death wobble and tire balance

[learjet]

hey everyone, after 50k miles and 30k on a mopar lift, BFG37” KO2s i have started experiencing “death wobble” when at higher speeds 65mph+ when i hit rough roads.

I rechecked the torque on the suspension, and visually checked everything, i saw what appears to be a bit of play in the tie rod end on the pittman arm / drag link.

i took the truck to my dealer who has been pretty good. they report 3 of the 4 tires wont balance using a road force balancer. they are inspecting the suspension now.

ive never heard of a road force balancer, wanted everyones thoughts before i consider springing for new tires. these look great with no visual wear issues.

i have NOT balanced them annally as is often recomended.

im bringing her home without new tires today if no suspension problems are found.

just curious if anyone can provide any information or guidance. I can post the dealers findings once i get her home

thx!

Lear

Sponsored

 

[SoK66]

Road Force is a balancer sold by Hunter. It replicates the behavior of a loaded down tire rollling on a road surface. It is the most accurate way to balance tires, especially large truck/Jeep tires.

If you are experiencing what we call “death wobble” it can’t be corrected unless the wheels are running true and the tires are balanced properly. Until that’s corrected any other effort or expense is a waste of time & money.

 

[JT1]

50k miles and stock balljoints? I'd replace them anyway before I bought new tires..
Also replace the draglink.

 

[learjet]

disassembled and retorqued the list kit over the weekend, checked balljoints, other suspension components thoroughly. swapped wheels and tires from our Sahara and deathwobble still there. spoke with 2 reputable jeep shops monday, they both told me the same thing, pull the dampner, check for any dead spots or variable resistance. mine had a dead spot. new dampner installed problem solved. can hit any pothole at 80mph and no wobble. amazing

one of the shop owners told me he was in the dont replace the dampner camp for years, but ha has had several 2020+ jeeps with wobble that they found nothing wrong with but a bad dampner

take it for what its worth

 

[Gizmo]

Any true death wobble i have ever seen was because of worn suspension parts. It is usually started by hitting something in the road to actuate it not by road speed alone. Tire balance issue is usually actually felt by speed alone. I just changed my drag link because of play in the Tie rod end at only 10,000 miles but has been lifted for only 4,000 miles. I prefer Currie’s drag link being it is designed to put the tie rod end at the correct working angle when you are lifted unlike many others. That ihelped shorten the life of the oe end

 

[Pilsner]

My DW became light wobble and is now gone. #1 control arms take lots of torque, it is easy to not hit the values. #2 Track bar bolt holes have lots of room to move. It needs to be really tight or even better, replace with larger hardware. #3 My drag link rod end were bad at 40k and could see the movement. Replaced it. The tie rod looked fine, but was NOT. Rod ends were bad when I finally pulled it off and replaced it. #4 Ball joints passed the pry bar test. They were NOT good. They were floppy when removed and were badly in need of replacing. #5 My tires were both off balance and the tread was cupped, both from wheeling and from the wobble that caused uneven wear. I replaced them and am 100% wobble free. I mean absolutely great now. Feels like stock and I'm on a 4" lift with 37s. Tires absolutely can cause wobble, but not death wobble. Tolerance stacking is what causes DW. Enough parts that have a little movement add up to enough overall.

 

[Pilsner]

FYI, Dampener is never the cause. It only covers up wobble from another source. Once more item I forgot is the steering box. There are 4 bolts there that need checking as well.

 

[whysoserious]

I drove around for 2 weeks without a steering dampener, post 3.5" lift, on 37" tires. No issues what so ever with DW.

 

[ShaunTOR]

Road Force is a balancer sold by Hunter. It replicates the behavior of a loaded down tire rollling on a road surface. It is the most accurate way to balance tires, especially large truck/Jeep tires.

If you are experiencing what we call “death wobble” it can’t be corrected unless the wheels are running true and the tires are balanced properly. Until that’s corrected any other effort or expense is a waste of time & money.

My buddy's truck might need that Road Force balancer. The previous owner said it had a minor accident hitting a fence. Both passenger side wheels got deep scratches. New rotors and oem wheels still have death wobble. He ordered a new set of tires and kmc wheels so it might be a good time to try that balancer test.

 

[arosen1997]

I drove around for 2 weeks without a steering dampener, post 3.5" lift, on 37" tires. No issues what so ever with DW.

Mine was completely inoperative for 18 months, no death wobble.

Sponsored