Test drove an '05, that developed Death Wobble

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 08:15 AM

So, took a 'stock' 2005 TJ for a test drive. At about 80 Kph (50 MPH), the steering wheel starting shaking, violenetly. As soon as I slowed below that speed, the wobble disappeared. Before this, I never heard of death wobble before, so when the dealer told me is the tyres are not balanced, as they haven't done a safety on it yet. I looked at the front wheels, and it looked as though the passanger front was missing a weight, all the other tyres had 2 weights on them. Made sense to me, and since I never heard of death wobble before, and since I experienced this once before on my wife's Pontiac Vibe (turned out to be snow stuck to the wheel, where I couldn't see), and was easily fixed by blowing the snow from them. The excuse of the tyres being out of balance made sense. So, I put a deposit on the thing, as they were going to get that taken care of.

My question though, should I walk away and use the deposit for something else, or is this something that can be cured?

robncar · 09-28-2009, 08:23 AM

Please describe what "death wobble" means to you...

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robncar

Please describe what "death wobble" means to you...

The steering wheel starting shaking violenently, at about 50 MPH. Once I slowed down, it went away. This is why I think it could just be an out of balance tyre and nothing else. They are going to put new tyres on it, and I would assume they'll balance them first.

**RubiconRazorbac** · 09-28-2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beemerd

The steering wheel starting shaking violenently, at about 50 MPH. Once I slowed down, it went away. This is why I think it could just be an out of balance tyre and nothing else. They are going to put new tyres on it, and I would assume they'll balance them first.

Drive it again, throughout a good operating speed range. Specifically, hit a few bumps between 40-55mph. You'll know if they fixed it or not.

**mdm** · 09-28-2009, 08:41 AM

The number of weights on a wheel really isn't an indicator that the wheel is or isn't balanced. The number of weights will really only tell you two things. No weights means it's not balanced. A bunch of weights means there was a really bad out of balance condition to start with and there may be issues with the wheel or the tire.

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdm

The number of weights on a wheel really isn't an indicator that the wheel is or isn't balanced. The number of weights will really only tell you two things. No weights means it's not balanced. A bunch of weights means there was a really bad out of balance condition to start with and there may be issues with the wheel or the tire.

That is a very valid point, and I agree. The reason that I took the number of weights on the tyre to mean something, is that all the tyres are the same, and the other 3 had two weights each, but on front tyre only had one weight, and it was a small weight. The other tyres had two weights each, one about 1.5" long, the other about .75".

I really hope they find the problem though, I really like this Jeep. If I do pick it up, it will be the 3rd Jeep I ever owened.

robncar · 09-28-2009, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdm

The number of weights on a wheel really isn't an indicator that the wheel is or isn't balanced. The number of weights will really only tell you two things. No weights means it's not balanced. A bunch of weights means there was a really bad out of balance condition to start with and there may be issues with the wheel or the tire.

Sometimes a wheel / tire comes up zero and requires no balancing weights at all. Very rare, I know, but it happened on our kids Mustang recently on one tire. I even questioned the tech. Had to see the balance machine to believe it.

Crispy8743 · 09-28-2009, 09:01 AM

The number and size of weights from one tire to another usually means absolutely nothing, other than the tires were probably balanced at some time, and if a lot of weight is needed, the tires might be junk. Just spent big bucks on solving the death wobble on one of my Jeeps....and it is not the tires. Check the stabilizers and arms in the suspension system for play. If they say its just the tire balance, make them balance the tires before doing any more business with them. You did not say how many miles were on the Jeep; this could be indicative of a worn suspension parts.
Oops, you already got part of this answer.

Bishop Creek · 09-28-2009, 09:01 AM

Are the tires stock Goodyear Wrangler GSAs? If so, that could be the problem right there. A number of people on this forum, including me, have experienced the same "wobble" that you are describing when those tires get some mileage on them. My '05 did it at 29,000 miles. And almost all were cured with a new and different type of tire. I put 31X10.50X15 BFG ATs on and the problem went away (better in snow too).

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crispy8743

The number and size of weights from one tire to another usually means absolutely nothing, other than the tires were probably balanced at some time, and if a lot of weight is needed, the tires might be junk. Just spent big bucks on solving the death wobble on one of my Jeeps....and it is not the tires. Check the stabilizers and arms in the suspension system for play. If they say its just the tire balance, make them balance the tires before doing any more business with them. You did not say how many miles were on the Jeep; this could be indicative of a worn suspension parts.
Oops, you already got part of this answer.

The Jeep has 61,000 Km's on it, which is 38,000 Miles. Yes, the tyres look to be stock Good Years, and they are the stock size I think 215, or 225 can't remember.

**RubiconRazorbac** · 09-28-2009, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crispy8743

The number and size of weights from one tire to another usually means absolutely nothing, other than the tires were probably balanced at some time, and if a lot of weight is needed, the tires might be junk. Just spent big bucks on solving the death wobble on one of my Jeeps....and it is not the tires. Check the stabilizers and arms in the suspension system for play. If they say its just the tire balance, make them balance the tires before doing any more business with them. You did not say how many miles were on the Jeep; this could be indicative of a worn suspension parts.
Oops, you already got part of this answer.

Exactly

Drive it after they "fix" it. Put it through a good workout. If it still has any wobble whatsoever, make them keep fixing it until it's perfect. I wouldn't buy a Jeep with a hint of wobble or vibration from the driveline OR the suspension/steering until it's completely gone. As long as they have the vehicle, it's up to them to correct the problems before they close the deal. Once you drive it off the lot, it's all on you. NEVER trust a dealer

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RubiconRazorbac

Exactly

Drive it after they "fix" it. Put it through a good workout. If it still has any wobble whatsoever, make them keep fixing it until it's perfect. I wouldn't buy a Jeep with a hint of wobble or vibration from the driveline OR the suspension/steering until it's completely gone. As long as they have the vehicle, it's up to them to correct the problems before they close the deal. Once you drive it off the lot, it's all on you. NEVER trust a dealer

I did tell the Sales guy on Saturday, that I want to take it for another test drive before I hand over the balance of the cash. I plan to take it to the highway, and see if the problem comes back. If it does, they get to keep it until fixed.

Crispy8743 · 09-28-2009, 09:32 AM

I had a similar experience with a '95 Grand Cherokee with low miles that I really, really liked; leather, Infinity stereo, perfect color, clean and almost cherry etc. Had an engine vibration at 14-1500 rpm. Shifting into neutral and letting the engine rpm die solved the problem, but stupid me, I thought new tires would solve the problem. They promised to fix so I bought the car, and all they would do was change engine mounts and later told me it was a design fault in the car, and to live with it since it would not hurt the car. A post here does address that vibration and says it is a design fault, but who wants an unfixable car that vibrates at 1500 rpm? Now switch to the death wobble at 50 mph....see the correlation? Some dealers lie some of the time, and others just lie the other part. Hope you get it solved...hard to pass on a cherry Jeep

.

Should have added...I had tires balanced and TJ aligned; still had death wobble afterwards. Changing out the suspension and steering componets fixed the problem.

**TheBoogieman** · 09-28-2009, 10:16 AM

Most likely it's that or the alignment.I had no problems that were noticeable until I added wheel spacers.Now my Jeep isn't driveable over 50 mph.The same bad wobble at 50.I'm assuming it's the alignment or tire balance since it wasn't there before the spacers.

**TheHeretic** · 09-28-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBoogieman

Most likely it's that or the alignment.I had no problems that were noticeable until I added wheel spacers.Now my Jeep isn't driveable over 50 mph.The same bad wobble at 50.I'm assuming it's the alignment or tire balance since it wasn't there before the spacers.

Hopefully, I get to pick a perfectly normal, happy, non DW Jeep tomorrow.

09-28-2009, 09:32 AM	#13
Crispy8743 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 37 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	I had a similar experience with a '95 Grand Cherokee with low miles that I really, really liked; leather, Infinity stereo, perfect color, clean and almost cherry etc. Had an engine vibration at 14-1500 rpm. Shifting into neutral and letting the engine rpm die solved the problem, but stupid me, I thought new tires would solve the problem. They promised to fix so I bought the car, and all they would do was change engine mounts and later told me it was a design fault in the car, and to live with it since it would not hurt the car. A post here does address that vibration and says it is a design fault, but who wants an unfixable car that vibrates at 1500 rpm? Now switch to the death wobble at 50 mph....see the correlation? Some dealers lie some of the time, and others just lie the other part. Hope you get it solved...hard to pass on a cherry Jeep . Should have added...I had tires balanced and TJ aligned; still had death wobble afterwards. Changing out the suspension and steering componets fixed the problem. Last edited by Crispy8743; 09-28-2009 at 10:42 AM..

09-28-2009, 09:01 AM	#8
Crispy8743 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 37 Profile Gallery Classifieds My Jeeps	The number and size of weights from one tire to another usually means absolutely nothing, other than the tires were probably balanced at some time, and if a lot of weight is needed, the tires might be junk. Just spent big bucks on solving the death wobble on one of my Jeeps....and it is not the tires. Check the stabilizers and arms in the suspension system for play. If they say its just the tire balance, make them balance the tires before doing any more business with them. You did not say how many miles were on the Jeep; this could be indicative of a worn suspension parts. Oops, you already got part of this answer.