Scared to drive ol' Red: another death wobble story

Over the past few weeks I have had three or four random "death wobble" episodes triggered by a large bump or pothole at around 45 mph. This is for sure the "OMG I ALMOST DIED AND SHIT MY PANTS AND AM NEVER DRIVING AGAIN" type episodes and not just a little shake or shimmy, Which I have also been experincing.

About my setup, 2016 JKU. I have a very basic quadratec 2.5 inch spring lift, Bilstein 5100's with less than 10k miles, 35 inch Ironman MT tires on newer steel wheels. I have had the wheel and tire setup on for just over 5k miles and just started experiencing this issue.


The wierd part is lately it has been happening only when the vehicle is cold on very cold mornings. After 10 or 15 miles everything warms up and doesnt seem to get the death wobble.


The mud terrain tires I am running is showing cupping in the center of the tread only on the rear which is a little odd. Checked tire pressure at about 36 PSI. Instead of throwing money at a shop or guesing whats wrong I just hit 99k miles and decided to just replace all the stock components.

Ive jacked it up and shook, poked, proded, wiggled, everything I could think of and dont really see anything that is alarming. The track bar and tie rod assembly seems a little loose but Ive seen some posts saying this is normal.

Things I have ordered so far:

RSO Suspension Heavy Duty Adjustable Front Track Bar

Rancho RS5000 Steering Stabilizer

RPM Steering 1-Ton Aluminum Tie Rod and Drag Link Kit w/ HD Stabalizer clamp

Wheel Hub Assemblies x 2

Rough Country Suspension Heavy Duty Replacement Ball Joints

PowerStop Z36 Extreme Truck and Tow Carbon-Fiber Ceramic Brake Pads (Might as well do these while I have it apart)

And I ordered some less aggresive more reputable tires. I am running Ironman MT's and they are terrible on a daily driver. Tires are like new but I ordered some Goodyear territory MT's ( the bronco pattern) Just because I am over the loud bumpy ride of the ironmans.

Is there anything basic I am forgetting while I have this pulled apart? Besides throwing salt over my shoulder and praying to baby jesus?

BLACKJKU said:

Have you checked for play in the steering gearbox, have you done the chalk test on your tires so that your not overfilling them?

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Nothing abnormal that I could see when checking for loose steering but I dont have access to a lift to do it properly. I dropped down to 28 psi and drove it around this morning and didnt make much difference. I think the cupping is the sympton of a bigger problem not the cause of the wobble. Althought it could be compouding the issue now that its starting to wear unevenly.

I changed the brand new spare out yesterday for the worse off looking tire and didnt notice any difference at all. There is some abnormal wear but ive driven on some pretty bad tires before and these look like new still.

Worth a shot but think im having a bigger problem than tires or psi.

As my jeep sits I cant go over 40 mph without getting death wobble when I drive to work in the AM but if I wait until its warm out it drives normal. So strange.

BLACKJKU said:

You don't need a lift to check for steering gearbox play. Just unlock the steering wheel and not running and turn your steering wheel back and forth and watch the left front tire to move. The tire should move back and forth with every movement of the steering wheel. If the steering wheel moves and the tire doesn't right away then you have to much play in the gearbox.

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Yes, I had a buddy sit in the seat and give it the ol 11 to 2 back and forth slowly. I didnt notice anything loose, any clunks, or delay. Again not a mechanic but ive always worked on my own stuff. How much movement are we talking?

Thanks for your input, Anything helps.

BLACKJKU said:

You shouldn't have over a 1/2" of movement in the steering wheel before the tire starts moving.

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Thanks for the info, will go out and check it out again.

Would this cause the issue only at a certain speed? You would think a loose gearbox would be noticeable all the time.

BLACKJKU said:

You shouldn't have over a 1/2" of movement in the steering wheel before the tire starts moving.

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With the vehicle off the steering is super tight. I didnt notice any slack at all and the tires turned even with the slightest steering wheel movement. When I tested before I was just looking for movement in the suspension and linkage parts.

A cool 33 degrees this morning on the Crystal River. I took the Jeep for a test ride and checked PSI. Was sitting at 32 PSI cold.

Same results, Super rough ride and death wobble at 30-35 mph. I dropped it down to 28 psi and drove around real slow doing wide turns to "warm" the tires up. I didnt feel anything odd in the suspension at all just a "bump" feeling ever second or so. It really does feel like a hard spot in one of the tires.

After a couple miles of slow wide turns things seem to have losened up and I could drive as normal. Although there is still a slight vibration especially around 35-40ph. Still stumped.

Parts and new tires show up later this week.

I initially noticed a slight shimmy about a month ago and that was around 5k miles on the tires since new so I took them in to get balanced and rotated... It helped for a few days but was even more noticeable after and thats about the same time the death wobble started regularly. I like the tires off road but ive been commuting to work a lot further lately and they just arnt meant for that. Hopefully the goodyears I ordered on sale will do a little better on the highway.


I will add the adjustable rear track bar to the parts list and do that as well.

I might not ever know what exactly caused the problem but at least everything will be fresh and better than stock when its done. For the price of labor around here I can replace just about everything myself and save a few bucks vs trying to diagnose and repair it at a mechanic who charges $200+ an hour and only replace one or two items.

I got most of the parts in the mail. Was able to get the tie rod and steering stabalizer on last night before the rain came. Feels tighter so far but only drove around for a second. Will know how it does on the way to work this morning.

I plan on doing the rest this weekend weather permitting.


I will say the $80 stabalizer bracket required from RPM to do the steering kit is complete trash and took over an hour to losen and then tighten in the right place and the allen bolts were complete crap. Upon inspection all the thread were cut at different angles and the bolts just wouldnt line up. Some loud cursing and a big allen key was the only way I got it to finally losen.

After installing the RPM Steering kit including drag link and tie rod assemblies, stabalizer clamp, and Rancho stabalizer, and the new tires the shake is completely gone. I will still be doing the ball joints, wheel hub assemblies, track bar, and brakes in the front but the rain this weekend put a damper on things.

At least its fixed and drivable. I got pretty close on adjusting everything but will be taking it in for an alignment just to be sure.

The new Territory MT's look and feel great on the road so far. What an upgrade over the ironmans for ride quality alone.

The old parts were comeplety wore out. What an upgrade over stock so I dont feel bad about doing the whole front end. Should have it all wrapped up after the weekend.

Still a slight wobble at 50+ mph. I got the measurements close but not perfect. Been a busy week at work but no death wobble. Got 90% of the parts on and will be going in for an alighment tomorrow at lunch. Hopefully everything works out and it gets the little bit of shake out.

The lift has been on the Jeep since new in 2016, Nothing has changed in the last 6 months other than the Ironman MT's .


I stopped by the local offroad shop and had everything looked over before I did the alignment. He tightened a few bolts and said everything looked good. The alignment went well and they ended up not needing to adjust anything. Not bad for laying in the driveway.

After doing the track bar and giving everything a hardcore tightening, It looks like shes back to riding smooth again.

I think it was a combination of cheap mud tires, 120 mile commutes, and worn out track bar joint that was causing the death wobble. The steering stabalizer was bad but doubt it was the culprit.

I loved the ironmans around town and in the mountains but just wasnt a great choice for how far I drive daily. The shop recomended a few upgrades like longer sway bar links, extended brake lines ect but nothing that should effect the ride.

An expensive repair but got a new front end out of the deal and it rides better than it has in years. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.