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1998 GC Death Wobble

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Old 10-03-2018, 08:46 PM
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Default 1998 GC Death Wobble

Need to pick some brains here as I'm running out of ideas of what could be happening.

- Did a typical front to rear lift
- New adjustable trackbar
- All new tie rods
- No ball joint movement when going up and down
- No bearing movement from 12 and 6
- Not currently running a steering stabilizer
- I am currently running stock control arms but that shouldn't matter as lots of people have done this lift and not changed them

What is my next course of action? Could the control arm bushings be causing this? It always happens at 70km/h (44mph).

Thoughts?
Old 10-05-2018, 11:56 AM
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does trackbar bolt fit snugly sometimes you need to upsize the mount holes and bolt size to the same size as new trackbar, im talking axle side
Old 10-05-2018, 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by tinytrax78
does trackbar bolt fit snugly sometimes you need to upsize the mount holes and bolt size to the same size as new trackbar, im talking axle side
Trackbar bolts are good. I had to drill axle side out because it went to a 1/2 or 12mm bolt.. its snug. All bolts are snug.

I'm doing upper control arm bushings axle side tonight and then from there will be control arms :\
Old 10-07-2018, 12:00 AM
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this is probably not in your case, but after swapping my front tires for my rears I had death wobble only between 40-45 mph. If I powered past 45 it would correct itself, anything less than 40 and no problems. Thinking my tires were out of balance I added water to them but nothing changed so I swapped them back and no more wobble. I think its the way the tread wears that caused it. also, if you have steel wheels one of them could have gone out of round if you had been hard on them lately.
Old 10-07-2018, 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by jon-d
this is probably not in your case, but after swapping my front tires for my rears I had death wobble only between 40-45 mph. If I powered past 45 it would correct itself, anything less than 40 and no problems. Thinking my tires were out of balance I added water to them but nothing changed so I swapped them back and no more wobble. I think its the way the tread wears that caused it. also, if you have steel wheels one of them could have gone out of round if you had been hard on them lately.
I will look at the at the tires as a possibility. But doing the bushings for uca on the axle I realized that when I bolted the axle back up indidnI loosen the uca so it was still set at the height for stock.

May not be an issue but probably didn't help.
Old 10-08-2018, 03:41 PM
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Upper control arm bushings on the axle changed out.. no difference.

So now I'm looking at 3 different things.
1) Wheel bearings
2) Control arms
3) Rims

I'm thinking of going with wheel bearings first as those could also be changed and the front end has some noise to it and would be the easiest to do. Then I'm thinking control arms.

Now the kicker here is that the wheels I have do not have the proper center bore and I'm relying on the lugs to center the rims. Now I was told that this wouldn't be an issue but maybe it is?
Old 10-13-2018, 07:36 PM
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Ball joints changed on both sides and still have death wobble. Will be ordering arms now.
Old 10-16-2018, 12:27 PM
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New adjustable track bar and new tie rod ends? Did you have it aligned?
Old 10-16-2018, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by onew1ckedxj
New adjustable track bar and new tie rod ends? Did you have it aligned?
As per the original post yes. No I have not had it aligned as I simply cannot drive it anywhere to do so. I have done a diy alignment myself using some angle iron and clamps and measuring it out using the rotors as a guide.

If the control arms don't fix it then its going to be getting the front wheels checked for balance and then after that will be hub centric rings.
Old 10-16-2018, 06:47 PM
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What did you set the toe to?
Old 10-16-2018, 07:04 PM
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1/8" as per spec

Trust me.. I've gone over this thing with a fine tooth comb. If the control arms don't work its either wobbly tires or needing hubcentric rings.

The thing had 240,000 kilometers on it so all these parts needed replacing any ways.
Old 10-19-2018, 03:18 PM
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Ok something I noticed about the Jeep today and I'm wondering if this is normal.

With the Jeep parked and running if I turn the steering wheel left or right, the direction I turn it causes the body to lift on that side.

Is this normal behavior?
Old 10-19-2018, 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by firebane
Ok something I noticed about the Jeep today and I'm wondering if this is normal.

With the Jeep parked and running if I turn the steering wheel left or right, the direction I turn it causes the body to lift on that side.

Is this normal behavior?
I beleave that is normal when turning.

I found out today the reason for my woble is my rim is slightly bent. A buddy noticed it when we were driving and thought i would post it as somthing to check.
Old 10-20-2018, 06:04 PM
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So am I at a complete and utter loss and not sure what to do now.

- All tie rods replaced
- Ball joints replaced
- Axle control arm bushings replaced
- Control arms replaced
- Track bar and track bar mount replaced
- Wheels balanced

This thing does ok in a straight line but the second I navigate around a corner and hit a bump.... death wobble. I am running out of patience with this thing as I simply cannot fathom any further what is going on.

If there is something I am completely oblivious too or missing please let me know.
Old 10-21-2018, 06:06 PM
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Here is a video of the steering components but I don't see anything amiss.



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