looking for help - re wobble

[Spartsch]

Hi - I have a 23' Gladiator overland diesel with 4k mile, had a reputable shop install the teraflex 1.5" leveling kit and the Mopar performance front control arms (everything else completely stock)...all done at 1K miles, then at 3K miles got death wobbles. had the tires rotated and balanced not really out of balance at the time, then also took it to the orig shop to check work, everything checked out, they did say a front tie rod had a slight bit of play which they found strange this past weekend drove 400 miles still no issues, yesterday, the slightest bump on the freeway set the truck into "death wobbles". I have it scheduled at the dealer in a couple of days ...looking for insight if they cannot find the issue / or alert them what to check.

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[PuddleJumper]

I got a few guess but this is more something, eyes on, needed.

Could be ball joints, tie rod, drag or knuckles
could be blown LCAs bushings from binding (lifts should be install with the LCAs loose so the bushings aren't in constant Bind)
Could be steering gears have too much slack or on thier way out.

Are there any noticeable noise, clunks, shimmys? Also what your understanding of death wobble? Death wobble is a steering vibration so violent the wheel snaps from side to side and the vehicle is uncontrollable till you decrease speed greatly.

 

[Spartsch]

yes- for sure a true death wobble - yes - more noticeable shimmies across a series of light road imperfections - more so i think than before all this

 

[PuddleJumper]

yes- for sure a true death wobble - yes - more noticeable shimmies across a series of light road imperfections - more so i think than before all this

something is definitely loose or shot. Dealership visit. tell em you want all suspension bolts checked and torqued. They'll just try and replace your steering stabilizer and shrug you off. Just say no and ask for an actual inspection for failed or loose components.

 

[JDK]

Could be as simple as loose nuts/bolts. I’ve had the same same issue after I installed my spacer lift and the Mopar lower arms. Took it to a local shop get measurements on the current alignment and learned most of my fasteners were too loose. The JL/JT torq specs are very high, and without a proper torq wrench I relied on torq and additional quarter turn of the hardware and missed the torq.

I still have a death wobble from time to time, but significantly less. I still have some investigation to pinpoint the cause.

 

[Lunentucker]

then also took it to the orig shop to check work, everything checked out, they did say a front tie rod had a slight bit of play which they found strange

This makes me wonder if they know what they're doing. Some rocking back and forth vertically in the tie rod is common. horizontally is no bueno.

You simply have to check EVERYTHING.

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

 

[Artsifrtsi]

First, have the tires balance checked again, most tire shops do not spend the proper time to balance tires (you may even want to pull the current weights off to make sure the shop balances the correct way and not on top of more weights)... 90% or more DW is caused by the imbalance in the tires, then gets triggered by some event, like a bump.

Look up what a "dry steering test" is and perform it. (Basically have a helper inside the jeep, rapidly move the steering wheel from 10-2 with engine off, while you look for loose connections in front end.) Torque anything found loose to the correct torque.

Ignore anyone that says to replace the steering stabilizer... they do not fix DW.

 

[Bbannongmu]

Only other thing I have found is loose control arms or bad control arm bushings.
Good luck!

 

[DarthAWM]

Only other thing I have found is loose control arms or bad control arm bushings.
Good luck!

But I NEED a cool, double tube, reservoir, chrome plated steering stabilizer

 

[Artsifrtsi]

But I NEED a cool, double tube, reservoir, chrome plated steering stabilizer

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