Steering Wobble Mystery

[brsnow2585]

I have what sounds like the exact same original issue pop up in the last 2 weeks, before the chain got confused with wobble vs bounce. I've got a 22 diesel Rubicon JT, all mechanically stock, drove straight and true, put the Mopar lift on around Thanksgiving '24, dealer aligned, stock tires and wheels. Last week, started to occasionally pick up a bounce(not wobble) on the front driver wheel at 40mph, have to hit a bump out something to start it, can stop it dropping below 40. Also notice with the lift that the driver front wheel does "push" the steering harder if going over 'things'. Any and all thoughts appreciated, in already looking around for a different steering stabilizer from the stock(I'm pretty sure it's not that because my problem is up/down not left/right)

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[Free2roam]

I have what sounds like the exact same original issue pop up in the last 2 weeks, before the chain got confused with wobble vs bounce. I've got a 22 diesel Rubicon JT, all mechanically stock, drove straight and true, put the Mopar lift on around Thanksgiving '24, dealer aligned, stock tires and wheels. Last week, started to occasionally pick up a bounce(not wobble) on the front driver wheel at 40mph, have to hit a bump out something to start it, can stop it dropping below 40. Also notice with the lift that the driver front wheel does "push" the steering harder if going over 'things'. Any and all thoughts appreciated, in already looking around for a different steering stabilizer from the stock(I'm pretty sure it's not that because my problem is up/down not left/right)

Did you change the rims?

 

[brsnow2585]

Did you change the rims?

No rim or tire changes, they're the 33" Wildpeak AT3s and factory wheels, they were rotated about 2k miles before the lift, were unbolted for the lift and went back on the same corners after by me. I can't say if the dealer shuffled the wheel/tires around during the alignment though. I haven't done any drastic driving since other than pulling a small camper a short way and some 4 hi to get in and out my road since we got snow, didn't really need or even get close to challenging 4x4, but 'better to have and not need, than....'. Tires have never been off the wheels since the factory, I don't see evidence that I might have thrown a wheel weight, no odd wear patterns, pressure is consistent all around, 34ish cold, 37ish highway temp. Just talking out loud at this point because it's got me scratching my head.

 

[Free2roam]

No rim or tire changes, they're the 33" Wildpeak AT3s and factory wheels, they were rotated about 2k miles before the lift, were unbolted for the lift and went back on the same corners after by me. I can't say if the dealer shuffled the wheel/tires around during the alignment though. I haven't done any drastic driving since other than pulling a small camper a short way and some 4 hi to get in and out my road since we got snow, didn't really need or even get close to challenging 4x4, but 'better to have and not need, than....'. Tires have never been off the wheels since the factory, I don't see evidence that I might have thrown a wheel weight, no odd wear patterns, pressure is consistent all around, 34ish cold, 37ish highway temp. Just talking out loud at this point because it's got me scratching my head.

How many miles on the factory steering? When mine developed it was about 7k after I had my Clayton Overland lift installed. Although I changed to a -6 wheel. My final solution was to upgrade the steering. I had already switched the shocks side to side. Did nothing. Realignment more than once messed with tire pressure. Retorqued and checked torque again. Nothing helped. Went with the Fusion 4x4 steering upgrade and Fox ATS stabilizer. Felt it solved the problem. Went to Death Valley over Christmas drove 300 miles on every type of road washboard, a average 4X4 road, and pavement. Super happy with the upgrade. Drove home and it felt like it wasn't even off road at all.

 

[Pilsner]

Check torque on all fasteners, including upper control arms that have heat shields you have to mess with to get to. My front lower control arms at the frame side have to be torqued like every 30-60 days for some reason. I found bad rod ends on the OEM track bar and drag link. Ball joints passed the pry bar test, but were WAY floppy once removed. They were toast at 40k mi, most of that on 37s. Poor tire balance can make you find all those problems in a hurry. I went in after 10 days of some reasonably hard wheeling rocks and Discount told me my tires were off by at least 4 oz each, probably from chunking.

 

[jetdriver73]

I have what sounds like the exact same original issue pop up in the last 2 weeks, before the chain got confused with wobble vs bounce. I've got a 22 diesel Rubicon JT, all mechanically stock, drove straight and true, put the Mopar lift on around Thanksgiving '24, dealer aligned, stock tires and wheels. Last week, started to occasionally pick up a bounce(not wobble) on the front driver wheel at 40mph, have to hit a bump out something to start it, can stop it dropping below 40. Also notice with the lift that the driver front wheel does "push" the steering harder if going over 'things'. Any and all thoughts appreciated, in already looking around for a different steering stabilizer from the stock(I'm pretty sure it's not that because my problem is up/down not left/right)

This is probably one of the best death wobble videos out there. Everything I would suggest to you is contained in this video. I’m convinced that I just need a beefier steering stabilizer due to my 38” tires. I’m installing that this weekend and will post an update after a test drive.

 

[jetdriver73]

Like people have said 1000 times. Steering stabilizer is not fixing death wobble. It’s masking the problem and wearing that stabilizer out in the process. You’re gonna put an expensive stabilizer on and it’s gonna get its ass whooped fighting the real
Issue

Agree and disagree, depending on the situation. A bone stock Jeep with absolutely no modifications which is experiencing death wobble… I agree with you. Putting a beefier stabilizer on a stock Jeep is definitely masking some sort of issue. A Jeep with a 3” lift and 38” tires like mine… I disagree with you. The lift and especially the tires have now imposed a massive load on a stock Jeep suspension, which it was not designed for. An upgraded stabilizer would be a logical necessity, given the amount of new load the suspension is having to deal with. More leverage, more weight, more rotational mass, more scrub, etc.

 

[40x40]

Agree and disagree, depending on the situation. A bone stock Jeep with absolutely no modifications which is experiencing death wobble… I agree with you. Putting a beefier stabilizer on a stock Jeep is definitely masking some sort of issue. A Jeep with a 3” lift and 38” tires like mine… I disagree with you. The lift and especially the tires have now imposed a massive load on a stock Jeep suspension, which it was not designed for. An upgraded stabilizer would be a logical necessity, given the amount of new load the suspension is having to deal with. More leverage, more weight, more rotational mass, more scrub, etc.

i hope the new stabilizer puts an end to your dilemma. please flog it and tell us the results, brand, size etc. for what it's worth, i'm still running the original factory stabilizer at 38,978 miles with 40" tires and a 4.5" lift. i did the build when it had 4,300 on it.

 

[KQL]

Update from my shock replacement: I have been unable to trigger the wobble on a few stretches of road where I previously had it pretty bad. At least in my case, it appears that the new bistein 5100s on all 4 corners have tamed the wobble. I def had signs of a bad shock before, but even after removing the stock shocks from the truck, I could not find any that were obviously bad and could not tell by compressing it by hand and comparing to the bilsteins. It might be a subtle difference between the tired stock ones and the stiffer new 5100s. Going to keep an eye on it, and may still get an alignment check (but I have those diy metal plates that bolt onto the wheel studs so that you check your own toe). Also have the bilstein steering stabilizer sitting in the garage, haven’t installed it, monitoring just the shocks for now.

Thanks for the video, I am experiencing the exact same symptoms, but my Jeep is stock height and suspension, 29k miles, except for replacing the stock tires with mild AT Cooper discoverer 255 75x17 AT3 SL a couple of years ago. The wobble just started with the colder weather at highway speeds. The worst episode was while merging onto the highway at full-ish throttle (so truck squatting back slightly) and there was a slight right hand curve to the on-ramp. Both myself and the passenger agreed that it felt like the wobble/looseness was originating on front drivers side.

Checked torque of all suspension bits, lower ball joints (can’t check uppers without a crows foot attachment, incoming from Amazon).
Torqued my steel steering box to frame, maybe needed 1/4 turn to come up to 100ft/lb, can’t imagine that was it.
Rotated tires.
None of these helped.

Double checked the recommended tire pressure for the slightly larger tires: lowered by a few pounds to 33psi = wobble got worse. Might not be related, maybe just the wobble getting worse with every test drive.

Other things I’ve noticed:
Cupping on front tires
Tendency to hit the front bump stops earlier than I would think reasonable for speedbumps.
Bouncy rear end on highway expansion joints (is prob normal).

So my situation might be pointing at bad shocks, or at least bad shocks + some other cause.

Ordered 4 corners of Bilstein 5100 shocks for my stock height (a package deal that includes a new Bilstein steering stabilizer) for $480. Figured better/stiffer shocks aren’t a bad upgrade anyways, but could also be the cause per the other things I noticed that might indicate bad shocks.

I tried the shock bounce test with my current stock set up, and the ball joint tire lift test, neither showed any sign of being bad, but plenty of info around that these tests aren’t always reliable. Will update once the new shocks are on in the next week or so.

 

[brsnow2585]

How many miles on the factory steering? When mine developed it was about 7k after I had my Clayton Overland lift installed. Although I changed to a -6 wheel. My final solution was to upgrade the steering. I had already switched the shocks side to side. Did nothing. Realignment more than once messed with tire pressure. Retorqued and checked torque again. Nothing helped. Went with the Fusion 4x4 steering upgrade and Fox ATS stabilizer. Felt it solved the problem. Went to Death Valley over Christmas drove 300 miles on every type of road washboard, a average 4X4 road, and pavement. Super happy with the upgrade. Drove home and it felt like it wasn't even off road at all.

Lift was put on at around 27k miles from new, the driver wheel bounce showed up at about 29k. It only showed up periodically over about 2 weeks, now it's gone, we were having pretty drastic temperature swings then and I couldn't seem to replicate it on demand by purposely hitting a bump or rut to set it off. I drive the same route often so I tried mostly the same bumps. I've got another 1k of no occurrences, probably still going to change out the steering damper, looking around at those.

 

[jetdriver73]

Update to my death wobble situation: A few days ago I finally got around to installing my new components. I upgraded from Fox 2.0 to 2.5 front shocks. I also upgraded my steering stabilizer to the Fox ATS 2.0. I have it set to the middle of the road stiffness to start with. My death wobble issues are finally solved. Drives like a new Jeep and like it just came out of the factory. Larger tires require more stabilizing force. Stiffer front shocks and stabilizer was the solution, after trying absolutely everything else.

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