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Steering wheel wobble?

wooten1138

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Going back for the third time as soon as the part arrives. Got the 2nd stabilizer in early December. Everything was great for about 1500 miles, experienced the wobble Thursday and called the dealer. The temperature thing is curious - it's interesting that the weather in December was uncommonly warm (Ohio) and that it just started getting cold again (now frigid, <10F).
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Bowman19

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Another trip in and another dampener applied. This makes number 3. Latest update was that FCA has identified a bad batch from a plant in Mexico and now has an air pressure test to apply to the part prior to application. The one applied today passed the tests of air pressure and the service drive test. Time will tell I guess. Their notes and part number posted in case that helps anyone out.

It’s still cold so interested to see what happens on the morning drive. Felt more stable on the drive home from the dealer but maybe that’s just optimism.

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Sting-Gray AJ

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Another trip in and another dampener applied. This makes number 3. Latest update was that FCA has identified a bad batch from a plant in Mexico and now has an air pressure test to apply to the part prior to application. The one applied today passed the tests of air pressure and the service drive test. Time will tell I guess. Their notes and part number posted in case that helps anyone out.

It’s still cold so interested to see what happens on the morning drive. Felt more stable on the drive home from the dealer but maybe that’s just optimism.

upload_2019-1-22_22-4-36.png
upload_2019-1-22_22-4-36.jpeg
Should we be concerned that the people installing our new Dampers are only “semi-skilled” at it? :movember:;)
 

RPerson

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I got replacement number 2 yesterday. Date code on second bad one was X302MB. Pretty convinced that now I just drive it and wait for this one to go bad too unless they figure out the true fix sometime soon.
 

Socceref

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Is the true fix after market parts? Those parts have worked on JKs. Some are mentioned in this thread. Are the JL 3rd party parts available?
 

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plex

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Should we be concerned that the people installing our new Dampers are only “semi-skilled” at it? :movember:;)
The installation of the steering damper is just two bolts, one on tie-rod, the other on axle. A monkey can do it.

With car lifted and air gun, I can do it in 10 seconds.
 

moonpup

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I'm currently sitting at the dealership getting my steering damper replaced. They told me there's a 3 step process to fixing this...

1) replace damper
2) road force alignment
3) increase toe in during alignment

Seems like a band aid fix to me, but they told me they have done this on 4 other Wranglers that had this issue and so far so good with those... time will tell I guess.
 

Sting-Gray AJ

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Should we be concerned that the people installing our new Dampers are only “semi-skilled” at it? :movember:;)
The installation of the steering damper is just two bolts, one on tie-rod, the other on axle. A monkey can do it.

With car lifted and air gun, I can do it in 10 seconds.
I should have been more clear. With all of the talk on this thread that the damper failure could be the result of other problems like alignment, castor, loose ball joints etc., would a suspension specialist look at these and other potential causes and not simply tear off the failed damper and slap on a new one only to have additional failures because the true problem was not diagnosed and treated instead of just the symptoms.
I’m not a mechanic by any means. In fact it took me 10 minutes to find the damper to take a picture of my original failed unit (hint passenger side for any other ignorant souls out there) :facepalm:
 

Sting-Gray AJ

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I'm currently sitting at the dealership getting my steering damper replaced. They told me there's a 3 step process to fixing this...

1) replace damper
2) road force alignment
3) increase toe in during alignment

Seems like a band aid fix to me, but they told me they have done this on 4 other Wranglers that had this issue and so far so good with those... time will tell I guess.
We were typing at the same time and I think we agree. Band-Aid.
 

Kadonny

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Is the true fix after market parts? Those parts have worked on JKs. Some are mentioned in this thread. Are the JL 3rd party parts available?
I think there is. The Yeti/Steer Smarts track bar, drag link and tie rod replacements cure it all I think.
 

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szobell

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A few hundred miles on dampener #2 and it has wobbled a few times. Tonight doing 70 on the freeway, it started the worse that i have had yet and i had to pull off to the side and slow down to under 35 to get it to stop.

@JeepCares - I don’t have time to keep dropping my Jeep off to have the dealer tell me they will see what they can figure out.

We need a real solution here. Please advise.
 

PavementWarrior

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A few hundred miles on dampener #2 and it has wobbled a few times. Tonight doing 70 on the freeway, it started the worse that i have had yet and i had to pull off to the side and slow down to under 35 to get it to stop.

@JeepCares - I don’t have time to keep dropping my Jeep off to have the dealer tell me they will see what they can figure out.

We need a real solution here. Please advise.
I would insist dealer check alignment and front wheel balance. until you eliminate those its assumed one of them is off, esp with the high speed shimmy.
 

btrain625

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First time poster. Thanks for all of the great info in this thread. I had what I think was a novel experience today and wanted to share.

Had first occurrence of "DW" back in October, and it got more severe in December. Had my first damper replacement just about two weeks ago. Everyone involved the first go-around seemed to be a bit hesitant to admit to any issue (telling me they couldn't recreate the issue, avoiding the term "DW," etc), but ultimately agreed on replacement. Since replacing, the issue actually seemed to get worse.

I went back to dealership today. I was actually surprised to hear the service adviser use the term "death wobble," so I pried for some more info and he said they have been getting in quite a few 2018s for the same issue. Felt like a good start this time. After the tech looked it over, the adviser told me that the district manager is aware of the issue, and they are now approving a "heavy duty aftermarket" damper. I tried to ask for brand/model number, but he couldn't provide it today. Additionally, they are going to replace the track bar with a new OEM part.

I am cautiously optimistic with today's result, since it seems that some of us are having good luck with a/m parts. I will update once the parts are installed next week.
 

wbee

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This just my opinion from my experience for what it’s worth. A good steering stabilizer will correct the wobbly steering. I added a Falcon SS and it corrected mine and many people have had the same experience. I am also a person who doesn’t think this actually corrects the problem but it does stop the wobble. I think the reason the temperature has an impact is due to the type of SS. In cooler weather the oil in the SS has a harder time dampening and with cheap SS like the stock stabilizers the wobble gets worse when it’s colder as many and myself have noticed.

As mentioned in a post above I think the problem is the steering linkage. Although the JL linkage looks heavy duty, Jeep has lightened it to the point the thin tube walls on the drag link and tierod resonate or something causing the shimmy or wobble after a bump. I have replaced my drag link and hope to do the tierod in the near future. I’m going on a month with no issues and my steering finally feels solid.

As an FYI, the ball joint on the pitman side of my drag link was so loose I could wobble it in the socket with my hand when I removed it at 4,000 miles. Hope this helps someone make a decision on what they need to do.
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