[offroadpatrol]

I've caught the Jeep bug!
I recently purchased an '06 Wrangler X. I drove it for 3 months and decided to go higher. I found a 2" coil spring spacer set and installed it. Now my Jeep sits at a much better height. Now to my dilemma. Ocasionally while driving, my new Jeep decides to start jumping all over the place. I've read some of the other deals, and it kind of sounds like the death wobble. It sometimes starts while braking and sometimes after hitting a bump. At these times, it starts out as a light vibration, grows to a shimmy, then builds to the point that it feels as if you're driving over a washed out road at 60 mph. But then it'll go several days with no trouble at all. I was thinking that a steering stabilizer might cause this, but that it might also be the alignment...any suggestions, cuz this wobble is driving me insane

 

[MR.CLIFFORD]

but that it might also be the alignment...

Umm... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if you didn't align your jeep then the steering characteristics will be shot to hell in a hand basket.

First things is first. ALIGN YOUR JEEP. Lifting your suspension even 2" can throw your toe settings way off. I'm a firm believer that death wobble is a factor of some loose steering components minus the steering stabilizer.

 

[binaryking]

yup yup, after ANY lift you need an alignment. I'm actually going to get mine aligned today. But I threw mine all out of whack by dropping it into a drainage ditch that I didn't know was there.

 

[Mike001]

I agree with the alignment, I hit what I thought was gonna be some soft snow once, it turned out to be hard as hell and I almost laid the Jeep over I had to get it aligned after that cause my wheel went crooked.

 

[nicolas-eric]

did you install some longer shocks with the spacers?
i first installed spacers without shocks. and the handling was very bad with that. after installing some longer shocks the problems were gone.

 

[offroadpatrol]

I measured the toe in...and it's about an inch difference. All I did, was add the spacers...I was going to get the alignment done, then check out the steering stabilizer(as the factory one is light-duty). Shocks were going to be my next area to check.

 

[MR.CLIFFORD]

how do you not expect the front end to hop with an inch of toe in??

That's alot!!

 

[4Jeepn]

sounds more like bump steer than death wobble.. DW feels like your gong to die, and I am not overly stating that.

 

[Triple88a]

sounds more like bump steer than death wobble.. DW feels like your gong to die, and I am not overly stating that.

I gues thats why they call it death wobble? :flipoff:

 

[1BLKJP]

Bro, that toe in should be no more than 1/8th inch.

 

[Triple88a]

If you have that much toe in the rear you can actually drift on every corner with ease. The rear of the rear tires gotta be closer than the front of the rear tires. I believe thats toe in.

_`front _
\\-----//
``rear' '

 

[1BLKJP]

If you have that much toe in the rear you can actually drift on every corner with ease. The rear of the rear tires gotta be closer than the front of the rear tires. I believe thats toe in.

_`front _
\\-----//
``rear' '

It's exact opposite of that. Toe "IN" means that the front of your tires is closer together than the rear. You want 1/8th at the most.

 

[Triple88a]

hmm i thought it was the outside that determined if its called toe in or out, so for the rear it would be the back of the tires that would be if its toe in our toe out. Anyhow since i wasnt sure thats why i drew a pic so you can get what i'm saying.
Bottom line is too much toe in or out (in the front) 1/8th as stated above is bad for normal driving. Usually in the rear the tires are closer in the front than in the rear to help the vehicle with spinouts.

 

[1BLKJP]

I'm sorry to disagree with you, but if you are running something close to stock tires you will want no more than 1/8 inch of toe in. If you are running 35's or more then you can set your toe to 0 and still be okay. 1/8th toe will make your tires track dead straight down the road.

 

[offroadpatrol]

thanks a lot guys...ya'll are a wealth of knowledge. I fixed the alignment, now sitting at 1/8 inch difference, with front being closer together. Still have the problem with the front wheels. It starts off as little shimmy, then grows to feel like the front end of the jeep is gunna shatter into a thousand pieces...only goes away when slow to about 5-10 mph. Going to check my steering stabilizer later today

 

[Triple88a]

maybe wheel balance might help?

 

[lrgaslife]

I recently bought a 05 wrangler and it had a little wobble @ 40-45 mph. Took it for balance and 100% of problem gone. I also installed 1 3/4 inch spacers today after winch and hd bumper install and the thing shakes like crazy (wicked) at 40 mph. I can see how the offset change can effect the toe in. It already had a suspension lift (2-3 inches) and 31x10.5 on rock crawlers. I was just trying to compensate for the additional weight on the front. Looking at everything underneth and it seems that both the pitman arm and track bar are in a bind. At what point do these components need to be upgraded? And could these components be key to my problem or do you think it is mostly my alignment? Could this be the same problem you are having? I would appreciate any info. My new jeep is parked till resolved.

 

[1BLKJP]

thanks a lot guys...ya'll are a wealth of knowledge. I fixed the alignment, now sitting at 1/8 inch difference, with front being closer together. Still have the problem with the front wheels. It starts off as little shimmy, then grows to feel like the front end of the jeep is gunna shatter into a thousand pieces...only goes away when slow to about 5-10 mph. Going to check my steering stabilizer later today

When this is occuring does it happen after you have hit some kind of a bump to start the DW? Check all of the bolts in your front end. Trac bar, control arms, steering linkages etc... If that does not cure your problem then have your wheels balanced.

 

[lrgaslife]

Yes it happened after I hit a bump.

 

[1BLKJP]

Yes it happened after I hit a bump.

Okay so definitely go thru your front end and tighten everything down to see if that gets rid of it.