Jeep JKU Death Wobble Fix + No left turn???
Justin Sever brought us his Jeep Wrangler JKU with a host of problems, no left turn, no service history, tons of “loose nuts”, and a wicked case of DEATH WOBBLE. So we did what we do best, grab a flashlight and start crawling through the Jeep piece by piece, looking for broken parts and loose suspension or steering components.
The 1st thing we noticed was some scrape marks all over the drag link… and low and behold, the death wobble was so violent it had loosened and off centered his steering stabilizer. A couple quick turns of the wrench, and some chalk marks with the tape measure… problem solved!
Next we examined every inch of his steering linkages, and discovered pretty quick his tie rod end was blown at the steering box, and his axle side track bar mount was not up to the task. A call to Advanced Auto Parts and the parts were on the way, meanwhile out comes our Millermatic Mig 210 to drop a few inches of bead to secure that lose mount. Further inspection located even more problems. Whoever installed the lift had only put the pitman arm nut on FINGER TIGHT. 175 ft/lbs later problem solved!
We then went over every suspension bolt, Loctite was applied liberally, and every bolt was torqued to spec. Once again we found more than a couple that were loose. Problem Solved!
Finally since we had a few minutes to kill we did a quick oil change, hit all the grease zerks with a fresh dollop of Red’n’tacky, rotated the tires, and did a final test drive.
“I wish I would have taken my lift kit to OCD Offroad when I got it and had him take care of me from the beginning. My wife is thrilled and so much more confident in her Jeep again. It’s almost like getting a brand new Jeep.” – Justin Sever
That smile on the way down the driveway says it all. Happy to help, and see you on the trail!
Jeepwave!