BIT Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 My jeep just rolled over 110,000 miles and the only thing I have done to it is put a clutch in it. Its 2.5 4speed 2wd. Over the last couple of weeks it has managed to wear the drivers side tire out on the outside bad. It almost did it over night. It is getting worse about death wobbling as the tire gets worse. I know I could probably change the tire and it would fix death wobble for a little while but I want to fix right. It doesnt appear that any ball joints are worn out and none of the tie rods are bad. The wheel bearing is a little lose but nothing that I would concern myself with at this moment. I look at the drag link and it has a bend to it. I am not sure if its a factory bend or if its really bent. The bend is close the drivers side tie rod. It looks as if its causing alot of postive toe end. I really don't know what the problem is at this point. :wall: Any help is great thanks. Bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xflowdaboi352 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 wiggle ur track bar back in forth to see if there a wobble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 If the outside of the tire is worn badly like that, The only thing that I can think of that would cause this is a VERY bad camber angle. On our trucks it is not adjustable and is set by the angle of the inner C of the axle. There should be a bend at the end of the drag link so that the TRE that goes into the pass. side knuckle goes in vertically and not at an angle, so that when the truck flexes it does not get hung up on the TRE prematurely getting maxed out when the pass. side of the axle drops. Bad alignment angles can cause death wobble. I would start by looking at your inner C's if the ball joints are all good. If the tire took a hard hit it can bend that inner C inward. One of the guys that I wheel with hit a guard rail with his ZJ (same front axle/steering as our trucks) and bent the inner C very badly and it had to be replaced. If you still have stock gearing it would probably be cheaper to replace the front axle with a JY axle than to have somebody cut/weld a new one on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 wiggle ur track bar back in forth to see if there a wobble When I saw the title the first thing I thought was track bar as well but it sounds like a severe camber angle problem based on the tire wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xflowdaboi352 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 yeah idk i just got my death wobble taken care of i bought a trackbar from auto zone with a one year replace ment and every year i would take it in and get another when it would wear out. But i finally got and adjustable one so tHATS ALL FIXED. :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 If your draglink has a bend in it, your alignment is completely out of whack, which is probably what caused the tire to go bad. Is it just the one tire, or both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIT Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 If your draglink has a bend in it, your alignment is completely out of whack, which is probably what caused the tire to go bad. Is it just the one tire, or both? At first I thought it was both, but now that I am paying attention it seems only to be the drivers side. It hasnt taken any hard hits in the front and everything seems to look ok, I wiggled the steering wheel and watched everything move and nothing seems majorly wore out and everything is tight. I really don't know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 This REALLY NEEDS to be stickied... :shake: :shake: search.php?keywords=death+wobble&terms=all&author=eagle&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Sounds like an alignment issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 At least check and do an alignment before you tackle anything that's gonna cost you money. All this will cost you is about 30 minutes and swearing when your vicegrips just turn on the tierod. http://www.quadratec.com/jeep_knowledge ... cle-48.htm Then instructions and pic were taken from a TJ, but the parts and process are all the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 At least check and do an alignment before you tackle anything that's gonna cost you money. All this will cost you is about 30 minutes and swearing when your vicegrips just turn on the tierod. http://www.quadratec.com/jeep_knowledge ... cle-48.htm Then instructions and pic were taken from a TJ, but the parts and process are all the same. With a pipe wrench that wouldn't be a problem. When I did my driveway alignment I was able to turn the tie rod by hand without vice grips or a pipe wrench after I loosened the clamps at the TRE's. What is throwing me off here is that he is saying that it is just the outer side of his wheel that is getting increased tire wear, That makes me think that the weight must all be riding on the ouside edge of that tire which would be caused by thrown off camber angle. When it is toed too far in or out, it will cause increased wear evenly over the contact area of the tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 First off, is this really "death wobble," or is it just tire wear, or is it tire wear with some shimmy? With real death wobble, you CANNOT drive the vehicle because the shaking is so bad, and you have to slow down to under 5 MPH before the shaking stops. Anything less than "Oh, God, I'm gonna die RIGHT NOW!" is not "death wobble." It is named that for a reason. Wear on the outside shoulders of one or both front tires indicates too much toe-in, and a bent drag link can cause excess toe-in. Get an alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIT Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 First off, is this really "death wobble," or is it just tire wear, or is it tire wear with some shimmy? With real death wobble, you CANNOT drive the vehicle because the shaking is so bad, and you have to slow down to under 5 MPH before the shaking stops. Anything less than "Oh, God, I'm gonna die RIGHT NOW!" is not "death wobble." It is named that for a reason. Wear on the outside shoulders of one or both front tires indicates too much toe-in, and a bent drag link can cause excess toe-in. Get an alignment. I have experienced the "DW" only a few times the rest of the time it just shimmy's. It is wearing the drivers side tire evenly bald all the way to about halfway inside the tire. I had a similar problem on the passenger side awhile back when I had to run my spare for a couple of days. It DW 2 times and put my good tire back on it and it stopped. Seeing how everything checks out tight I am gonna have aligned and new tires put on it and hopefully it stops. Thanks Bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 It is wearing the drivers side tire evenly bald all the way to about halfway inside the tire. Wheel shimmy doesn't wear tires evenly, it results in severe "cupping" -- the tire will look like someone took a knife to it and sliced of bits of tread in a scalloped fashion around the the tire. I think your bent drag link has resulted in excessive toe-in, which typically causes wear on the outside shoulders of the tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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