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FCA being sued for Death Wobble

PavementWarrior

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Get your 2021 Wranglers, now with unibody construction, independent front suspension, and rack and pinion steering....
The faulty trackbar/draglink bushings being replaced for early buyers would be a nicer step. no margin in current design.
 

PavementWarrior

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Neither have most JL's.
alot of stock 2018s are. alot of 2019s will be soon.

It happens, they just need to make good on problem ones without guys having to battle it out with local dealer (some are cool, some are not)
 

JimLee

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So, the 20 or 30 people reporting it here out of 336,972 JL Wranglers sold (Jan 18 - May 19) is "a lot"? I know the number of complaints here isn't all inclusive but even a 100X those numbers the math just isn't adding up for me. Also, the vast majority of the problems being reported here are more loose/sloppy steering being reported as "death wobble". The video's posted by rustyshacklford is really the only evidence i've seen of "death wobble", at least here. Sorry bud, I just don't see it as being a widespread problem as people think, sucks for sure but I think it's actually a pretty small number compared to total sales numbers. But I can meet in the middle and change my original statement to "neither have over 99% of JL's that we know of.".

Edit: I probably need to revise my numbers a bit, it's hard to find sales reports from 2018 that differentiate between JK and JL sales, I'll look deeper but i'm still willing to bet it's less than 1% of JL's sold.
 

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PavementWarrior

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So, the 20 or 30 people reporting it here out of 336,972 JL Wranglers sold (Jan 18 - May 19) is "a lot"? I know the number of complaints here isn't all inclusive but even a 100X those numbers the math just isn't adding up for me. Also, the vast majority of the problems being reported here are more loose/sloppy steering being reported as "death wobble". The video's posted by rustyshacklford is really the only evidence i've seen of "death wobble", at least here. Sorry bud, I just don't see it as being a widespread problem as people think, sucks for sure but I think it's actually a pretty small number compared to total sales numbers. But I can meet in the middle and change my original statement to "neither have over 99% of JL's that we know of.".

Edit: I probably need to revise my numbers a bit, it's hard to find sales reports from 2018 that differentiate between JK and JL sales, I'll look deeper but i'm still willing to bet it's less than 1% of JL's sold.
Fca had to redesign several steering components. So they don’t agree with you. You have no idea of the numbers and as a big part of it’s bushings lot more people will be find out about it soon.

I am willing to bet the lawsuit will be talking about shimmy, wobble and loose. If you have any of these you deserve better than 3 or 4 times of them trying to bandage it with a steering stabilizer

Can we agree a steering stabilizer is not the fix for wobble shimmy.?
 

D60

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Plenty of SuperDutys have experienced or have the potential for DW. I had it in my '11 F350, was looking at the kit to increase caster (BD Diesel, maybe??) but a new steering stabilizer from Bilstein cured it 100%

Anyway, the anonymous consumer from Paw Paw cited in Post #1 hasn't exhausted all his options, he just gave up. I agree he shouldn't have to fix this, but life ain't always fair. His options were put on your big boy panties and deal with it, or sit on your hands and declare "I no longer drive my Jeep on the interstate." He chose option 2. He chose poorly.
 

californiajeeping

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So, the 20 or 30 people reporting it here out of 336,972 JL Wranglers sold (Jan 18 - May 19) is "a lot"? I know the number of complaints here isn't all inclusive but even a 100X those numbers the math just isn't adding up for me. Also, the vast majority of the problems being reported here are more loose/sloppy steering being reported as "death wobble". The video's posted by rustyshacklford is really the only evidence i've seen of "death wobble", at least here.

Sorry bud, I just don't see it as being a widespread problem as people think, sucks for sure but I think it's actually a pretty small number compared to total sales numbers.
It is widespread enough that FCA issued V41 Customer Satisfaction Notification Steering Damper Replacement dated June 2 2019 for both 2018 and 2019 JLs to address "sustained shake or shimmy" and Jeep dealers are starting to put stop sale signs on JLs on their lots - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/stop-sale-order.31306/ https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/stop-sale-order.31306/page-2#post-726035

And steering wheels are popping off some 2019 JLs - https://www.cars.com/articles/2019-...-after-steering-wheel-pops-off-1420757788104/

Screen Shot 2019-06-14 at 8.59.42 AM.png
 

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Bswen

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Why would they sue them in order to get a buyback program in place? FCA is buying back JLs left and right for this issue. Ask me... And many others on this forum. If the person suing would have done their research they could have gone thru lemon law or a buyback from FCA fairly easily. Mine was painless and I thank FCA for stepping up to the plate.

This is a straight money grab that will help zero Jeep owners, unless the lawyers ALSO own a Jeep.
 

Banjo

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I'm glad to see that something is happening. I have a 2018 2 door JL, and have had the dampener replaced 4 times now due to the wobble. Jeep refused to do anything more. According to the dealership, it is a fairly common issue with the JLs out of there. They wanted to blame it on the cold, but that is rubbish as it has failed this spring. Driving on the highway was sketchy at best, dangerous at its worst. I know the dampener is a simple band aid, but my options are limited without costing $ going someplace that would look at it and have it not be covered by the warranty.

I was looking into filing for a lemon, which I preferred not to do because I wanted the vehicle to work as intended. They offered me free warranty upgrade after one of the bandaids fixed the issue for another month.

I don't know what kind of lottery I won to get the wobbly JL, but it is pretty frustrating to deal with.
 

rommel102

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Take a look at the 2018..... something like 530 steering complaints.
Out of how many sold?

Doesn't mean it is not a problem...and a big one at that...for those that have it.

Just that it is not a widespread problem.
 
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Capt-Zoom

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Why would they sue them in order to get a buyback program in place? FCA is buying back JLs left and right for this issue. Ask me... And many others on this forum. If the person suing would have done their research they could have gone thru lemon law or a buyback from FCA fairly easily. Mine was painless and I thank FCA for stepping up to the plate.

This is a straight money grab that will help zero Jeep owners, unless the lawyers ALSO own a Jeep.
Buyback is no easy process and unless you play your cards right it will end up costing you thousands. Been there done that

I just hope this forces FCA to legitimately fix the issue rather than throwing stiffer steering stabilizers and bushings at it. I've had DW on two JLU and it would occur multiple times on a daily basis. The stiffer bushing tighten the steering a bit and the updated stabilizer minimizes dw but it still occurs. IMHO the problem lies in a couple areas. First the lack of caster adjustment and more importantly the obsession with lightening component by jeep. The trackbar, draglink and tie rod are too light and flex. Similar lightening issues occur elsewhere like the windshield and cross members

Mt 20 year old worn out, lifted TJ Should not steer better than a brand new JLU
 

californiajeeping

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Out of how many sold?

Doesn't mean it is not a problem...and a big one at that...for those that have it.

Just that it is not a widespread problem.
It is widespread enough that FCA issued V41 Customer Satisfaction Notification Steering Damper Replacement dated June 2 2019 for both 2018 and 2019 JLs to address "sustained shake or shimmy" and Jeep dealers are starting to put stop sale signs on JLs on their lots - https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/stop-sale-order.31306/ https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/stop-sale-order.31306/page-2#post-726035

And widespread enough for FCA to publish Star Case #S1819000004, "Shimmy Felt in Front End" -
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-end-jan-31-2019-star-case-s1819000004.25550/

screen-shot-2019-06-14-at-8-59-42-am-png.png
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