If you’ve got a lifted truck or Jeep, it’s only a matter of time until you hear about death wobble or experience it yourself. While death wobble sounds scary, it is easier to manage, avoid, and repair the more you learn about it.
But what is death wobble, what causes it, and how can you fix it? We’ve outlined everything you need to know about this terrifying condition for you here.
What is “Death Wobble”?
While death wobble has the most alarming name of any condition we could talk about with your vehicle, it’s important to note that it’s not a crazy, far-out, rare condition; it’s simply some sudden vibration coming from your vehicle’s suspension system.
If your vehicle has death wobble, you will feel the vibration in your entire vehicle, and especially in the steering wheel.
Death wobble is not something that occurs all the time while driving at high speeds, but rather, it commonly occurs after hitting a bump or divot in the road.
When you hit these bumps, a loose or damaged component shifts position and then works its way back into place, and it’s this resonance that causes the death wobble.
It’s also important to make the distinction here that we’re only talking about death wobble on a truck or automobile and not a motorcycle.
Death wobble on a motorcycle is a completely different condition that occurs when a rider displaces their weight on a motorcycle, causing it to oscillate dangerously.
How Common Is It?
The likelihood of death wobble depends on what you drive. Death wobble is more frequent with lifted trucks and other 4×4 vehicles. Because of that, death wobble is a common issue with Jeeps, Dodges, and Fords.
However, while certainly more common with those vehicles, it is not impossible with other vehicles, either.
But if you are buying a bigger truck or Jeep and plan to lift, you are absolutely going to have a much higher chance of needing to deal with death wobble in the future.
What Does It Feel Like?
When you’re traveling down the road, and your whole vehicle begins to shake uncontrollably? That’s death wobble. You won’t overlook it if it happens, and you will likely be terrified if it does.
Death wobble isn’t just something that creates a minor vibration, although that’s a separate issue you’ll have to deal with. Death wobble is a major vibration, and it will tend to get incrementally worse as you drive faster.
What Causes Death Wobble?
There are a ton of possible causes for the death wobble. The most common cause of death wobble is general steering or suspension components being beyond their serviceable state or defective, however, there are many more possibilities.
Another potential cause could be improper tire pressure or inflation, out-of-balance tires, loose or damaged wheel bearings, improper alignment, defective steering or suspension components, or bent wheels! These are less likely possibilities, but certainly not impossible.
Death Wobble vs Bump Steer
Although death wobble is a commonly confused term with bump steer, they are two completely different phenomena that people will experience often when driving lifted trucks and Jeeps.
Bump steer is a very specific phenomenon affecting the toe angle of a vehicle as it goes over dips and bumps in the road.
Bump steer occurs when the toe angle of one or more tires changes as a vehicle traverses different terrain. If this occurs in your vehicle, it means that an aftermarket component is either improperly installed or worn.
The effects will feel very similar to death wobble; however, the amount and type of fix is different from that of death wobble.
Will the Problem Go Away On Its Own?
Simply put, no. If your vehicle has death wobble, it will not just magically go away over time. In fact, it is much more likely to increase in severity if you ignore the problem, and it may damage other components in your vehicle.
Also, death wobble can create dangerous driving situations, meaning you shouldn’t let it go unnoticed or untreated if you do have it.
If a component fails completely, or the road conditions get just a bit worse, you might find yourself in a complete loss of control, potentially resulting in an unavoidable accident on your part caused by death wobble.
Also, while some people will attempt to cure the death wobble by using a steering stabilizer, you are merely masking the problem, and it still exists. If you cannot find time to fix the problem properly, it will only get worse and go on to create additional damage to components.
How to Fix Death Wobble
Although many of the “fixes” we are going to cover here don’t directly address a true “death wobble,” we will include things that people often misdiagnose as death wobble. We will rule those out and get into the things you should do to fix the death wobble so you can get your vehicle back into tip-top shape.
When you start troubleshooting, you want to begin with the simplest things first.
- Look at the tire pressure on the vehicle. If you have too much air, too little air, or mismatched tire pressures, you may have already found your issue.
- If one of the wheels is out of balance (this will usually occur shortly after installing new tires), this also could cause the issue, except it usually manifests as a wobble only after a tire installation instead of a consistent wobble.
- While you are looking at the tire pressure, check the wheels for any damage or bent rims. If they appear broken, this is likely the cause of your death wobble, and you are going to need to buy a new wheel.
- Then look at your vehicle’s alignment. When the steering wheel is pointed straight ahead, both of the tires should also be pointed in the same direction. If the tires are not pointed in the same direction, your vehicle has an alignment problem that could be causing a death wobble. If you want further information about checking the alignment on a vehicle, you can reference this guide. If it has been a long time since your last wheel alignment, it is worth having an alignment done by a professional.
- The next easiest thing to rule out is the wheel bearings. To check the wheel bearings, jack up that wheel and wiggle it side to side and up and down to see if it is wobbly. If it is wobbly, you will need to repack or replace the wheel bearings.
If you check all of these items and everything looks good, chances are, you are dealing with an issue with your vehicle’s steering or suspension system.
- The first thing you should check and troubleshoot is the trackbar bolts for proper torque. Also, check the trackbar for any damage. While checking the trackbar, check the draglink as well for any potential damage.
- Next, check the tie rod ends for any damage to the metal, a blown bushing, or if the nut has backed out on the tie rod ends themselves.
- Finally, check the ball joints and steering box for any leaks or damage. If all of the items check out and you still cannot identify the issue, I recommend taking your vehicle to a professional mechanic for further diagnosis.
Is It Safe to Drive with Death Wobble?
Absolutely not. Death wobble greatly affects your ability to steer and control your vehicle and is an incredibly unsafe condition.
You can usually alleviate death wobble by slowing down, but you should always pull over as soon as possible and determine what is going on.
If your vehicle doesn’t have death wobble at lower speeds, you may be able to safely drive it to a repair shop unless you need to go faster. You should never ignore a death wobble and get your vehicle repaired as soon as possible.
Is It Covered Under Warranty?
It depends, but usually warranties will not cover a death wobble because the occurrence of a death wobble is generally after someone has installed aftermarket parts on their vehicle to lift or change the vehicle.
Even if your vehicle is still within the warranty period, adding aftermarket parts voids your factory warranty.
However, many aftermarket parts have warranties, and if one of these parts fails and causes the death wobble condition, it may be possible for you to receive a replacement part under warranty.
It will highly depend upon what aftermarket part you have, and if you have all of the paperwork you need to file a warranty claim.
Lastly, while it would be unlikely for your vehicle to develop a death wobble because it has all OEM parts and is within the warranty period, if this is the case then it is likely covered under warranty.