Death wobble or Steering wobble

[Carls_jeep]

I have searched the CJ2 and 3 sites for old threads and there is nothing, at least with each of the search words in the subject heading. I searched the web and found nothing relating to the CJ2 or 3 Jeeps.

Today I was driving about 15 mph and hit a bump and it started wobbling very hard. I stopped and unlocked the hubs and continued on. On the way home at about 15 mph I hit a bump and it started wobbling again so that eliminated the hubs being locked.

I remember reading some long threads about steering wobble but for some reason they have been removed or lost forever. Could someone explain the causes and cures and post some bulletins or articles to read about steering wobble pertaining to the CJ2 and 3. I have a CJ3A if it makes any difference which I doubt it does.    

[aboyandhisdog]

Hi Carl,

You might find it here:    http://cj-3a.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1316992762

But if not, I think it appears at the bottom of page two in the Tech Talk section here.  Although the next new post will put it at the top of page 3.  
I had this affliction a few times and for me, the cause MIGHT have been bad shocks or a slightly loose drag link adjuster cup.  I adj. the drag link, put on all new shocks, and added a steering stabilizer and now she drives smooth as pie.  I didn't find that I had the "brinneling" condition referenced, and in fact, surmise that the death wobble is more likely the CAUSE of brinneling and not the RESULT of brinneling.  But this is just my observation and may have no basis in reality.  But now that you have experienced how bad the wobble is, you may also feel that it can damage those king pin bearings.

[Carls_jeep]

It could damage a lot of things. Even at 15 mph it was pretty sever.

[Carls_jeep]

I got a lot of info at the CJ2 site and a lot of it I had already thought of. Tomorrow I will start at the steering wheel and work my way to the king pins and wheel bearings. I'll post what I found and did.

[Gunslinger]

I've  got the same thing going on with an M38A1, when I got it the wobble was unbelievable bad, we checked the king pins and NO brinnelling, so we replaced the shocks and it went away, for a while, I drove it last week and the wobble was back, but it occurred at 30- 40 mph, where as before it was at 20-30.  My guess is that the speed it happens at is associated with the total wear in the steering system, that would explain why the initiation point moved up the speedometer.  

We checked the bell crank and its worn, you can see it move in an oval rather than straight.  And we also bought new tie rod ends.  Thats kind of an insurance policy, my 80 year old dad drives this jeep and I'm not taking chances by trying to sneak up on this problem.  In looking at the worm drive, its showing some wear as well but I think its not at the critical point.

My guess is the whole system is contributing so were going to eliminate all we can.  Let us know what you find Carl, I'll do the same.

Todd

[johnrb3b]

Death Wobble means something in the steering system is worn - badly.
Start with tires - if the tires aren't clean, evenly worn, inflated properly, balanced properly, etc. etc. they can be a cause.
tie rod ends - loose, worn
bell crank pivot - loose, worn
drag link ends - loose, worn
Pittman arm - loose on its shaft
steering gearbox - output shaft bushing worn - gear lash inside
toe in - the only front end alignment adjustment
shocks - mounting bushings and internal integrity

In severe cases, the hubs (spindles, bearings, etc.) themselves could be the culprit. Then you're into an axle rebuild.

Any one or a combination of these will make for sloppy steering and can result in Death Wobble. Once you've got EVERYTHING tightened up, tires balanced and front end aligned, the Wobble should go away and you won't need a steering dampener - in most cases that's just a Bandaide.

My '54 3B is clean and tight in all the above, except for the Pittman shaft bushing in the gear box. It's completely worn out and I have 8" �of free play in the steering wheel. But because everything else is properly repaired, I have absolutely no stability problems on the road up to 60 mph in overdrive. My tires are new, straight, balanced and the toe in is set so the 3B tracks down the road like it's on a rail.

In summary, fix EVERYTHING in the front end and your Death Wobble will go away.

[RussellL]

The death wobble is primarily caused by the king pin bearings being loose. �They don't have to be bad, just out of adjustment. �When properly adjusted the steering knuckle assembly is rather stiff to swing back and forth. �The stiffness is measured with a spring scale and is adjusted by adding or removing shims on the top king pin. � If the king pins are properly adjusted, the rest of the steering linkage could be really loose and it would still not wobble. �But if the king pins are loose, a good tight steering linkage could control the wobble for a while. �I believe that this is why some people have success with replacing other steering parts or with a shimmy dampener. �I did the same thing for many years but the wobble always came back until I started browsing these websites and learned about the steering knuckles. �Once I rebuilt mine, the problem went away completely. �

If you are going to open up the steering knuckles you might as well do a complete rebuild. �It really isn't difficult if you have any mechanical experience. � There are numerous descriptions of the king pin rebuild process. � My favorite is on Novak's site. �

http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/steering_knuckle_repair.htm

[Carls_jeep]

Today I got a chance to look into the problem. I checked the wheel bearing and spindle for slop and they were ok. I checked all the tie rod ends and the bellcrank and they are ok. I replaced the front wheels with two new tires mounted and balanced on good straight rims. Then I set the toe in to 3/16" and took it for a spin. When I hit the hole that caused the wobble it barely wobbled.

Came home and checked the steering box adjustment and it is as tight as it can be and still turn freely. It has about 2" of turn slop in it and I need to rebuild it some day. I then adjusted the steering link ends and they were out of adjustment.

Took it for a spin again and when I hit the offending hole it didn't wobble at all. Everything is good except the steering box and it gets a "round to it" for now.

[aboyandhisdog]

The drag link seemed to be the culprit on mine too, but I will also incriminate my shocks.  When I pulled the shocks off, all were bad so I changed them out too.  Did you check out your shocks?  

[Carls_jeep]

All four shocks and mounting rubbers look to be new but I think they are a few years old. The Jeep didn't get a lot of driving time because it was used for hunting on the past owners farm.

This coming spring I plan to have the front springs re-arched. It appears the front axle was removed and rebuilt, possibly when they replaced the shocks and spring U bolts.