Front suspension horrible shaking

[S.W.A.T.T.]

I own a 2015 JK and have a metal cloak suspension which I’m extremely happy with. The suspension was installed about 2 months from when I got my Jeep along with some custom wheels and 37” tires. I was driving one day to work and I hit a little bump and I mean little and my front suspension and steering started shaking like it was going to fall apart. I had to literally stop and the keep going for shaking to stop. Now it seldomly but randomly does it and I have to do the same..stop or slow down a lot until it stops then keep going.

 

[Tuley11]

Have you done a professional alignment? You may also want to make sure your tires are balanced, sometimes the oversized tires and wheels can cause you some heartburn. I cant see the attached photos so you may have this shown, what is your steering stabilizer setup?

 

[El Sanchimoto]

I own a 2015 JK and have a metal cloak suspension which I’m extremely happy with. The suspension was installed about 2 months from when I got my Jeep along with some custom wheels and 37” tires. I was driving one day to work and I hit a little bump and I mean little and my front suspension and steering started shaking like it was going to fall apart. I had to literally stop and the keep going for shaking to stop. Now it seldomly but randomly does it and I have to do the same..stop or slow down a lot until it stops then keep going. View attachment 1670View attachment 1671View attachment 1671

For some reason I frequently can't see attached photos so I can't see what you posted.

What you are describing is Death Wobble. As Tuley11 pointed out out of balance tires and poor alignment can be some of the causes of this. Other common contributors to Death Wobble can be worn track bar bushings (since you have a MC lift yours are probably fine), and worn out steering stabilizer. You haven't mentioned what steering stabilizer you are running but if you're on 37's and running stock steering components I would probably start with getting a heavy duty steering kit that includes a better stabilizer.

 

[The NotARubicon]

Following this because i just started getting a little wobble at 45mph.. goes away at 49mph but if i happen to hit a bump at that speed, things get ugly.. In the past I've had similar wobbles and they were cured by either balancing the tires or replacing the trackbar..
Just today I checked the alignment, specifically the toe, and it's good, checked the trackbar bushing and ball joints, and all looks good.. got the tires re-balanced (they only have about 1k miles on them) a couple of weeks ago, and the Fox steering stablizer is only about 6 months old..
Sooo.. I'm running out of things to check..

 

[WillysJKJeeper]

Check front swaybar end links make sure there tight. Also retourque the front track bar 130ftlbs spec. Check control arm bolts 125ftlbs. What size lift are u running 2.5 or 3.5?

 

[Xkid]

Check ball joints

 

[Todd Ockert]

The dreaded "Death Wobble" will affect us all at some time or another. I have a TJ, and when I usually start to notice the wobble, I will usually take the Jeep down to have the tires high speed balanced. After a lot of wheeling, things get out of round or I have lost a weight on a wheel.
I run the BFG 35" KM2's and Raceline Monster Beadlocks. This is a very heavy combination of tire/wheel.
I will usually check the steering stabilizer to see if it is damaged. Many people will tell you that the steering stabilizer is not a fix for death wobble. I would agree, but I know when my stabilizer has been bad, dented and all the fluid leaked out, the death wobble will show up out of the blue.
Check all control arm bushings, bolts are tight, drag links, track bar bushings and bolts.
I have even replaced shocks to help reduce my death wobble, as bad shocks are all part of the front suspension that can play into this anomaly of death wobble.
One thing at a time, one part at a time and check it out to see if better or worse.

Todd

 

[Cloaked Willys]

Check ball joints

I will agree with this especially with the 40-50 MPH range that I am seeing posted. That is where we see a large amount coming from play in the ball joints. It would not be surprising if the jeep has more than 20K miles and stock ball joints.

 

[Pthorpe84]

Following this because i just started getting a little wobble at 45mph.. goes away at 49mph but if i happen to hit a bump at that speed, things get ugly.. In the past I've had similar wobbles and they were cured by either balancing the tires or replacing the trackbar..
Just today I checked the alignment, specifically the toe, and it's good, checked the trackbar bushing and ball joints, and all looks good.. got the tires re-balanced (they only have about 1k miles on them) a couple of weeks ago, and the Fox steering stablizer is only about 6 months old..
Sooo.. I'm running out of things to check..

Did you get your issue fixed or is it getting worse?

 

[The NotARubicon]

Did you get your issue fixed or is it getting worse?

No.. still a slight wobble between 45-49mph.. it’s not as bad with a bit more air in the tires so I’m just living with it..

 

[seppyc]

No.. still a slight wobble between 45-49mph.. it’s not as bad with a bit more air in the tires so I’m just living with it..

Don't just live with it. Did you re-torque? Also, I recently read that track bar bolts that are threaded the entire way can eventually wallow out the holes. Going to replace mine with shouldered bolts this weekend AND recheck torque on all bolts. It makes a difference.

 

[WillysJKJeeper]

Check the front unit bearings and ball joints i had the death wobble at 45 ended up being a bad unit bearing and bad upper ball joint. It doesnt take a alot of play in the unit bearing to cause it. I replaced both unitbearings and all the ball joints and no more death wobble. Jack up jeep put on jack stands in the front
to check the unit bearing put ur hands at 9 and 3 clock postions and try to push and pull with each hand and also at 6 and 12 postions if it moves just a little it needs replaced be it.

How to check ball joints

 

[El Sanchimoto]

Check the front unit bearings and ball joints i had the death wobble at 45 ended up being a bad unit bearing and bad upper ball joint. It doesnt take a alot of play in the unit bearing to cause it. I replaced both unitbearings and all the ball joints and no more death wobble. Jack up jeep put on jack stands in the front
to check the unit bearing put ur hands at 9 and 3 clock postions and try to push and pull with each hand and also at 6 and 12 postions if it moves just a little it needs replaced be it.

How to check ball joints

I just followed this video and I was able to hear a little clunk noise on my driver side. Had my neighbor (retired master mechanic) give a listen and he agreed there was too much play and that the noise was due to ball joints. Now I just need to decide on which ones to buy, leaning towards dynatrac because I can rebuild them if needed.

 

[MaineJeeper]

I just followed this video and I was able to hear a little clunk noise on my driver side. Had my neighbor (retired master mechanic) give a listen and he agreed there was too much play and that the noise was due to ball joints. Now I just need to decide on which ones to buy, leaning towards dynatrac because I can rebuild them if needed.

Dynatrac's are a really nice option. I've seen them in person and they look stout, but I have no first hand experience with them. If you decide to get them check out the video of how to rebuild them so you are familiar with whats needed if/when they need to be rebuilt. I've been looking around myself and have heard good things about the Teraflex ball joints as well. Let us know what you decide, glad you had a hand to help you diagnose!

 

[WillysJKJeeper]

The Alloy USA ones are built by they same company that makes teraflex and synergy balljoints. Alloy have a 5 yrs warranty.

https://www.quadratec.com/products/56100_0006.htm

 

[El Sanchimoto]

Dynatrac's are a really nice option. I've seen them in person and they look stout, but I have no first hand experience with them. If you decide to get them check out the video of how to rebuild them so you are familiar with whats needed if/when they need to be rebuilt. I've been looking around myself and have heard good things about the Teraflex ball joints as well. Let us know what you decide, glad you had a hand to help you diagnose!

Yeah, my neighbor is awesome, he has elped me with everything lately on my Jeep in one way or another. Tools, knowledge, or just an extra set of hands when I needed it. He had built a couple of Jeeps of his own too (no longer has them) so I think he's vicariously living his younger days through mine.

I did watch video after video on Dynatrac (install and rebuild) and Teraflex (install and adjustment) and for the time being I went with Teraflex. I bought them at 4 wheel parts and I'm installing them this weekend. I know Teraflex has a lifetime warranty for defects which is nice but I know that doesn't cover normal wear and tear AFAIK. I did get the 4 wheel parts 3 year warranty so if they do wear out under normal use in 3 years I do get new ones no questions asked. Seems like a win-win for a little under half the cost of Dynatrac. I'm also not doing hard rock crawling on the regular or running huge tires right now so when balancing cost and how I'd be using them I felt like Teraflex provided the best value at this point.

If after 3 years I haven't worn them out or busted an axle then I can revisit my choice when that does happen.

 

[MaineJeeper]

Yeah, my neighbor is awesome, he has elped me with everything lately on my Jeep in one way or another. Tools, knowledge, or just an extra set of hands when I needed it. He had built a couple of Jeeps of his own too (no longer has them) so I think he's vicariously living his younger days through mine.

I did watch video after video on Dynatrac (install and rebuild) and Teraflex (install and adjustment) and for the time being I went with Teraflex. I bought them at 4 wheel parts and I'm installing them this weekend. I know Teraflex has a lifetime warranty for defects which is nice but I know that doesn't cover normal wear and tear AFAIK. I did get the 4 wheel parts 3 year warranty so if they do wear out under normal use in 3 years I do get new ones no questions asked. Seems like a win-win for a little under half the cost of Dynatrac. I'm also not doing hard rock crawling on the regular or running huge tires right now so when balancing cost and how I'd be using them I felt like Teraflex provided the best value at this point.

If after 3 years I haven't worn them out or busted an axle then I can revisit my choice when that does happen.

Sounds like a solid choice! I'll most likely be picking up the Teraflex ones as well in a couple months. I'm going to be adding C gussets so I'm thinking that'll be a good time for me to replace the factory ones. Hope the install goes smooth.

 

[El Sanchimoto]

Hope the install goes smooth.

The best thing you can do is to have the Jeep specific ball joint press adapters. I did not and I had to do some finagling to make sure I was pressing the new ball joints in straight and even then I still damaged some of the threads on the new uppers. LUCKILY the damaged threads were at the base where the castle nut threads on, so with the help of my retired master mechanic neighbor we used a precision file to reshape the 2 thread grooves that got flat. With the Jeep specific ball join press this would be a complete non-issue.

And of course, always fully read the instructions. You don't want to face the ball joint grease valves the wrong way, for example. No I didn't do that, but I almost did...