matholland

Alright, so I have an XJ with a 14 bolt rear and a d44 front. I bought this about a month and a half ago. I had gotten the wobbles twice in town on a pretty good sized bump on the rd. This isn't a daily, but is nice to be able to drive it when need be so I am trying to make it somewhat road worthy. It has hydro assist as well.

I checked wheel bearings and they had some play. So the past few days I changed wheel bearings inner and outer as well as the spindle bearing on the passenger side. Got it all back together and I'll be damned if I didn't get it about 7 times yesterday in less than 5 miles going out to a place to wheel...It is much worse now than what it was before!

Tires are not balanced, they are on DIY beadlock wheels and are 36" super swampers...However, before I changed out the wheel bearings, I drove it around town and out to places to go wheeling and only got it twice. What gives?

I was planning on having an alignment and tires balanced as a next thing in line, but anyone else have any ideas?

The steering setup is dom tubing with heim's and they all seem tight, ball joints are tight too.

Crazy 8s

'Death wobble' is most often caused by worn tie-rod ends or play in the track bar mounting points. Your jeep is lifted to use 36" tires...did you swap out the track bar for a longer/adjustable one? Is it properly adjusted?

You should get your tires balanced too, or put some RV antifreeze in them to balance them.

gunmetal_nightrider

Even if everything seems tight, get another body in the cab while you watch the front axle. They will turn the wheel and you will then see if anything has a delay from being wobbled out. Check the track bar mount as well, those bolts loosen up too over time.

matholland

Jeep was lifted when I got it. Trackbar and steering components are both DOM tubing with heim's. I have only had this jeep for about a month or so, and haven't got everything lined out yet.

Had to put a new back window in it, do some welding on the muffler, oil filter adapter elimination, new wheel bearings and spindle bearings, I put a receiver on it and some other things. I don't drive it much on the rd at all, it is mainly a trail rig. I just haven't had a chance to get over and have it aligned and the tires balanced yet. Still, before I put new wheel bearings on, I had only gotten the wobbles twice....I put new wheel bearings on and got it more in 2 hours than I had ever gotten it in the past.

I will get a buddy and have him turn the wheel for me and stuff. Everything seems tight from when I checked everything out (this is when I discovered wheel bearings and spindle bearing on one side). After I got it all replaced I checked everything again.

Tsaani97xj

Sounds to me your problem is likely to be coming from tires/wheels. Before you changed the bearings there was some looseness allowing some absorption of the energy that causes DW. Now that youve removed this from the equation it goes right into the oscillation. If it was me Id start with balancing then alignment. Just a thought.

matholland

Well, that is what my conclusion to the issue as well. I just wanted to gain some input from some others to see if that was likely the culprit or not. I will double check everything and get an alignment. Any suggestions on balancing tires? They are 36x12.50x15 super swampers about half tread on DIY beadlock wheels. Will a shop even be able to get a decent balance out of them, or should I do beads, airsoft bb's, or antifreeze?

884x4

I'd be putting antifreeze in them

matholland

How much antifreeze, and how is everyone getting it in there?

Bustedback

Post a pic of your steering set up. I think you may have a geometry problem.

andrewmp6

Yeah post a picture of your steering/track bar for us.And look in to balancing beads for the tires.

roadraje

I purchased used tires and wheels (31X10.5X15 on ProComp 15X8) a few weeks back. It was a cheap upgrade from 235/75/15 on stock Limited wheels. As soon as I installed them I had my first interaction with DW and it wasn't the last. A buddy of mine was following me and saw it happen and stated it was the craziest thing he ever saw. Anyway, I searched the forums and although there is a plethora of information out there I needed this situation resolved asap. I went to the nearest off-road shop and spoke with the owner. As soon as I started speaking he said "Death Wobble". He took his time and explained why it occurs and even showed me the ply-seperation on an old tire he had lying around. He suggested I get at minimum new front tires. I bit the bullet and bought four new BFG A/Ts and have not had DW since. I've tried to make it happen again hitting bumps and potholes at different speeds and angles but it hasn't happened since. I am certain the tires were the cure for me. Hope you find your cure, DW is some scary stuff at high speeds.

davidap6

After replacing tie rod, tie rod ends, drag link, and track bar, my death wobble finally went away once I replaced the ball joints. They seemed fine when inspected, but after I removed them, I can tell they were not right. Buy Moog.

SeriousOffroad

gunmetal_nightrider

THAT ^

I drove on the highway without noticing i had ice stuck in my rims. Holy god i thought the jeep was shaking apart. We mess with our rigs a lot but its insane how one little piece of the system throws everything out of ballance.

matholland

http://s3.postimg.org/eh47ic837/20150402_184917.jpg
http://s1.postimg.org/nxu078wyn/20150402_184954.jpg

As far as drivability, it drives pretty decent for what it is. Whoever it was that setup the axles and stuff did it right from what I can tell. It drives 10 times better than my tube buggy with 42's and dana 60's. I can run it down the hwy 55 and it drives decent. It is hard to tell if it actually pulls to one way or not because of the hydro assist, but I can let go of the wheel and it drives straight. The tires are so so, I mean they are 36" swampers with about half tread, so tires could be a part of it as well. Everything seems tight so I am guessing it is alignment/tire balance issues.

Also, yes DW isn't fun. I have had vehicles do it in the past, and fixed it. This one is just a little different.