JEEP DEATH WOBBLE

Volumes could be written on the Jeep death wobble. Whole libraries. With fancy graphs, charts, and some engineering jargon just to make it look good. Maybe a few jokes and cartoons, and in the end, you’ll have the same thing as what you started with: a big question mark floating over your head. What the $#$@# is causing this?

First, let’s go back to the beginning…

When you buy a new Jeep, it’s unlikely it had a death wobble right off the show room floor. So it’s not a problem that is inherit to the vehicle per se’. Lots of engineers with various degrees and knowledge designed the vehicle to function a certain way, ie. without a death wobble. The suspension geometry has all been tested, analyzed, picked though, calculated, and graphed. It all functions together in a unified way, to make sure that you won’t be getting a death wobble package with your new Jeep. It’s just not an option.

So your Jeep didn’t have one when it was new. Where did it come from?

Most likely, …. YOU!

Ok, so now that we’ve established that fact, let’s look deeper into this. Guess what? Everyone mods up their Jeep at one time or another, so it’s no big deal. A death wobble is a possible outcome, but not in every case. So now that you’ve stood on the edge of death at 30-40 mph, and you’ve used every possible word a sailor might blush at, where do you go from here?

First step:

• Make a thorough inspection of the tires (inflated correctly?) and suspension. Look for any obvious causes: loose parts, bent parts, leaking parts, MISSING parts, etc. If you can’t find anything, then you will need to go deeper on inspecting and testing the parts individually. But before you take anything apart:

Second step:

• Make sure the tires are balanced correctly. By a shop that knows how to properly balance an offroad truck or SUV tire, and has the right equipment to do so. Since most are larger than a passenger car tire.
• Make sure the alignment is correct. Make sure it was done by a shop with the knowledge to align a 4×4 lifted vehicle, and has the proper machines to do so. What alignment specs are they using? OE specs? Specs from you? Specs from the parts manufacturer? Or a “guess and go” spec?
• If you rotate the tires, front to back or side to side, does that effect the issue?

Read the final steps @ Jeep Death Wobble – What Can You Do? | Morris 4×4 Center Blog