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Death Wobble Question

Discussion in 'Wrangler JK (2007-2017)' started by bhowardpga, Apr 4, 2020.

  1. Apr 4, 2020 at 1:09 PM
    #1
    bhowardpga

    bhowardpga [OP] New Member

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    So, I know there are tons of forums here about death wobble but none of them actually answered my question.

    Everything on my Jeep was running well. No issues. Took it in for the PA inspection and the shop noticed my ball joints were gone and needed to be replaced. A few weeks later I started getting the death wobble. I took it back to the same shop and they said they couldn’t see anything loose or wrong with any steering components. They balanced and rotated my tires (315/70/17 A/Ts) but I still get the DW. They did say that the tires were all very bad out of balance and took a bunch of weights. The mechanic took stock wheels and tires off a Jeep on his lot and put them on my Jeep and never experienced the DW. So he is convinced that I just need to get new tires.

    So my question is, has anyone experienced this problem and it actually be all in the tires? I hate to spend $1000 or more on new tires and that not fix the issue.
     
  2. Apr 4, 2020 at 3:49 PM
    #2
    Jim Beam

    Jim Beam Well-Known Member

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    Years ago, I had an issue similar to yours that was caused by the tires coming apart. It was corrected by purchasing new ones. I would suggest getting a second opinion from a good tire shop or from someone who knows tires before spending a lot of money.
     
    bhowardpga[OP] likes this.
  3. Apr 4, 2020 at 4:55 PM
    #3
    bhowardpga

    bhowardpga [OP] New Member

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    Thank you. The tires still have a ton of tread on them so I’m curious what could have caused them to get so bad to a point where they cause the wobble. Front/rear end alignment? Bad roads? Just weird that it occurred so soon after having the ball joints replaced.
     
  4. Apr 4, 2020 at 6:31 PM
    #4
    aggrex

    aggrex Well-Known Member

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    Tuffy>AEV>TTO>JW>STech>EVOcage>MagnaFlow>SpiderTrax>RockHard>TF>SpringTail>67design>Bolt>GPCA>Curt>
    It's quite possible driving on the worn ball joints contributed to unusual tire wear. Other suspension components may have been subjected to worn BJ too so they should be inspected for wear especially the TB.
     
    bhowardpga[OP] likes this.
  5. Apr 5, 2020 at 10:28 AM
    #5
    Jim Beam

    Jim Beam Well-Known Member

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    Just what brand of tire do you have? As the less expensive tires can start to come apart easier, although a bad batch of quality tires can go bad also. A front end misalignment can cause a ball joint to go bad along with just getting a bad one to begin with. A bad ball joint can easily be diagnosed.
     
  6. Apr 12, 2020 at 9:37 AM
    #6
    o|||||||o

    o|||||||o Well-Known Member

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    Working on my JK’s DW as well ..

    Just got it aligned, it was 1 inch off. They aligned everywhere. It’s much better but I will keep working on exchanging some parts that need to be changed so the 3.5” lift will be supported by appropriate parts.

    6445DA6F-E9F9-40DB-BAC6-3B939B5507A3.jpg
     
    chris4x4 and aggrex like this.
  7. Apr 12, 2020 at 9:40 AM
    #7
    o|||||||o

    o|||||||o Well-Known Member

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  8. Jun 20, 2020 at 10:47 AM
    #8
    nofear

    nofear Member

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    My son had Death Wobble and spent a fortune on trying to find the cause, I got him new tires and wheels (Toyo Open Country) and put those on with an alignment ...no fix. Another $700 no fix. Finally it was found to be a bad rotor. Bada Bing !
     
    chris4x4 likes this.

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