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JL Death Wobble Tips

Fizzlepop

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Do you think you could have bent other "light weight" steering components on your maiden voyage and could this have contributed to shimmy and DW? Others like LiteBrite have experienced steering issues after severe damage to the steering stabilizer.
It's possible, and I may be inclined to believe so if I still didnt have shimmy/bumpsteer without a stabilizer after I've upgraded the steering components.

My old parts are in the garage and there is no indication of damage whatsoever on them, including on the TRE's.

If I had access to not-so-concrete tires and rims, I'd be curious to see how the jeep would handle with the steering upgraded. As it is right now there is no give in any way from my tires so every bump in the road is resonating
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Hdravesky

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Many of us have found finger tight ball joints on our JLs. Are the cotter pins on the 4 front ball joints perfectly bent on your JL or do they look mangled like a human bent them? If they look perfect bent from the factory then the torque has not been checked.
Thatā€™s a good question. I will show my husband this and have him check. Iā€™m now on my second third stabilizer and still have the issue. Clearly itā€™s nlt fixing my problem
 

TheCanadianJeeper

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I'm only speaking from experience. I installed a mopar lift and 37s. Had the wobble consistently on bumpy roads at 53-60mph. Didn't get better or worse just continued until I got out of that speed range. Was NOT death wobble.

- Installed Fox SS: did nothing
- Installed track bars: did nothing
- Got alignment done: did nothing
- Rotated tires 4 times with balancing: did nothing
- Got different tires, did nothing
- Adjusted Toe In myself at 1/16" in: did nothing
- Installed MC Adjustable control arms with 6.5 degrees of caster: Fixed, full stop
Wich arms did you install, lower, upper , front? Have same shit happening, jlur 2019 KO2 37 with mopar lift kit. At around 50-60 mi, start woobling if hitting bumps, thanks
 

RubiRob

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Wich arms did you install, lower, upper , front? Have same shit happening, jlur 2019 KO2 37 with mopar lift kit. At around 50-60 mi, start woobling if hitting bumps, thanks
Lowers, just to add some more caster. Id like the rest eventually but for now im broke.
 

Simann

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The new stabilizer di



New stabilizer installed by the dealership did not fix my issue. My Jeep only has 4K miles. First started around 3k.

Same here, had my stabilizer replaced under TSB 2 months ago on my 2019 JL Rubi, yesterday experienced a true death wobble at 50 mph with my mother in the passenger seat. Ironic, as prior to having the original stabilizer replaced, I had never experienced it.... And further, I NEVER experienced it in during my 72,000 mile ownership of my 2015 JKU on AEV lift and 35's...i've only got 18,000 miles on my JL...on factory suspension...not a good way to start.
 

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Burjeep

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Thank you for the feedback and the insight. Would you happen to know if those new JL Wrangler owners who had their steering dampeners replaced (below #257) resolve their death wobble problem or did it only solve their bump steer issue? I'm told that the steering dampener is simply a band-aid that addresses the symptoms of death wobble, not the actual root cause. If that is the case, will the new steering dampener be damaged in a relatively short time because the root cause has not been fully identified?
I was driving on the Highway at 70mph and my jeep shook so hard I had to completely stop on the highway. It scared the crap out of me ,especially having my daughter in the car . It was a "death wobble".
So I called the dealership and they said they were given permission to replace the Steering Damper and that should take care of the problem. I had them fix it and they said it should hold up for a little bit. Wait.. What??? A little bit??
After looking on line and reading about the problems. I saw all the lawsuits and the complaints the 2018's had. Even heard from the dealership people complaining enough they were able to get out of their 2018's they just purchased.
Could not believe the problems they had with this. Mine only had 6k miles when this happened.

Fix- I talked to a lot of Mechanics. Looked like 95% of the time it is the Track Bar. So I put an aftermarket Track Bar on and then had an alignment.($360) . Dealership replaced the Steering Damper. (free)

I encourage everyone to be aggressive with this for their safety. Also saw they recalled 18,000 of the 2018 and 2019 because a faulty weld could cause a part to detach from the car's frame, creating steering problems.

Highly doubt it is just a Steering Damper that needs to be replaced. Looks like FCA doesn't know either, or they don't want to spend the money.
I love my JL and have already put a lot of money into it. Hoping this will take care of the problem.
 

BRuby

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Would first recommend going under your Jeep before replacing anything and have a good look see.

 

Simann

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I've become good at predicting what road obstacles cause the wobble that lasts until I let off the gas and tap tap tap the brake pedal. Mostly railroad tracks and bridge junctions. Had an incident this week where i crossed a bridge and as I went over the expansion joint around 70 (on the interstate) the truck went into that violent shudder. Again, for the umpteenth time, I was able to treat it by letting off the gas to around 40 mph this time.

I was told on my last visit to the dealer a few weeks ago (to address the issue for the SECOND time) that a "permanent fix" was in the works for Q1 of 2020. Sometime this week I will be contacting MOPAR. This has become a very dangerous issue for me, especially with my two young daughters in the truck. I do mostly highway driving, (20K miles in 6 months). This is just ridiculous! Should have just kept my 2015 SRT Grand Cherokee. Had 60K miles and ZERO issues.... :headbang:

I've had two JK Wranglers. Neither did this crap. To mentally prepare to take "action" every time i see any bump in the road is just becoming very very tiresome. To be honest, I'm not willing to wait another 3 months for a "permanent fix." This should have been addressed pre-production!
 

steverj64

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Would first recommend going under your Jeep before replacing anything and have a good look see.

Great video. Just took my JL to dealer to have problem addressed. They already replaced the dampener and "track bar weld inspection". Thanks.
 

BRuby

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Great video. Just took my JL to dealer to have problem addressed. They already replaced the dampener and "track bar weld inspection". Thanks.
Glad you found that vid useful. Seems once you have DW it is imperative to get it fixed immediately. Otherwise you risk damaging other components pretty quick. The shock loads and forces look to be massive. Liked his vid because he had a methodical approach that seemed better than just throwing on parts - without taking the time to diagnose the root problem.
 

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Simann

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UPDATE:

So I took my truck in for a 3rd time yesterday, had the steering damper replaced for a second time. This time the shop foreman spoke to me regarding the first time they replaced the damper, to which he added that the mechanic did NOT note that he did 10 full lock-to-lock steering after installing the new damper. According the the foreman, this is to cycle the gas/oil in the shock and rid of gas bubbles that could cause the damper to lose its dampening ability.

I was not born yesterday and to be quite honest, thought it was horse shit, a typical stealership charade. But frankly, I'm just going through the paces and hoping nothing catastrophic happens on my daily commute as there is no permanent fix for this issue as of yet, confirmed by the shop foreman and service manager.

So, the shop did 12 full lock-to-lock steers after the install and while truck was still on lift, and I must say, the trucks steering feels 75% better after the first 100 miles!

My other poblem is that I have already spotted some lackluster welds on the front frame joints, both holes and slag.

If the wobble returns, I will be pushed to seek legal counsel and have the dealership put me in a new truck. Hopefully it does not come to that. I should not be forced to buy aftermarket steering components to "fix" this issue...but the AEV lift system is still on my mind. Ha
 

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This has become a very dangerous issue for me, especially with my two young daughters in the truck. I
You should park the vehicle and not risk the safety of you or your two young daughters!
 

RockymtnJL

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Another 18 JLUR here with zero wobble issues until the steering stabilizer was replaced under warranty. Now I can consistently reproduce a bad d-wobble over certain bumps in the area. Iā€™m having the dealer look at it this week, but will likely be getting a quality aftermarket track bar and stabilizer in short order.
 

JDM

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Iā€™m new to the forum and decided to join because of the experience that I have had with my 2018 JL Sahara, perhaps others can benefit. This is not the first Jeep that I have owned. Previously I 2014 drove a Jeep JK Sahara. I have 51,000K on the Jeep JL, itā€™s 2 years old. The first obvious issue was the severe wobble after going over expansion joints and washboard type irregularities at highway speed. The Jeep was completely stock. It was white knuckle driving after the first event.

To say that the wobble is not a safety issue because no one has died is ridiculous. The first time it occurred I pulled off to the side of the highway and called the dealer to see if I should have it towed.

Very long story as short as I can make it...The dealer installed two steering stabilizers same problem. So I took the Jeep to a shop that builds Rock Crawlers. Within 10 minutes I was told that the track arm was flexing under load, I looked and it was so obvious. A new Synergy track arm was ordered and installed. The second factory steering stabilizer that had supposedly had failed was still in place. The difference with the supposedly faulty factory stabilizer still in place was staggering. No wobble whatsoever.

Thatā€™s when I realized that there was another issue. I had a very hard time keeping the Jeep in a lane at low speed going over a series of bumps. I had to slow down to a crawl. After the new track arm was installed this issue also completely went away. So I wondered what would happen if i changed the tie rod and drag link, were there further improvements to be had?

Next came the Synergy drag link and after a couple of hundred K a Synergy tie rod. Each time a very noticeable improvement in handling along with improvement in steering manners. I actually started to like driving my Jeep again. No more white knuckle driving. Next I decided to change the supposedly faulty factory steering stabilizer with a Fox stabilizer. Once again an improvement but this time the steering became tighter, less play, still some but noticeably less. By the way, theres another steering stabilizer that FCA says will fix the problem, they want to install a third stabilizer??? Really?

I was ready to trade my Jeep for another vehicle, but now, with the changes, Iā€™m keeping it. Although, after the experience with the dealer and FCA, I will NEVER buy another FCA product again.

Thereā€™s more...

A friend was with me checking out the Jeep and we decided to do some mild off roading, with all of the above changes in place. To say that we were both impressed is an understatement. I now have the bug. So I decided to have more aggressive lug tires installed. I had Grabber ATx installed, they are a little larger than stock. Another improvement. The highway ride is more supple and no increase in road noise. The over all handling is very good with the changes that were made, no death wobble, predictable handling at any speed. Now I want to see what will happen if I install aftermarket shocks. I just ordered 4 of the new Falcon SP2 2.1 shocks.

In summary, I do not believe that the wobble is a steering stabilizer issue, for that matter I have trouble believing anything FCA says. I do not think that one has to replace all the components that I did. I think that one needs to find a reliable and believable shop, have the vehicle diagnosed and change that which must be changed. The rest is icing on the cake and if the budget allows, well worth it. I actually look forward to driving my Jeep now. People will ask me what I think of my JL and I tell them that as long as your prepared to spend anywhere from $700.00 to $2,500.00 for aftermarket components, itā€™s a very good vehicle. If your not prepared to do that, think twice before buying one.
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