Death Wobble solve: PROPER wheel balancing is the key!

So, I went through every step from or wiki article about death wobble, and I was close to starting the magical ritual described therein...

However - and I want to make it clear and useful to next generations of Death Wobble Fighters - a PROPER wheel balancing is CRUCIAL.

I'd replaced everything I could, but some of the wobble persisted. Then I went to a tyre workshop which has a more advanced balancing machine - a one that has an additional roller that presses the wheel while balancing to simulate on-road performance.

It turned out that two of my wheels (both left) had a noticeable side-to-side (or - horizontal) vibration, while two other didn't. There's not too much to prevent this kind of misbalance, but at least I chose th two good wheels for the front and... THE DEATH WOBBLE IS GONE. FINALLY.

Yay!

In the late 80's I worked for Vauxhall and we used to balance the wheels on the car.....it always seemed to work pretty well!

Unless the wheel was moved around the vehicle

On-vehicle balancing was the last resort I was thinking about -thankfully - not necessary in my case.
But I can't stress enough how important the wheels are in solving a Jimny death wobble.

You have to stand behind the tyre technician and make them swap the cone for the stud flange on the balancing machine: Jimny wheels are balanced from the stud holes, not the big hole in the middle.

If wheel balancing fixed your death wobble, then you didn't have death wobble! You just had unbalanced wheels, which any car can suffer from.
Death wobble refers to the sudden violent shaking of the wheel (the kind that makes you want to stop the car and walk) caused by movement in one or more of the steering components.
Even the healthiest Jimmy's will tend to have a very slight wobble through the steering at 45-50mph due to the geometry of the steering.

I get a terrific wobble at about 45 after it has stood a couple of weeks, it goes after a while when the tyres remember that they are supposed to be round. :whistle: