20,000 Miles and out of nowhere...death wobble?

[P.Lo]

So like my title says, just clicked off 20K miles in one year, half city, half highway between 70 to 80.
NOT ONE time in that 20K have I had a "death wobble" on my stock suspension and tires Overland.
Then today, same highway as every other day.....hit a slight bump at 70+ and experienced a medium wobble (Steering shake of + and - 4 inches, 8" total) and an up and down bounce in the frontend........ my first thought as I slowed down was I have a flat..........flipped up a few screens on info screen and all 4 tires are up. So, i speed up again, another little bump in the road.......boom, wobble again. Happened 4 more times in the next 40 miles to and from work. So besides being a Monday, whats the best guess on what has changed TODAY, that I should be looking at? Like I said, not one time in 20K has it had anything close to resemble a wobble. In fact, I have been very happy with how tight and proper my front end has felt.
What say the experienced ones here?

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[stingrey]

I don't know if it's death wobble but the 1st thing I would do is stop driving 70mph and head straight to the shop. This way, hopefully, you can reproduce the issue for them on a test drive.
I have never had DW. Most of what I have seen in video or read online suggests it is something that typically happens at slower speeds than you were driving.
Good luck!

 

[P.Lo]

If I didn't know better, I would think my RF shock has lost it's charge ........ but I KNOW, that is highly unlikely.

 

[timo]

If I didn't know better, I would think my RF shock has lost it's charge ........ but I KNOW, that is highly unlikely.

I would suggest a re-torque on your front suspension components, starting with the track bar. The track bar can be the cause of this vibration because of play in the joint if it's worn out or loose.
Hopefully it's something simple that you can fix between now and when you take it in to the dealer under warranty.

 

[Jaydebe]

We just turned 23k today and had a similar issue.
While in the past we've had a "sway" happen every now and again when we hit a bump in the road;

2 times in the last 2 days, we've had the Gladiator just start wobbling on what feels like a normal smooth highway.

Almost feels like the right front shock and left rear shock are both blown out.

The first time it happened (2 days ago), the Jeep flashed the Stability light and disengaged CC.
This morning, it just started once we hit highway speeds. Under 65, it was ok, over 70, it got worse. Eventually, it stopped and we drove 600 miles without a single issue.

My plan was to check all of the suspension for tight; but also looking into a suspension upgrade.

 

[P.Lo]

We just turned 23k today and had a similar issue.
While in the past we've had a "sway" happen every now and again when we hit a bump in the road;

2 times in the last 2 days, we've had the Gladiator just start wobbling on what feels like a normal smooth highway.

Almost feels like the right front shock and left rear shock are both blown out.

The first time it happened (2 days ago), the Jeep flashed the Stability light and disengaged CC.
This morning, it just started once we hit highway speeds. Under 65, it was ok, over 70, it got worse. Eventually, it stopped and we drove 600 miles without a single issue.

My plan was to check all of the suspension for tight; but also looking into a suspension upgrade.

Wow......sounds like we both have the same thing happen. I did observe one thing that is different...... this week in NC it's been getting down to freezing at night, I mention this because the other day when it happened and I thought I had a flat, when I looked at the tire psi screen, all 4 tires were at 34...... they have been at 38 all summer long. I'm wondering if the lower pressure has anything to do with it? But I do agree Jaydebe, it really feels like a shock or two has failed overnight.

 

[Jaydebe]

Wow......sounds like we both have the same thing happen. I did observe one thing that is different...... this week in NC it's been getting down to freezing at night, I mention this because the other day when it happened and I thought I had a flat, when I looked at the tire psi screen, all 4 tires were at 34...... they have been at 38 all summer long. I'm wondering if the lower pressure has anything to do with it? But I do agree Jaydebe, it really feels like a shock or two has failed overnight.

So, this is another interesting point.

I just came from a trip to Az. My tires are always pretty spot on PSI wise.

After wheeling the other day, I got a bit lazy and had my wife just read of the PSI from the dash as I filled the tires.

It turns out that the right front and left rear were both off by 1-2 psi from the other 2 tires and... because I went from 70* at 5000' to about 1000' and 35*, my TPMS was warning me the tires where too low.

All four dropped from 35psi to 29-30psi overnight.

I thought it was a long shot, but midway through travelling today, I set all tires to 36psi.
It had been running well for a few hundred miles already, but ran fine the rest of the way to the East Coast.

Another side note: My rig is running factory suspension and was loaded down for an adventure. 1/2 rack, RTT, 2 bikes, gear, etc.

I know this weight seems to effect the shocks for sure; it seems that the Fox shocks are firmer up top, but once into travel at all, are very lax in support.

So because of this, I am very conscious of how I pack weight.
Heavier stuff inside the cab or close to the rear of the bed, and evened out as best as possible side-to-side.

 

[wanderer]

I routinely go from. Sea level to 4500 down to 300 back to 3400 ft. My Tpms is all over the place from 37 down to 28-29. No wobble

 

[Desert Outlaw]

If you are experiencing Death Wobble and not a mild shimmy, I would lower your tire pressure to 30# psi rather than run ~37#.

• Has your alignment been checked?
• Are your tie rod ends tight?
• Is your front track bar tight?
• Are you familiar with the 'Dry Steering Test'?

The longer these oscillations occur, the more damage they are doing to your track bar mounts.

 

[TJDave]

Get a friend and perform a "dry steering test". With a friend turning the steering wheel back and forth, check for any movement at all the front end parts connections points. Engine off of coarse.
A loosened track bar frame side mount was the DW cause on my TJ. It was easy to see the bushing movement during the test.

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