First, a bad steering stabilizer... even if completely blown out... is never the cause of Death Wobble.

Push-pull on your steering stabilizer, it should present an equal amount of very firm resistance in both directions. Being as it is hydraulic, it will stay put at whatever position you leave it at. It will not expand out on its own as gas-charged shocks do.

 

is it leaking oil?

 

You should have a fairly good amount of pressure in both directions. If you have over 50k or 60k on the rubi. then just replace it but that is not your death wabble issue.

 

the guy who runs the auto shop at my college said it is likely the stabilzer causing my issue, but since the tires are bad he told me make sure goodyear checks everything when they balance it and that should tell me what is bad if anything.

 

the guy who runs the auto shop at my college said it is likely the stabilzer causing my issue.

He is wrong about that. A stronger steering stabilizer can only temporarily mask Death Wobble symptoms but it is never the cure for the underlying root cause of the DW which is always caused by something else or a combination of problems.

 

You may want to check other items like a front end alignment, ball jointsm tie rod ends and anything that may be loose on the front end.

 

Just a FYI before you go throwing lots of money at parts, go get the front end aligned. That's what cured my death wobble. If you still have it after that, then you can start looking elsewhere. Good luck.

 

get the front end aligned, look for loose bolts, and get your wheels balanced. 99% of DW falls into that area.

 

It's not your steering stabilizer, I cracked mine and it didn't cause any death wobble. I have since replaced and like the new one better than stock, just does a better job, and the steering feels better. I would start looking for play in you steering set-up also make sure the alignment is good.

 

OP - I just replaced the SS on my Rubi that has about 90k on it. Had the original stabilizer. I replaced it with a Monroe that looked exactly like the stock one.

The new stabilizer was very stiff to extend or compress. Really had to mean it. The old one has fairly easy to push or pull. Also, the stud that goes in the draglink was the same, so there was no need to remove the old one. Cut down on the time a bit.

Not going to dive to far into the DW comments (take most all of them with large grains of salt), but it is true that a SS cannot cause DW. But having a good, fresh one on there doesn't hurt anything either! With the exception that it might could inhibit the diagnosis of death wobble.

 

When I had a death wobble problem, it was my ball joints. You can check that without spending any money. Jack up one side of the front end and see if there's any play in the wheel by trying to move it back and forth, pushing at the top and bottom. If there's play there, it's most likely your ball joints.

 

X2! I just cured my mini-DW (more of a shake/wobble really) problem with new ball joints. The push/pull trick on the tire was no help at all though. What finally showed where the play was, was sticking a pry bar inside the steering knuckle under the axle shaft and giving it a good downward push. this showed a good 1/16" of play in both ball joints the couldn't be felt in the push/pull tire test.

I know how much a pain tracking down DW can be, so, good luck:wavey:

 

I was able to eliminate my DW from just getting new tire and an alignment

 

I had DW on my '05 Rubi LJ starting at 6000 miles. Chrysler had a service letter stating that on some models the steering stabilizer was inadequate so they installed the new part number.

Circus continued. 3 trips to 2 different dealers didn't resolve until 1 of them put a Rancho stablizer on. Problem solved.

Now I will be one of the ones who says look for the source of the problem. But it's not a real stable design to begin with. The tie rod is thin and springy to begin with. Rubber bushings like to store and release energy. Any looseness/wear at all and some of these just want to wobble.

I lifted the Jeep 4.5 inches at 20,000 miles. I hit 125,000 miles yesterday and that Rancho is still on there... Didn't get any death wobble when my track bar loosened up awhile back either.

The upshot here...I believe the factory stabilizer is inadequate, including the new p/n. I'm happy with the Rancho and Happy to have 9 years of DW free driving...

 

The properly setup TJ front suspension and steering doesn't need the steering stabilizer to go down the road without issue, the stabilizer is added to reduce the harshness of shock/movement to the system and help to give more resistance to the steering when it tends to wander... IMO

 

Exactly... Ive taken mine off a few times to rule out thunks and bangs, and it doesnt cause me to have death wobble, or anything really 'negative' aside from more 'road feel.'

 

Some things to check for DW are:


Steering Gear box bolts
Play in Steering Gear
draglink / tierod connection
worn / busted TREs
Ball joints
Control Arm bushings / mounts
trackbar loose
tires out of balance (old, poor wear, mud in rims, etc)
loose lug nuts!


Is that everything?




I personally would take the stabilizer off and fix the DW rather than try to mask it, as most of the things that cause DW are downstream of the stabilizer. Seems like you could replace the stabilizer with a steel rod and still get DW, but it's kind of hard to argue with the guy that says it's been 9 years with no issue. If it works, it works.

 

I too had a horrible wobble around 45-50 MPH when I would hit ripples or bumps in the road. The only way to get through it was to hit the brakes hard and it would stop, allowing me to then accelerate through it without it happening again. This was on a bone stock 06 LJ. I changed out the steering stabilizer and DW was eliminated completely! Even now with 3.25 inch lift and 33x12.50's no DW, regardless of fresh alignment and tire balance after lift and tire installs. I am keeping an eye on my ball joints expecting to need replacement soon enough.