Death wobble at 55 mph noticed brake dust driver front

kk2010jk

kk2010jk

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Joined
Dec 2, 2020
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Location
Milford NJ
Out of no where I got the vibration around 55 mph. The only time since owning for a couple months. At hwy speeds 65 mph no wobble. When I got home I noticed a dirty front drivers rim. All the rims had been washed and cleaned a few days prior so it stuck out. I also noticed earlier that day that coasting in neutral, it didn't seem to roll very freely. So I cleaned off Rim, drove it yesterday (a couple days after) at 55 and no signs of wobble, coasted well and when I got home after 30 miles, no brake dust. So I'm thinking the caliper bound up some, caused the rolling resistance and created the wobble. Pads and rotor look to be relatively new. I guess I need to pull the caliper and check the slides.

Any one else have similar issues?

When I felt the wobble I though "Oh No" the dreaded Death wobble and I will be chasing suspension components for the rest of my ownership.
 
I would also check the hub bearings if one or both are bad they will cause the wobble. I just changed a caliper on my Blazer last week that was dragging, couldn't hardly turn the tire when it was jacked up. Never had a wobble and probably wouldn't have found it if I wasn't doing some repairs on the front axle.
 
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It could also be weights that fell off the wheel and caused it to go unbalanced. The brake dust could be a coincidence.

Also, just to be clear, death wobble and a vibration are two entirely different things. Death wobble is scary as fuck and when it happens you can't slow down or speed up to get rid of it, you literally have to come to a 100% complete stop.
 
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Yeah, what you experienced was a temporary anomaly caused by a part failure or an indication of some required maintenance.

A death wobble is not something you'll forget, is not something you want to experience and is not something most Jeep owners are lucky enough to get through without doing some damage to their own vehicle, someone else's vehicle or property, or to their psyche.

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I had DW on my old Dodge Ram 2 times and you'll never forget that. Like Chris said the only way to stop it is to try to come to a complete stop safely. First time it was the track bar and second time a wheel hub bearing.
 
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So I re-characterize my experience as a 'Vibration', not a 'Death Wobble'. My wife didn't notice (Thankfully) so it must have been mainly through the steering, Though my loins were vibrating a bit in the seat. I have never had any car behave like that. Then again I have never had a solid front axle car until now. Man these are a bit sensitive and I thought my German sports car felt everything, including running over ants. I guess some more driving is needed.
I appreciate the ideas and things to look at.
 
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kk2010jk said:
So I re-characterize my experience as a 'Vibration', not a 'Death Wobble'. My wife didn't notice (Thankfully) so it must have been mainly through the steering, Though my loins were vibrating a bit in the seat. I have never had any car behave like that. Then again I have never had a solid front axle car until now. Man these are a bit sensitive and I thought my German sports car felt everything, including running over ants. I guess some more driving is needed.
I appreciate the ideas and things to look at.
Click to expand...


It's not so much the solid front axle as the coil spring suspension, the track bar is the only thing that keeps it going straight.
 
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