[freehat]

Hey all, I was hoping some of you who have experienced death wobble or other issues could give me some tips.

I have a 2007 Rubicon, mostly stock except the wheels/tires.

I was experiencing death wobble and brought my jeep to a 4x4 shop.

For $1,300 :blackeye: they replaced the upper and lower ball joints (G2), and the tie rod complete assembly - drag link - both ends (MOOG).

They did install and did alignment.

The moment I left the shop, I noticed that my steering wheel felt loose. This was definitely not the case when I brought it in. I can turn it 2 inches before it starts to engage the wheels. Where this is causing me issues is at mid city speeds 15-40 mph, especially when I'm changing lanes. I feel like I am all over the lane and can't keep the jeep straight. I've given them this feedback a few times and they drive my car and say that they "can't feel it" because it's so smooth compared to their own custom jeeps. Meanwhile, I feel like I'm playing a video game at the arcade that hasn't been serviced and I'm worried I will be pulled over since I can't stay in the middle of the lane.

My GF who has driven my car a lot can feel it and I can feel it even more when I go from driving a different car to my jeep.

Does anyone know what kind of issue could be occurring? I'm going to see them again tomorrow and would love to walk in there with more of an educated understanding of what I should expect from them. This is very frustrating after how much $ I spent on the parts and labor.

Thanks in advance folks :beerdrinking:

 

[Lee H]

Welcome to the forum. Do a dry steer test and see for your self where the slack is. Google planman death wobble YouTube video.

 

[Patofnaud]

Bring it back. Almost sounds like you have no toe-in at all or they missed something.

 

[freehat]

Thanks Lee! I'll look at it again, though the mechanic and I did the dry steering test in the shop to diagnose it when we started off. That's how he determined which parts to replace. The Death Wobble is gone and I've gone over the same bumps that set it off before without any issue.

 

[Lee H]

Thanks Lee! I'll look at it again, though the mechanic and I did the dry steering test in the shop to diagnose it when we started off. That's how he determined which parts to replace. The Death Wobble is gone and I've gone over the same bumps that set it off before without any issue.

OK, your off in the right direction. Look at doing the test before you take it back. An informed knowledgable consumer always comes out ahead of the game. As @Patofnaud pointed out, you may just need a front end alignment.

 

[freehat]

Update

These were all good tips for me going back into the shop. Went back and they noticed that my tires were over inflated on my front left and under inflated on the right. They're the ones who had inflated the tires so I found this quite comical. Once they adjusted them to the proper PSI, things got quite a bit better. The wheel looseness may even be completely gone, I haven't driven it enough to be sure, but it's feeling MUCH better to drive.

Thanks for your tips and I'm glad to be a part of the forum!

Best,
Sam