Death Wobble Advice and help

[Phljeeper]

I have a 2020 Gladiator with 55k miles. It has been lifted 3.5” with 37” tires for most of its life and running Synergy tie rod, Synergy track bar, synergy sector shaft brace for a few years. I recently got a shimmy when hitting bumps and to help resolve I replaced the drag link with Synergy and did a drag link flip as well. When taking for a test drive everything seemed much tighter then I hit a bump in the road and the full on death wobble started. Much worse than the shimmy I had before. Wouldn’t stop oscillating until I came to a complete stop. I have gone over everything and can’t find anything loose. All bolts were torqued to the proper torque. Any suggestions?

Anyone know a good shop in the Philadelphia area who could help diagnose?

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[Rusty PW]

Did you check your ball joints? How many miles on the tires?

 

[JTenn]

Did you check your ball joints? How many miles on the tires?

+1 on this

 

[Phljeeper]

Did you check your ball joints? How many miles on the tires?

I did check them by lifting each front tire off the ground and looking for play but they seem tight. Tires have about 35k on them.

 

[JTenn]

+1 on this

Also, the track bar seems to be suspect often times. Are you sure you don't have a cracked rubber bushing in your track bar or control arms. Didn't mention replacing those so I assume they're stock.

 

[Phljeeper]

Also, the track bar seems to be suspect often times. Are you sure you don't have a cracked rubber bushing in your track bar or control arms. Didn't mention replacing those so I assume they're stock.

I replaced it with a Synergy track bar about 30k miles ago and just pulled it off to add the flipped drag link last night. All seemed ok on it but I didn’t do a close inspection of the bushing.

 

[Rusty PW]

I did check them by lifting each front tire off the ground and looking for play but they seem tight. Tires have about 35k on them.

Was someone else looking at the ball joints when you was lifting the tires? Sometimes an extra set of eyeballs helps. Have all 4 tires on the ground. Then have someone start the Jeep. Then move the steering wheel left to right, right to left with you looking at each joint one at a time. Looking for movement.

 

[JTenn]

I seen that you replaced the track bar. It probably has something that is rebuildable in the ends. I was more talking about the control arms and possibly having a busted bushing. Seen once where this was the culprit.

 

[JTenn]

When you did the drag link and flip, did you adjust or some how change your toe any at all? This could cause the issue as well.

 

[Phljeeper]

Was someone else looking at the ball joints when you was lifting the tires? Sometimes an extra set of eyeballs helps. Have all 4 tires on the ground. Then have someone start the Jeep. Then move the steering wheel left to right, right to left with you looking at each joint one at a time. Looking for movement.

Thank you. Will try that.

 

[Phljeeper]

When you did the drag link and flip, did you adjust or some how change your toe any at all? This could cause the issue as well.

That could be an issue. I set the toe a manual measurement but haven’t had it aligned on a rack yet.

 

[JTenn]

That could be an issue. I set the toe a manual measurement but haven’t had it aligned on a rack yet.

That to me would be suspect #1 since it did something way worse than ever before as soon as you introduced the new part and orientation.

 

[JTenn]

Before I did my axle swap I spent several hours gathering and recording measurements so I had a baseline to set things back too. My toe in was at 3mm (.118) or 1/16 per side. I bought an alignment tool for $80 and it was worth every penny I paid for it. I used it to set everything back where it was and it tracks straight as an arrow.

 

[MarkN]

I have a 2020 Rubi that developed the DW after a Mopar 2” lift and 35 BFGKO2 s. I started with getting the lift and front suspension and steering components re torqued to specs, checked ball joints, (good), front end alignment, had tires rebalanced, (one was off 6 oz). Still had DW. I got a Falcon steering stabilizer. This tightened my steering and I no longer have DW. I’ve hit the same bumps around town that used to trigger it and haven’t been able to trigger it again. I m sold on the Falcon.

Mark

 

[PeterGriffin]

I have a 2020 Rubi that developed the DW after a Mopar 2” lift and 35 BFGKO2 s. I started with getting the lift and front suspension and steering components re torqued to specs, checked ball joints, (good), front end alignment, had tires rebalanced, (one was off 6 oz). Still had DW. I got a Falcon steering stabilizer. This tightened my steering and I no longer have DW. I’ve hit the same bumps around town that used to trigger it and haven’t been able to trigger it again. I m sold on the Falcon.

Mark

I'll add my own (anecdotal) experience with DW on my '17 JKUR...

2.5-inch AEV lift on 35 KO2s...RAPID onset death wobble on the interstate (75 MPH) that nearly ripped the wheel out of my hands and resulted in at least the driver's seat requiring an extensive cleaning detail...!

Had an highly experienced local off-road shop take a look at, the ONLY thing I could find was it looked like the (stock/OEM) steering stabilizer was leaking. They came to the exact same conclusion, replaced it with an OME piece (love the yellow finish on it!), checked EVERYTHING else (nothing was out of whack except for the steering stabilizer) and it never happened again...

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