Death Wobble Breakthrough - after all these years?

I am an ex mechanic (20 yrs out) and I own a 2003 Jimny O2, with severe death wobble, which occurs at around 45mph; no further explanation needed.

I have read the forums, which describe various theories and fixes; some work some don't. The ones that get me most are those people that have basically replaced everything, to find that the wobble is still there..this got me thinking.....

Before I come up with a major possible solution to this age old problem, ponder this.... 'what is the one thing a mechanic rarely ever does?'.....

Over time, wheels are removed for servicing, tyres and brakes etc and they are seldom replaced in the same position....again, ponder this thought...

Due to their height, the size of the wheels and the distances between suspension components, the Jimny is not forgiving of tolerance imbalances. This is proven with kingpin wear, where very small amounts of movement result in massive, almost undrivable repercussions. Therefore tollerances MATTER on a Jimny, BIG TIME.

The surface or facet of the brake disk in most jimny's comes painted black. Similarly, the rear facet of the alloy wheel is painted silver. Both of these surfaces degrade over time and they leave deposits on the opposing facets, or in basic english, where the wheel and disk meet when you bolt the wheel on.
At first, these are almost microscopic, however over time, as the above ponder.. the wheels are removed and replaced and the deposits are repositioned and increase, offsetting the wheel from the disk in some cases by 2-3mm!

Imagine that on a spinning wheel at 45mph and you can picture the wobble and imbalance immediately.

Today, I cleaned these deposits by scraping them off with a chisel and wire brush - MY CAR NOW HAS NO WOBBLE AND DRIVES LIKE A NEW CAR.

After all these years could it really be that easy? Could this really have been missed by so many?

Well, this theory would explain why so many still have the issues after replacing so many components, because going back to my second line... what do mechanics seldom do?.......CLEAN is the answer. They dont have time to scrape all the surfaces and this is why it is likely that this has gone un noticed for so long.

I would be grateful if you could reply if this works for you, as I will pass it into Suzuki.

I know it's hard to believe, but I really do think that this could be the breakthrough that we have all awaited...! Good Luck!

Welcome to Bigjimny. Yes you do have a good point, Many people may not clean components as much as others.
I have never had death wobble on my jimny which is used and abused!
The only cause of wobble I have had was the following


This is why I no longer choose to use Special Tracs on the road. I hate re-mould tyres.

I've been asked about this loads of times and on 3 occasions people have brought me there jimnys for me to have look and after a strip down and rebuild (without replacing anything) they have gone away with no more problems ??? This confused me but now it doesn't as i have a wire cup on a grinder and everything gets a dose of it and a smear of appropriate grease.

years of it being drummed in to me that working faces need to be clean and true. And i also have the habit of spinning the wheel and checking for buckle.

so it seams I've fixed the problem just by being good old obsessed me lol

Sorry, did not mean to insult anyone.. not all mechanics are like this.... (especially the smaller garages whose reputation is everything)

It's not lazy, it's that time is money... Take brakes for example... If I choose to overhaul my brakes, it would take me about an hour + per corner, as I would scrape, brush and polish (then approriate grease/CE) all of the components and surfaces until everything is moving as efficiently and smoothly as I can possibly get it. Your average dealer can't afford to take this time so they do the bare minimum of what is required... TBH, most swear that main dealerships do the best job, but they are the ones with the biggest time constraints. Not saying they don't do a good job, just that they generally only do what is required and will not go the extra mile.

BTW my Jimny has a full main dealer service history (including original tyres being fitted to this day) and I can tell for sure that no mech has EVER cleaned the disk/wheel facets!

Also to be fair, ive had the wheels off a few times and I would never had imagined that such a small tollerance/offset imballance would cause such a major wobble.... I hope this works for you

SUPERGAZ - blimey...! that's the worst case of wheel balancing i've ever seen!!!!

ROCKWAT - Keep up the good work - proper mechs are a dying breed!

Interesting stuff............I had the wobble on a new jimny from the point I put new Modulars on it. These wheels may be strong for off road but they are Chinese made and as such I just accept they are not straight. I have had three sets of wheels with three sets of tyres over two years and the wobble is always there. I now have Recip 235s on with no weights and the wobble is still there but no worse than with any other set of Modulars. I dont have the build up of crap you talk about but had come to the conclusion the poor tolerances of the wheels is provoking the Death Wobble.

Ian

Could well be.. alloy wheel quality can vary massively, although I'm not an off roader, so I'll bow to your greater knowledge.

I'm guessing that if you set a Jimny up for 4x4 use, it will not drive that nicely on the road?? I have driven a mate's SWB landy that he uses for off roading and it drives like a pig on tarmac! Lol.