-your-hands, motor mount destroying, uncontrollable Death Wobble) and replaced my stabilizer two years ago. No more Death Wobble. None. Some will say I just masked the problem... fine. Who cares? It stopped doing it.

So, OP, are you sure you have Death Wobble™ and not just an out-of-balance tire or bad alignment? A little mud stuck to the inside of your wheel maybe? Death Wobble is a violent oscillation that can only be stopped by slowing down.

 

You know why they call it "death wobble"? Because you think you're gonna die when it happens. It is the most violent vibration you will ever feel in a vehicle. It's like having a paint shaker mounted to your steering wheel.

 

It really is. It's ****ing annoying too.

I don't have a steering stabilizer on right now. (Couldn't get it out of the old steering linkage, lol) I'm of the camp that steering stabilizers just mask the problem, but hey... I'm really lazy. If putting my steering stabilizer back in means it masks the problem, that means I don't have to change a bushing! (for now)

 

It's kind of like this but ten times worse... skip to 2:57

 

Nope death wobble can happen at any speed not just at 30-35mph. I had death wobble at 50-52mph and it was a truly feel like you're going to die experience, how do I know this? Because my passengers commented about how they about crapped themselves and went white knuckle holding those handles above the door lol

 

I installed a new lift and it created alignment problems, had DW bad on my way to the alignment shop.