Death Wobble

[SteveC]

Well, I have had my WJ for nearly 8 years and while there have been some quirky things that needed ironing out, I have never experienced what happened the other day.
This week my wife and I did a 5 night stay to Port Macquarie from Sydney for some R&R. On one of the outings I hit a rough bit of dirt and the car shook like a mad man.
It was very frightening as I slowly managed to pull off the road just.
I has a look around and saw nothing obvious so continued albiet at a slow pace.
On return to our holiday place, I checked everything that I could (a bit hard on a foreign driveway) and tightened every thing up that I could, including wheels and tyre pressure etc etc, I even ordered a new damper by express, in case it was that that was causing it.
Only thing is that it happened again on the next day , doing just 80k, once again we pulled off the road and continued ever so slowly after our hearts slowed down.

I eventually found a alignment place in port macquarie who put it up on the hoist and who seemed fairly familiar with Jeeps and even showed me the invoice of just a few weeks ago of another WJ that had the same problem AND had travelled almost the exact KLm (138500). Weird that!
He suggested after bit of checking around that I need 4 x tie rods and that my ball joints were stuffed. He showed me the movement in all except one, which was OK
As it was our last day I thought it better we get back to Sydney to do the repairs.
Luckily the Hwy road is smooth all the way and there was only the occasional feeling of unrest. Mind you we travelled all the way at no more than 90k, which began at 3am (Yes. I said 3am! so I could travel slower with less traffic.

We finally got home at 8am and now this begs the question - Where can I get these ball joints and tie rods with out paying the extreme Jeep prices and where can I get it done near home in Sydney?
If you guys have any experience with this very scary situation or have any ideas, please let me know.
I would be curious in knowing if other Jeeps like the JK or TJ have every had this problem

ps AND to add salt to the wound, while we were there I had to get the rear brakes done, cause they were screeching liek crazy were stuffed too,

Thanks
Steve

[TRBN8R]

Your Jeep has been going our with too many JKs. Itspicking up their bad habits. JK guys can help you with that. Ask Sandy (JK1978 ) he had similar troubles with his JK when he joined the club....

[Steve F]

Death Wobble, as the name suggestests is not fun. Pretty common especially after some KM's and wear. Things to check are balljoints (like you have), caster, Panhard rod (This is a common one, check for worn bushes at the diff end and a worn tierod at the frame end) I'm not sure if the bracket it mounts to is bolt on like the XJ or welded on like the TJ, if its bolted on check its good and tight.

Cheers
Steve

[reyzor]

ive had the dreaded wobbles on my jk, changed the panhard bushes and it went away..... ive jsut done a high steer conversion and will soon change my ball joints (once the 37's arrive)

you right, its a pants browning experience.

[Miraz]

Ball joints can be had from Hardy-Spicer - Part number Part #706944X - you will need 2 of them

Don't have the part numbers to hand for the TRE - but Moog do an uprated unit for the WJ which typically sells for around $35 from RockAuto

[SteveC]

Thanks guys
I think the tie rods and ball joints are a definte. Another thing is that the alignment guy in Port Macquarie told me as the WJ has 4 Tie rods to buy the upper one as original and the others from another source as the upper one is different to many that get imported due to LH versus RH drive

Still - does any one know where I can get it done if I source the parts??

Any more feedback is appreciated

[Miraz]

Sounds like the right advice - I'd suggest talking to a wheel alignment shop to do the work.....there is nothing that is technically complex, other than getting it setup correctly after the joints have been changed.

[SteveC]

Looks like wooders has what I'm after and I'm happy after speaking with him.

[85cj7]

Use rockauto for cheap stuff, although they should carry spicer and moog parts, and should still be cheaper with international shipping then some of the crazy prices in Oz.
As for ball joints, I would also look around at polyperformance and soon to be ballistic fab who have released some HD balljoints that use cryo-treated teflon and a new zerk fitting for improved longevity and overall beef.

[SteveC]

Well an update on my death wobble;
The more I look into it, the more I need to attend to.
I have ordered 4 x new tie rods, but unfortunately one has to be an OEM version due to RH Drive thingy and no 3rd party one available. This extra one, that sits on the drag link (ie upper bar) left upper was 5 times the price! although I did get trade price from dealer after asking nicely.....
From what I read, these should be easy to install as long as you follow some basics
The ball joints are also on order but that is a job for a work shop as I don't have the tools to do so and it needs more detailed removing/reinstalling of other components. All too hard.

There is more....

When I visited the local tyre shop (on a hunch), - one of my cooper AT tyres has a torn steel belt and ballooned some what and certainly would have contributed to my unstable ride home, scary! Luckily it did not blow out on the freeway!
At least I can run with my other muddies in the mean time.

Now need to ALSO seek a set of new AT tyres 245/70/17 or 265/65/17. Not many of these sizes in LT though,

AND there is more

This week, in order to discount any possible issues related to brakes and warped rotors etc etc, I replaced front a rear RDA Rotors and new pads. This was also done to eliminate my squeal I've had for a month or so. This worked out reasonably cheap (They must have felt sorry for me) This got rid of the squeal from low pad indicator in rear BUT I still hear a squeal when driving but goes away when light brake pedal. Now I'm lost!!. Any suggestions PLEASE!!!! Could it be something else? Perhaps a sticky calliper but how do I test this!
Thanks