BAD steering wobble

[Crewdude007]

About 3 weeks ago, I bought a set of 4 wheels & tires from a guy I work with. At 255/60/r17, they're considerably larger than the stock 225/75/r15 wheels that came on the jeep. The problem is, around 51-52 mph the front steering wobbles. If I go faster or slower than this, I generally don't have a problem. I got the wheels re-balanced and the problem is a little better. Fast forward about a week (2 weeks ago). I hit a bump on the highway at 70 mph and the whole front of the car shakes violently. Slowing down caused the problem to subside, but not until I was at about 45 mph. This happened more than once. A reliable source suggested I replace the steering stabilizer, which I did two days ago. Today, while driving to work, I hit another bump on the highway and the shaking is still there. The new stabilizer lessened the problem somewhat, but it's still not gone. My question is this: Has anyone had this kind of problem before? If so, how did you fix it? Any suggestions? Am I going to have a similar problem if I get bigger tires for my stock 15" rims?

 

[Gig]

Another thing you might check are the tie rod ends. Are the joints loose? Another thing could be that the rod from the steering wheel could be loose when it goes inside the steering box. I just had to adjust mine(Tighten... not too much), and the wobbling went away. Don't know if this will help.

Gig

 

[Sparky-Watts]

It's an all-too-common malady called "Death Wobble" and as Gig stated, is generally caused by worn tie rod ends, although other components can cause it too. Jack up the front end and have someone turn the steering wheel from full lock to full lock (all the way right to all the way left) and watch the tie rod ends. If there is any movement in them, they are the cause and need to be replaced.

I typed all of that from memory from having read it here sooooo many times in the past! Ain't this site great?

 

[Crewdude007]

Thanks. I'll give that a try. BTW, is it odd that this didn't start until I put the new wheels on? I never had this problem with the stock wheels.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Use the search function on this forum for "Death Wobble" or "steering wobble" or substitute shake for wobble. You'll find a lot of useful info.

 

[cougarlasch]

the 17 inch wheels. are the holes for the hubs the same size as the hub itself. if not that might be where your shaking is also. you might need hubcentric spacers to radially center the wheel on the hub. check to see if the wheel is on straight put it up in the air and put it in drive and check the wheel. i see that alot where i work where these kids put wheels on there civics and complain about shaking and the balance is perfect.

 

[dingus]

put your old wheels n tires back on and see if it still happens. if it doesn't u bought a bad set of tires.

 

[Crewdude007]

Alright, the old wheels and tires are back on. Tomorrow is the big test. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Crewdude007]

Drove back and forth to work today with no appreciable wobble. I'm planning to get an alignment done this weekend to straighten things out now that I'm done (for now) messing with the suspension. Not sure what's wrong with the new wheels yet, but will get to the bottom of it in the next week. Thanks to all for your help!

 

[mujaman]

i just spent the last 8 months (gasp... no lie) trying to rid my poor XJ of the death wobble. i ended up replacing just about everything up front before it was finally fixed, but hopefully your problem won't be that severe. it seems to be directly related to your new tires/wheels.

how old are the tires (i'm assuming they're used)? if they have more than 15-20,000 miles on them, its possible that their sidewalls have begun to break down and are the reason for your wobble. such was the case for my jeep, at least in part. all of my repairs (tie rods, steering stabilizer, U/L control arms, tracbar, you name it...) helped to a degree, but nothing completely fixed it until i had a new set of tires on there.

if you're set on keeping your new tires/rims, atleast try rotating them around in different patterns than they are mounted now to see if that helps. putting the "bad" tires on the rear will greatly reduce your problems.

 

[Crewdude007]

I wish there was an icon that expressed more anger than this. The wobble is not yet fixed. It did it again today. It wasn't as bad with the old wheels, but it's still there. I'm planning to take it to a professional on Saturday. Hopefully, they'll find the problem and it will be (extremely) inexpensive.

 

[dingus]

best of luck man. with my experience, its always something stupid/simple that was overlooked so hopefully thats the case.

 

[Crewdude007]

Okay, so I took it to the guy that my brother-in-law goes to. They adjusted the toe angle, which was way off. But the car still isn't right. It tends to wander a bit and when I hit a bump the wheel jerks to the left. What the heck is going on here?! What else could be causing this? wheel bearings? tie-rod ends? Wouldn't the tech find this when he did the alignment?

 

[mujaman]

so is the death wobble cured???

if so, you have at least made some progress. however, your wheel jerking to the left when you hit something is not good. that is completely different than death wobble and is referred to as "bump-steer."

this page should get you started:

http://4wheeldrive.about.com/gi/dyn...naxja.org/html/techarticles/bumpsteertech.htm

 

[Crewdude007]

Well, it appears the dreaded Death Wobble is in remission...for now. I had a slight wandering problem at the same time, but it wasn't nearly as bad. That's fixed too. How? Let's just say it's a good idea to check that your rear axle is firmly attached to the car. As for the bump-steer, it appears that my new Skyjacker track bar is contacting the front diff cover on hard bumps. Maybe I need more lift?