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FYI found the cause of my death wobble

Solidaxle

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yes mine was fixed. Every single ball joint, bolt down there can cause your jeep to wobble. don't assume and overlook anything. hope you can fix it soon.
agree , check your ball joints. All four of mine were very loose, I retorqued them when my truck was almost brand new and it has not developed any wobble and still feels great.
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californiajeeping

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agree , check your ball joints. All four of mine were very loose, I retorqued them when my truck was almost brand new and it has not developed any wobble and still feels great.
In addition to the ball joints, check the track bar bolts, drag ling bolts, etc. My ball joint nuts were finger tight, and the track bar, drag link, were all about 1/2 of the torque specs. Also, change your toe to the max range of 0.20.
 

Dkretden

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In addition to the ball joints, check the track bar bolts, drag ling bolts, etc. My ball joint nuts were finger tight, and the track bar, drag link, were all about 1/2 of the torque specs. Also, change your toe to the max range of 0.20.
Your many, many posts on this topic have been helpful to me. Thank you.

Can you link me to, or summarize here, your initial problem, what you have done to fix it, and your current status (I.e. fixed, hopeful, not fixed......).
 

californiajeeping

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Your many, many posts on this topic have been helpful to me. Thank you.

Can you link me to, or summarize here, your initial problem, what you have done to fix it, and your current status (I.e. fixed, hopeful, not fixed......).
Initial problem was loose steering, wandering, steering wheel lite wobble. Ball joint nuts were finger tight, track bar, drag link, etc. we’re all less than 50% of the torque specs. Tightening everything to spec made it 80% better. Changing toe to max spec of 0.20 got it to 90% better. Falcon 2.0 adjustable steering stabilizer got it to 100%. I had bad OEM steering stabilizer date codes on my original one and the replacement too since they updated the Star case to include a higher date code. The TSB steering flash update made no difference. It is not lifted, all stock except the steering stabilizer. JLUR 2018
 

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Brooklynjlu2018

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What makes the steering box bad?
Theres a star case for checking for over torque some dealers were turning a screw at first till mopar released a flash saying that it had locktite applied on assembly and was not to be adjusted so the solution was if it failed this test the steering box was to be replaced
 

tmcarr

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After taking my bone stock JLUS back to dealer, after they called and said they had the "brand new, upgraded" (their words) steering stabilizer that Chrysler had just issued to fix the shimmy (some call "death wobble") here is the result. History; first they replaced the steering stabilizer once with the same model, after about 9k miles. The second time they replaced the steering stabilizer, they used one manufactured after a certain date, supposedly earlier ones sucked air into the cylinder and the later date code ones no longer had that problem. Shimmy was still there. This trip to the dealer, they told me that there was a Star case for this and that Chrysler was building a totally re-designed steering stabilizer and it would not be available for a few weeks. They installed this supposedly new steering stabilizer last week.
I immediately noticed a much, much tighter, less wander, less correction needed, steering response that was not there with the previous steering stabilizers. The steering had been loose since I purchased. It was not bad, it was not unsafe, just what I would call a little play in the steering...this is now gone. To do a non-scientific test, I have several times now, taken the JL over the same uneven, bridge expansion joint where the previous shimmy occurred every time. With the new steering stabilizer...no shimmy.
Now, the other three (counting the original) steering stabilizers worked fine initially as well (but eventually failed), so I am not very confident that the shimmy problem is solved. But the steering is definitely tighter.
I don't profess to be an alignment, steering geometry, track bar, ball joint, expert...far from it. I post this only as my experience in hopes that the experts here gain enough information to help Chrysler solve this problem. I would hope Chrysler monitors this forum.
I have been very patient about this, I have other vehicles I can drive, so JL shop time is not a huge inconvenience, but this is the last steering stabilizer I will accept. If this does not permanently resolve the shimmy issue, I will be exploring other options, my patience has limits.
 

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In addition to the ball joints, check the track bar bolts, drag ling bolts, etc. My ball joint nuts were finger tight, and the track bar, drag link, were all about 1/2 of the torque specs. Also, change your toe to the max range of 0.20.
@californiajeeping
What is the correct torque specs if you can recall off hand?
 

Milk Money

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Do you have any information about the part number for the new replacement part? This could be very helpful for those of us in a similar position.

After taking my bone stock JLUS back to dealer, after they called and said they had the "brand new, upgraded" (their words) steering stabilizer that Chrysler had just issued to fix the shimmy (some call "death wobble") here is the result. History; first they replaced the steering stabilizer once with the same model, after about 9k miles. The second time they replaced the steering stabilizer, they used one manufactured after a certain date, supposedly earlier ones sucked air into the cylinder and the later date code ones no longer had that problem. Shimmy was still there. This trip to the dealer, they told me that there was a Star case for this and that Chrysler was building a totally re-designed steering stabilizer and it would not be available for a few weeks. They installed this supposedly new steering stabilizer last week.
I immediately noticed a much, much tighter, less wander, less correction needed, steering response that was not there with the previous steering stabilizers. The steering had been loose since I purchased. It was not bad, it was not unsafe, just what I would call a little play in the steering...this is now gone. To do a non-scientific test, I have several times now, taken the JL over the same uneven, bridge expansion joint where the previous shimmy occurred every time. With the new steering stabilizer...no shimmy.
Now, the other three (counting the original) steering stabilizers worked fine initially as well (but eventually failed), so I am not very confident that the shimmy problem is solved. But the steering is definitely tighter.
I don't profess to be an alignment, steering geometry, track bar, ball joint, expert...far from it. I post this only as my experience in hopes that the experts here gain enough information to help Chrysler solve this problem. I would hope Chrysler monitors this forum.
I have been very patient about this, I have other vehicles I can drive, so JL shop time is not a huge inconvenience, but this is the last steering stabilizer I will accept. If this does not permanently resolve the shimmy issue, I will be exploring other options, my patience has limits.
 

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wrangster

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I added a Fox 2.0 to my JLUS simply because I went up in tire size. Never ever had a wandering issue but for $150. I think well worth money spent.
After I taken off the OEM stabilizer I did notice it collected a lot of small rock inside the boot. Probably because the shock sits sideways it collects random dirt and shale. I highly recommend going with a bootless stabilizer like the Fox or others! easy fix.
 

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Here is what I received from the dealership. They have been great to work with. They offered a loaner, I declined, I didn't need it. They seem very interested in finding a solution, I just think they are stuck with doing what Chrysler tells them to do.
 

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tmcarr

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Sorry it took so long, today was the first time I was able to get the Jeep on a lift. The ID tag for the steering stabilizer was on the upper side and I couldn't get to it easily.
Well, the dealer said this was a brand new steering stabilizer developed especially for the "death wobble" (I still don't like that term, way to dramatic). However, the date code is February 27, so it has been around a while. Anyway, so far, so good with this new SS. But the others lasted for several weeks as well.
Only time will tell.
Cheers.

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