Extreme death wobble

[Leahatrill]

Hey guys —While coming heading home earlier about half way I hit some uneven road and my front end went absolutely bezerk I needed to brake urgently before losing complete control! Lol. Iv experienced this before and it was because the idiots didn’t bother balancing my new tires properly years ago. Also experienced it with my front end being out of alignment — haven’t had it done in a while.

question I have though is will a really uneven front tires cause this to happen too? Or even a bad Ujoint? My right side universal joint is shot entirely and I haven’t replaced it but I’m wondering if that would eventually cause death wobble. Uneven tires cause serious vibrations in the wheel but I’m wondering if it causes death wobble too?

 

[strumble8]

Based on the looks of the tire I would check ball joints and tie rod ends

 

[Leahatrill]

Based on the looks of the tire I would check ball joints and tie rod ends

Doing this tomorrow yup! But do you know if uneven front tires like that would cause death wobble?

 

[Leahatrill]

....also I forgot to mention ....those front tires haven’t been rotated at all for 3 years lol .... also need to mention as well that before I bought my Jeep 7-8 years ago it was in a front end collision which messed with the front end alignment(something like this). The front “toe” is shifted inwards and Even the guy who does my alignment from the machine can never get it entirely bang on because of this. Ball joints - tie rods etc etc isn’t the cause of the uneven wear I have them changed last summer

 

[skrelnik]

Looks like an alignment is needed as that would cause uneven tire wear.

 

[strumble8]

I would find a new alignment shop than. All parts associated with the toe are easy to replace and cheap.

 

[Leahatrill]

Looks like an alignment is needed as that would cause uneven tire wear.

Read the comment above

 

[Leahatrill]

I would find a new alignment shop than. All parts associated with the toe are easy to replace and cheap.

Can you tell me which parts they are please

 

[skrelnik]

Read the comment above

You should go to someone that can do the alignment properly else you will always have this issue. Your shop clearly cannot do it. It is not that hard unless you have major issues from the accident, in which case you should pay a shop to fix the underlying issue.

 

[strumble8]

Can you tell me which parts they are please

Tie rod, and drag link. Tie rod ends. You can search for zj upgrade on the forum and find the actual part numbers. The draglink will be the same, the zj tie rod is a stronger piece than the tj tie rod. They both use the same tie rod ends

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

Can you tell me which parts they are please

All you need to adjust the toe is already on your vehicle. There is a write up in the how-to section. You’d want to make sure you do all the work yourself and not pay a shop

 

[skrelnik]

Can you tell me which parts they are please

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-align-your-jeep-wrangler-tj.85/

 

[Leahatrill]

You should go to someone that can do the alignment properly else you will always have this issue. Your shop clearly cannot do it. It is not that hard unless you have major issues from the accident, in which case you should pay a shop to fix the underlying issue.

Tie rod, and drag link. Tie rod ends. You can search for zj upgrade on the forum and find the actual part numbers. The draglink will be the same, the zj tie rod is a stronger piece than the tj tie rod. They both use the same tie rod ends

all of those are new in my Jeep. That’s what I’m saying lol Tie rod, drag link, steering stabilizer etc etc

I mentioned that my universal joint on the right tire is shot could this cause death wobble or uneven tire wear like the picture I posted cause this? Lol

 

[Phil Younger]

Hey guys —While coming heading home earlier about half way I hit some uneven road and my front end went absolutely bezerk I needed to brake urgently before losing complete control! Lol. Iv experienced this before and it was because the idiots didn’t bother balancing my new tires properly years ago. Also experienced it with my front end being out of alignment — haven’t had it done in a while.

question I have though is will a really uneven front tires cause this to happen too? Or even a bad Ujoint? My right side universal joint is shot entirely and I haven’t replaced it but I’m wondering if that would eventually cause death wobble. Uneven tires cause serious vibrations in the wheel but I’m wondering if it causes death wobble too?

View attachment 145160

3 years ago mine went into a horrible death wobble at 45 mph and that was with good tires and none of the obvious issues you are seeing. To find the cause I ended up laying under the Jeep and having someone keep cycling the steering while I put a hand on absolutely every joint and bushing. They all moved a tiny bit and along with play in ball joints and bearings. Because it was not one loose obvious item and I was going to make a 3000 mile round trip pilgrimage to SW Colorado I just replaced every single thing except tires. I've have been DW Free now for 3 years

 

[Leahatrill]

3 years ago mine went into a horrible death wobble at 45 mph and that was with good tires and none of the obvious issues you are seeing. To find the cause I ended up laying under the Jeep and having someone keep cycling the steering while I put a hand on absolutely every joint and bushing. They all moved a tiny bit and along with play in ball joints and bearings. Because it was not one loose obvious item and I was going to make a 3000 mile round trip pilgrimage to SW Colorado I just replaced every single thing except tires. I've have been DW Free now for 3 years

Ya I’m going to adjust the alignment tomorrow and see if it fixes the issue and buy a new front tire and switch my spare with the other front one— this will probably fix the issue ....I’ll push the tires up and down with a crowbar too to see if the ballpoints are bad and push the tire in and out to see if there’s play etc.

 

[Phil Younger]

....also I forgot to mention ....those front tires haven’t been rotated at all for 3 years lol .... also need to mention as well that before I bought my Jeep 7-8 years ago it was in a front end collision which messed with the front end alignment(something like this). The front “toe” is shifted inwards and Even the guy who does my alignment from the machine can never get it entirely bang on because of this. Ball joints - tie rods etc etc isn’t the cause of the uneven wear I have them changed last summer

Not telling you to be a doubter but right before my Jeep went into DW and scared the living crap out of me I had had it into a shop for "a go over with fine tooth comb because I am going on a trip" —-he missed it all. I ended up having to diagnose it myself.

 

[Leahatrill]

Not telling you to be a doubter but right before my Jeep went into DW and scared the living crap out of me I had had it into a shop for "a go over with fine tooth comb because I am going on a trip" —-he missed it all. I ended up having to diagnose it myself.

I don’t bring my Jeep to shops like that and ask a mechanic to look over anything. Ever. Lol. If I do bring it to a shop I have the part already and I tell them what needs replacing.

 

[Chris]

Based on the looks of the tire I would check ball joints and tie rod ends

Yep, big time!

 

[John Scoggins]

Look like that tire in the picture has some broken belts, probably way out of balance also. Check the front end but that wear is indictive of a bad tire.

 

[scottgraham]

Look like that tire in the picture has some broken belts, probably way out of balance also. Check the front end but that wear is indictive of a bad tire.

Totally looks like that tire is out of round.