My Gladiator still rides like buckin' bronco!

[Riccochet]

Found your problem.


And track bars don't change ride quality unless the previous bar was worn.

True. A lift puts added stress on the axle side track bar mount. Wallows it out which can cause death wobble. An adjustable track bar to recenter the axle removes that stress. Gusset the mount while it's apart.

Sponsored

 

[Goyo357]

Installed the synergy track bar, and it made a difference at lower speeds- however, I get the death wobble and can't go over 75 MPH on the highway. Road trips are unbearable.

I'd really hate to trade this jeep in, but it's really unusable on the highway. Took a two hour round trip today and got the shit beat out of me.

This is my 3rd jeep, so i'm familiar with "how jeeps ride". However, neither of the other two rode this terribly.

Got a 2.5 rough country lift, 35 in tires/fuel wheels.

I know the steering boxes in the Gladiators are terrible, but has anyone replaced theirs and it fixed the death wobble? I'm not expecting it to ride like a cadillac, but a jeep that I now have over 50k invested in shouldn't ride like a jackass with three broken legs in a stump. Help!

Mine was replaced just last week. I had it done just because it wouldn't cost me anything. The gladiator was wandering a bit, so I took it in. The steering is much better. I didn't have death wobble or understand how that could happen so fast on a newish vehicle. But I hope yours is fixed soon.

 

[Hoghead]

Installed the synergy track bar, and it made a difference at lower speeds- however, I get the death wobble and can't go over 75 MPH on the highway. Road trips are unbearable.

I'd really hate to trade this jeep in, but it's really unusable on the highway. Took a two hour round trip today and got the shit beat out of me.

This is my 3rd jeep, so i'm familiar with "how jeeps ride". However, neither of the other two rode this terribly.

Got a 2.5 rough country lift, 35 in tires/fuel wheels.

I know the steering boxes in the Gladiators are terrible, but has anyone replaced theirs and it fixed the death wobble? I'm not expecting it to ride like a cadillac, but a jeep that I now have over 50k invested in shouldn't ride like a jackass with three broken legs in a stump. Help!

Mine rides like a Cadillac.....Yours should also.....

 

[TampaJLU]

Installed the synergy track bar, and it made a difference at lower speeds- however, I get the death wobble and can't go over 75 MPH on the highway. Road trips are unbearable.

I'd really hate to trade this jeep in, but it's really unusable on the highway. Took a two hour round trip today and got the shit beat out of me.

This is my 3rd jeep, so i'm familiar with "how jeeps ride". However, neither of the other two rode this terribly.

Got a 2.5 rough country lift, 35 in tires/fuel wheels.

I know the steering boxes in the Gladiators are terrible, but has anyone replaced theirs and it fixed the death wobble? I'm not expecting it to ride like a cadillac, but a jeep that I now have over 50k invested in shouldn't ride like a jackass with three broken legs in a stump. Help!

I installed the Skywalker steering stabilizer and it works fantastic.

 

[MRW]

I had a few experiences with Death Wobble on my JT. It happened richt arounr 40mph just like the DW I experienced on my old TJ and JK. My JT has a Mopar 2" lift,Jeep beadlocks, and 35" BFG KO2s. I could always tell when the DW was coming on and adjusted my speed or steering angle to avoid it. I replaced the track bar with a Yeti and the problem went away (almost). I found later that the problem was tied to the air pressure in my tires. I have a slow leak in the beadlocks on the drivers side. When the pressure got too low (without signalling the low tire warning light) I could start to feel a little shimmy. I now watch the tire pressure more closely and no longer have any problem.

 

[Nitroexpress]

I know you must be frustrated with the current state of your Jeep. Ride quality and steering shouldn't be bad and aren't a "Jeep Thing" you should endure. I would research a very reputable off-road shop in your area that will be willing to address the issues you are having.
- Did you have the death wobble before installing aftermarket parts?
- Did you think the ride with the factory suspension was acceptable?

 

[GaGladiator]

I just want to add that I have a RC 2.5 lift with 35 tires as well. I used a very reputable offroad shop to install it as soon as I bought my JT and it has rode just like fatory for 10,000+ miles now. So id say it probably isnt the lift but rather who installed it...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Torqued every time! If you over torque it, you stretch the bolt, causing failure. If you under torque it, it comes apart, causing failure. There is a reason for torque spec's.

It's even worse when some people have the vehicle on a lift, or jacked up, replace parts and tighten things up with the suspension hanging down.
ANYTHING with a bushing should only be tightened when the vehicle sitting on the ground at curb height.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That would be vibration, not ride.
I had a car to 3 different places - to have tires checked for out of round, runout, have the wheels checked for runout, have everything balanced using the latest techniques - still, vibration in the WHOLE car. There was no isolating it. It shook the entire vehicle, floor, dash, all 4 corners (it's a short car, 4xe).
I even checked the wheels for runout myself and came up "in specs".
They were balanced multiple times using multiple techniques. I had a business in downtown Des Moines that specializes in drivelines, axles and such and they said it was fine, they could find nothing.
Then I decided I was going to take it to the next level for show and have my wheels centers finished out (had aluminum castings made to replace the original dinged and messed up plastic wheel centers) and have the wheels restored using CNC equipment - one outfit in all of Iowa does that.
I took all 4 wheels with tires and a spare wheel I had to them.
A week later they said they were all done.
I went to pick up the wheels and they looked like new, even better. And there was what I thought was the extra wheel sitting there all restored for a spare. I asked - the guy said no, that was one from the car, not the extra wheel - they used the extra wheel but were able to repair the other.
They said when they mounted it on their CNC machine he could see right away there was a problem - it wasn't round. It was as if some giant had squeezed it - it was pushed in a bit on two opposite sides and they were baffled as to how that could happen. But they had a machine that made it round again and he went ahead and finished it for me as a spare.
I can now peg the speedometer and have no vibrations.
There was no later runout, nothing side to side. And the supposed spin balancing and road force balancing found nothing at all, all shops said it was fine and these were old time reputable shops, one does business all over the state.

Anyway, we've not really heard here if this is VIBRATION, RIDE or HANDLING.
Ride will be springs, shocks, suspension parts, etc.
Vibration will be wheels, tires, driveline parts such as u-joints, driveshafts, yokes, bend axles, or even toe way out of whack.

 

[DirtySaylor]

My gut feeling after reading your post is...... Its got to be your lift.

I have also heard of issues with Rough Country and was steered away from the brand from two shops.

In my time on this site I think you are only the second Ive seen experiencing the death wobble problem. So this is not something common or regular that many of us are experiencing. Therefore it has to be something specific to your vehicle.

I don't know who installed your lift but my suggestion is to first, take it to a (different) off road specialty shop that is familiar with installing different lift kits and pay them re-check that everything with yours looks correct and straight with the lift, and that it appears to be all correctly installed. I have seen several posts where people had pieces that were "side specific" and without careful examination it was hard to see that the left and right pieces were slightly different. Also while there, have them remove all four tires and put each on the balancing machine to see if in fact they come up as balanced. Then third have them put it on the alignment rack to see if its all lined up straight.

This should only be maybe 2-3 hours of labor and a few hundred bucks, but that would at least start to rule several things out if the tires balance and the alignment is straight.

If you start with this plan you are not out a ton of money yet and you can come back here with the learned info and hopefully some people would be able to assist you further.

Good luck.

AWESOME! Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your insight! I'll be doing this first thing tomorrow. Much appreciated!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That is correct - it's not RIDE. It's vibration, shake.
My car did not have a bad RIDE, the ride was fine, the vibration came in at about 62-67 and was mostly gone by 75, and was just fine at 60. The ride was fine.

I'm a mechanic by trade - since the early 1970s - a vibration is a vibration, not ride. I stand by that. When you diagnose a RIDE you aren't looking at vibrations. If a customer complains of a vibration, that's a different matter. Check the flow charts in the TSMs.
You are either diagnosing a bad ride or a vibration. I do entire cars, not just wheels and tires.

Good luck finding that sort of a road force balancer around here - this is Iowa........

Sponsored