1997 with Death Wobble? ...help appreciated (1 Viewer)

[Wrencher93]

OK, so here's the situation:

1997 FZJ80 with 252k miles.
1) Brakes completely rebuilt with OEM parts
2)Axles serviced less than 5k miles ago with all parts either Toyota or OEM equivalent
3) 315/75R16 tires
4) armor and other additional weight


I was driving to work a couple days ago, about a 10 mile trip so not very far. Part of it is on a curvy road and before I got to work I had a increasingly harsh shimmy/wobble develop in the front end. This happened three distinct times in about a 20 minute span. Each time the steering wheel began to oscillate back and forth, the truck began to shake, and it got rapidly worse until I slowed down, did my best to hold the wheel straight, and let it calm down. The third time was so bad I thought I might lose a wheel and I immediately stopped and pulled over. I checked the front end visually at that point - nothing was hanging loose or dangling. I continued to drive to work, very slowly and cautiously. Later that day I drove home. No issues driving home.


Here are my current thoughts:

I'm suspicious of my steering damper - I think the one that is on the truck is tired and possibly worn out. I'm also suspicious of my tie rod ends. I may have a few that are loose. That is where I currently think the problem lies but I haven't physically checked anything yet. The only other thing I can think of is maybe a bushing issue because I have not yet replaced all the suspension bushings. The front control arms have been done with OEM bushings but that is all. I read up on this before posting but I thought I'd ask in case I missed something.

 

[Wrencher93]

Oh, and maybe checking the wheel bearings... I would hope they're not loose this soon. I just installed them not long ago.

 

[Squeegee]

Panhard bushings would be what I check first, it’s what prevents lateral movement of the axle and it’s sounds line you’re getting a lot of it. Tie rods would be next and they’re super easy to check, if they’re original, they’re probably very worn. Checking the trunion bearings probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Death wobbles super scary so I hope you find the issue quick!

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Check your bushings.

Death Wobble?!--Check your bushings.

Well, right there's your problem! Blown out front panhard bushings. And a little com-a-long used to align the holes at reassembly. The old girl gave me and wife quite a scare a couple weeks ago. We pulled out of a side road and as the truck accelerated she started shaking like a wet dog...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[BILT4ME]

D. All of the above.

 

[Woofythewolf]

Actually I would check your wheel bearings BECAUSE you just put them on, they may be loose if you followed the FSM for assembly.

 

[Fairgame]

Balance your wheels? And all of the above.

 

[Wrencher93]

Actually I would check your wheel bearings BECAUSE you just put them on, they may be loose if you followed the FSM for assembly.

I followed the FSM for assembly except for the torque spec. I torqued the bearing nut to 30 ft-lbs at the recommendation of mud.

 

[Wrencher93]

Balance your wheels? And all of the above.

I don't think this was a wheel weight. Not judging by how bad the front was shaking. But I appreciate the suggestion and I will keep it in mind.

 

[RKTINC]

I just had my truck serviced with new inner and outer axles, new bearings, new tie rod ends, and OME 2" lift kit and 315 tires. It drives very good with zero shimmy/wobble. Only thing I feel is a slight wonder at highway speed that really feels like an alignment issue. I would check the tie rod ends but also could be a wheel bearing coming loose especially if a shop with zero experience worked on it. Might find guy who knows these 80's and reach out to him. With the big 315's you are running it is a safety issue.

 

[fj80pb]

Do you know when was the time bushings and tie rods were replaced? These are often neglected as they last long time. Although not currently for sale, here's the complete suspension kit offered by Joey. You might want to check it out
Wits' End - https://absolute-wits-end.com/search.php?search_query=bushings&section=product
Good luck
Cheers!

 

[iptman]

I don't think this was a wheel weight. Not judging by how bad the front was shaking. But I appreciate the suggestion and I will keep it in mind.

I wouldn't discount this. The one and only time I had death wobble (happened 3 times over a couple days) it was resolved by getting the tires balanced. $30 and an hour of waiting at Costco is cheap compared to everything else people are mentioning. Of course I had already replaced all my TREs prior so I had a pretty good idea those weren't the culprit.

 

[Wrencher93]

I just had my truck serviced with new inner and outer axles, new bearings, new tie rod ends, and OME 2" lift kit and 315 tires. It drives very good with zero shimmy/wobble. Only thing I feel is a slight wonder at highway speed that really feels like an alignment issue. I would check the tie rod ends but also could be a wheel bearing coming loose especially if a shop with zero experience worked on it. Might find guy who knows these 80's and reach out to him. With the big 315's you are running it is a safety issue.

I put the bearings in and serviced the axle. I'm not error-proof but I'm pretty confident it was done correctly. Still, it merits a check to rule it out.

 

[Wrencher93]

Do you know when was the time bushings and tie rods were replaced? These are often neglected as they last long time. Although not currently for sale, here's the complete suspension kit offered by Joey. You might want to check it out
Wits' End - https://absolute-wits-end.com/search.php?search_query=bushings&section=product
Good luck
Cheers!

I have all new OEM bushings waiting in a box to be installed. Except the front control arm bushings - those I replaced with OEM about 4k miles ago.

 

[Wrencher93]

I wouldn't discount this. The one and only time I had death wobble (happened 3 times over a couple days) it was resolved by getting the tires balanced. $30 and an hour of waiting at Costco is cheap compared to everything else people are mentioning. Of course I had already replaced all my TREs prior so I had a pretty good idea those weren't the culprit.

I can respect that and I will definitely keep a mental note if I don't find a problem elsewhere. The reason I'm not convinced it's the tires is an unbalanced tire should continue to induce the death wobble at a given speed. The symptoms I'm experiencing aren't related to speed but seem to be triggered by bumps/turns in the road that catch the tires just right and then once the wobble starts it rapidly deteriorates handling until the vehicle stops. Sounds like the guess about the panhard bushing might be correct but I will have to remove it to verify.

 

[Wrencher93]

Looks like I will be putting the 80 up on stands, wiggling some tires, checking the steering links and removing the panhard. That's the general direction I was headed but I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking another common cause. Thanks to everyone who responded and made suggestions. I will post an update here in a few days when I've had time to find the issue.

 

[edfirebird68]

You don’t even have to put it on the stand to check wheelbearings just grab your wheel and gorilla that bastardYou’ll feel any and all play I have somebody else get in the truck and wiggle the steering wheel you can check the play in the tire rod ends other than that because the passenger side is the primary for the cross-link check the arm on the bottom of it since it is the pivot point for the Birkfield And also I’ve seen people complain and say that it’s loosened up

 

[smritte]

Agreeing with everything posted. I just went through it with mine. Curing it on my TJ was a bigger pain. Solid axles are more susceptible. All you need is a few loose items and out of balance tire or hit a bump just right. Most of the time it happens over 40mph.
For me it was a combination of my tires, worn out panhard bushings and stabilizer. Some people can have a different combo.
If you let it go, it will start wearing tie rods, other bushings, bearings.
The biggest issue on my tires wasn't balancing. I didnt realize the brand I chose didnt like the abuse I did to them. I do my own balancing and didnt look how the tire was shaking slightly on the balancer. Even balanced the tires were shaking side to side slightly. That was enough to set it off, add in no side control from my worn panhard. I also discovered my 2 year old OME stabilizer was weak. Did bushings and stabilizer, gone but I could feel a slight shake (couldn't feel it with the worn bushings). New tires and done. Also my tires had about 60% tread left.

 

[Fairgame]

Looks like I will be putting the 80 up on stands, wiggling some tires, checking the steering links and removing the panhard. That's the general direction I was headed but I wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking another common cause. Thanks to everyone who responded and made suggestions. I will post an update here in a few days when I've had time to find the issue.

You will need to disconnect the tie rod ends to inspect. I ran my 80's without steering dampeners so doubt that is the problem. Swap your tires around whilst you are at it.

 

[Wrencher93]

You will need to disconnect the tie rod ends to inspect. I ran my 80's without steering dampeners so doubt that is the problem. Swap your tires around whilst you are at it.

That's interesting. Why did you remove the dampers on yours? Just curious.