Another Death wobble conflicting info Clayton lift

[jsturges18]

Hello....funny story...I'm in the same boat. Clayton 3.5, 37's, Falcon adjustable shocks....just over 1200 miles on the lift. At 50+ mph, I get bump steer and a very slight wobble. Odd, I didn't notice, but my shop did...at that speed we can feel a slight vibration in our legs/seat. We are thinking its a tire issue, front and rear. Discount Tire did my balance used regular weights you'd find on a passenger car. My shop is going to do a proper balance and we'll start diagnosing from there. Other than that hiccup, the ride is amazing.

A proper balance seemed to help quite a bit. Still have it but also have caster around 2.5-3. So not good.

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[jsturges18]

If you have death wobble, I would fix that. Adjusting caster for more or less caster is not going to fix death wobble. It may affect how often you get death wobble, but it is generally not the source of death wobble unless your caster is so low it simply is not stable.
I would for sure set up caster and toe correctly, as well as make sure your tires are balanced and at a good air pressure. But if you have death wobble I would look for the play in the system that allows death wobble to occur.

Speed related wobbles are a different story, and are generally rotational balance related.

Thank you so much! I’ll get caster and toe dialed in. Tomorrow I’ll be checking the ball joints which passed the pry bar test and I’ll be checking the track bar mounts while switching out the hardware to standard sizing Incase there’s any movement there.

My new balance did seem to help quite a bit

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Hello....funny story...I'm in the same boat. Clayton 3.5, 37's, Falcon adjustable shocks....just over 1200 miles on the lift. At 50+ mph, I get bump steer and a very slight wobble. Odd, I didn't notice, but my shop did...at that speed we can feel a slight vibration in our legs/seat. We are thinking its a tire issue, front and rear. Discount Tire did my balance used regular weights you'd find on a passenger car. My shop is going to do a proper balance and we'll start diagnosing from there. Other than that hiccup, the ride is amazing.

Are you getting actual death wobble, or vibration/shake from unbalanced tires?

Death wobble is very apparent, its not just vibration felt while driving, it's violent shaking of the front wheels to where you need to come to a stop, or almost a stop.

Some shaking while driving felt in the legs/seat, that changes with vehicle speed is going to be tire balance, and when talking large tires sometimes you just can't get all of it out.

Also, theres no specific type of weight for larger tires, so your stick on "regular weights" are fine. Some shops will add balancing beds to large tires. Being that you balanced at Discount they likely did a static balance and just guessed where the heavy spots were. Find a shop that can road force blanace, those machines measure everything, find high and low spots, heavy spots etc. and can more accurately place weights.

Some tire brands and models can be quite difficult to balance, one of which are Mickeys. I had my Mickeys balanced three times before they finally felt ok, and we ended up doing a warranty claim on two of them because they wouldn't balance at all. If the tires are cold I still feel a little shake until the carcass warms up.

 

[GuzziMoto]

My local Discount Tire uses Hunter Road Force balancers. But any balancing job is only as good as the guy doing it. The best balancing equipment you can get is worthless if the guy running it doesn't know or care what he is doing.

 

[gladdys]

I would check your front track bar. How did you install the new one? Did you have someone rotate the steering wheel or force it in? It seems the track bars play a big role in death wobble if not installed properly.

 

[Josh00333]

First thing, check tq on every thing. You may be chasing your tail. As noted above track bar can be an issue expecialy if it's loose at all.

Once that's done, then follow advice given above in other posts.

 

[bleda2002]

Hello....funny story...I'm in the same boat. Clayton 3.5, 37's, Falcon adjustable shocks....just over 1200 miles on the lift. At 50+ mph, I get bump steer and a very slight wobble. Odd, I didn't notice, but my shop did...at that speed we can feel a slight vibration in our legs/seat. We are thinking its a tire issue, front and rear. Discount Tire did my balance used regular weights you'd find on a passenger car. My shop is going to do a proper balance and we'll start diagnosing from there. Other than that hiccup, the ride is amazing.

Definitely sounds like a tire issue, off balance tires will be most pronounced between 50 and 70 usually as those are critical speeds. Static balance is worth a try but if the tires still have a bit of vibration dynamic or even better road force are the only ways to go. You can static balance a tire on 1 machine and throw it on another machine and half the time it will tell you the other static balance was all wrong I've found.

 

[sharpsicle]

A proper balance seemed to help quite a bit. Still have it but also have caster around 2.5-3. So not good.

"still have it" meaning what? A vibration? Or you still get death wobble occasionally?

Death wobble isn't a consistent thing. It gets triggered by something, there's violent shaking, you slow down until it's gone, and then continue driving. The way you talk about this it doesn't sound like that, it sounds more like a consistent vibration you can easily reproduce without a trigger.

 

[jsturges18]

"still have it" meaning what? A vibration? Or you still get death wobble occasionally?

Death wobble isn't a consistent thing. It gets triggered by something, there's violent shaking, you slow down until it's gone, and then continue driving. The way you talk about this it doesn't sound like that, it sounds more like a consistent vibration you can easily reproduce without a trigger.

It’s triggered by larger bumps. Manhole covers, large potholes etc.. there’s no issues at all until I hit a big enough bumper over 40mph that puts the jeep into a true wobble. Not a vibration unfortunately.

 

[GuzziMoto]

I think it might be getting a little confusing, because while the OP is sure he has actual death wobble, there is another person saying they have the same issue but their issue may not actually be death wobble (or maybe it is, hard to say).
For sure, your caster should be above 4 degrees, preferably 5 degrees or so. 2.5 to 3 degrees is too low and may not have sufficient stability.
If the issue persists after setting caster correctly, along with toe, I would go through the system looking for the source of the play that is allowing death wobble to happen. As mentioned, the Planman videos are pretty good at walking you through looking for that play.

 

[jsturges18]

I think it might be getting a little confusing, because while the OP is sure he has actual death wobble, there is another person saying they have the same issue but their issue may not actually be death wobble (or maybe it is, hard to say).
For sure, your caster should be above 4 degrees, preferably 5 degrees or so. 2.5 to 3 degrees is too low and may not have sufficient stability.
If the issue persists after setting caster correctly, along with toe, I would go through the system looking for the source of the play that is allowing death wobble to happen. As mentioned, the Planman videos are pretty good at walking you through looking for that play.

Thank you sir! I’ll report back tomorrow with hopefully some findings

 

[NCJL]

I’d do your own tire balance by purchasing Magnum Balance tire beads.
Bump steer was mentioned. If the trac bar and drag link are still factory the lift shouldn’t cause this. 2.5” lift only requires slight drag link length change to recenter steering wheel.
With a helper, all weight on vehicle turn the wheels lock to lock. Look at all ends, trac bar, tie rod, drag link, control arms and ball joints. If one is bad you’ll know it. Also jack up one tire at time. In the air twist, turn and pull the tire. This will also help narrow it down.

 

[Free2roam]

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-wobble-shimmy-wander-drift-bump-steer.68302/

 

[In3briatedPanda]

i had to get to 7degrees. i started at 6 and then 6.5 but ended at 7. Almost a year and no death wobble. My DW thread is still floating around.

I had bfg ko2s that had some weird feathering and i had non stop balancing issues with them, they got replaced with cheap Sailun 35s and my jeep rides just as well.

I also found some components were not torq to spec but still very tight.

Mine started with metalcloak true dual 3.5" lift. I caused my issue, exacerbated by a secondary issue (tires i think but unsure), and trial and error on caster.

I work automotive and this is my fourth jeep and it whooped my ass. Good luck.

 

[jsturges18]

At work but ran out to the jeep to check the tie rod bar. I’m kicking here and there seems to be a good amount of wiggle. Kinda hear it too. Does this look right? Sorry if it’s not the best video.

One thing I found so far was my drag link axle side bolt was not torqued to spec.

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