“Death Wobble” resolved quickly…🙏

[Flip]

Justin, my limited understanding of the steering stabilizer is it’s for mitigating bump steer and “pull” to one side or the other. Is that correct? I noticed that improvement after installing a TS Fox on my Rubicon.

Jeff,

Can you please send me the link to the TS Fox Stabilizer you're using. I only run 33" skinny's, I'm not having any problems but I wouldn't mind having a good spare on hand.

How was the install?

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[Bulletbill]

Isn't is true that a steering stabilizer is really useful for a quick correction when hitting potholes or uneven roads, but won't fix a constant vibration that comes from incorrect geometry...
Of course a new stabilizer will mask the vibration for a while but not fix it...

I think people have the wrong concept for the purpose of a steering stabilizer...

In fairness, it’s not the people on the forum throwing the stabilizer on. It’s a go-to procedure to correct DW at almost every Jeep dealership. While the TSP states they are supposed to check ball joints, tie rods, and track bar, it’s probably cheaper and faster to just throw on a new stabilizer and see if it makes the customer go away.

 

[GtX]

At the first sign of DW you did the right thing.

That said there are components that can initiate DW. It is the job of the SS to mitigate Newton's 3rd law of motion. As the SS wears like anything else it begins to lose it ability to control the lateral oscillation that is the result of pots hole, railroad tracks, bridge connections etc.

Here is a summary of DW:

DW applies only to: ALL CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES, SHOPPING CARTS, SOLID axle, independent and leaf suspension modes of transportation that was manufactured after 1901.

It is NOT a question of Right or Wrong, it is a question of Newton's 1st and 3rd law of motion: "Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. ... The third law states that for every action (force) there is an equal and opposite reaction."

If it is attached to the frame and front suspension it plays a role in DW.

The following are generally the things you want to look in no order:

Track bar, bushings, and mounts

Steering stabilizer

Ball joint wear

Soft or worn shocks

Ball joints

Rubber bushings

Tie rod ENDS being excessively worn

Tire Pressure, too low or unbalanced

Alignment and wheel balance should ALWAYS be in adjustment

Toe-in OEM specs and caster adjusted and compensated for tire size

Lower/upper control arms adjustment and bushings

Yes, anything and everything hanging under the frame of the front end.

Each one of these has a role to play as a result you need to keep and eye on your suspension. KEY is the SS because its role is to mitigate that lateral oscillation, your first line of defense. Its also often the first thing to suffer wear and allow the lateral oscillation to take over, and there is your DW...replace at the first sign!

TLDR:
Somethin' loose.

 

[bgsujeeper]

At the first sign of DW you did the right thing.

That said there are components that can initiate DW. It is the job of the SS to mitigate Newton's 3rd law of motion. As the SS wears like anything else it begins to lose it ability to control the lateral oscillation that is the result of pots hole, railroad tracks, bridge connections etc.

Here is a summary of DW:

DW applies only to: ALL CARS, TRUCKS, MOTORCYCLES, SHOPPING CARTS, SOLID axle, independent and leaf suspension modes of transportation that was manufactured after 1901.

It is NOT a question of Right or Wrong, it is a question of Newton's 1st and 3rd law of motion: "Newton's first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. ... The third law states that for every action (force) there is an equal and opposite reaction."

If it is attached to the frame and front suspension it plays a role in DW.

The following are generally the things you want to look in no order:

Track bar, bushings, and mounts

Steering stabilizer

Ball joint wear

Soft or worn shocks

Ball joints

Rubber bushings

Tie rod ENDS being excessively worn

Tire Pressure, too low or unbalanced

Alignment and wheel balance should ALWAYS be in adjustment

Toe-in OEM specs and caster adjusted and compensated for tire size

Lower/upper control arms adjustment and bushings

Yes, anything and everything hanging under the frame of the front end.

Each one of these has a role to play as a result you need to keep and eye on your suspension. KEY is the SS because its role is to mitigate that lateral oscillation, your first line of defense. Its also often the first thing to suffer wear and allow the lateral oscillation to take over, and there is your DW...replace at the first sign!

As I work my way down reading all of the posts today (I did have to work) I will simply say that, with ignorance, I assumed the Mopar extended warranty would cover the DW. I didn’t know the dealer would start with a steering damper- just wanted it fixed. I also didn’t know the Mopar extended warranty had a $200 deductible (which kinda sucks, imo).

In fairness to the dealer, I haven’t had a bad experience yet and they did call today to ask if the problem recurred. I told them no but had a longer conversation about what all the contributors have said about the ball joints and they stated they added “potentially worn ball joints” to the notes in case I have a future problem.

I don’t know what that means but they are seemingly acting in good faith.

I appreciate everyone’s discussion. Thanks.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Jeff,

Can you please send me the link to the TS Fox Stabilizer you're using. I only run 33" skinny's, I'm not having any problems but I wouldn't mind having a good spare on hand.

How was the install?

John, you can buy this from a number of vendors; I just grabbed the first that came up on Google. https://www.extremeterrain.com/fox-...pWAvl-MEaThx0kEBRrBoCz2AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Air Uncle P]

Took my Jeep to the dealership and it was 5 days past the three year warranty. Dealership told me they would work with me and I “might” have to pay for the new stabilizer or pay for the labor. Oh and they could get me taken care of in about 2-3 weeks. I just walked out.

I ended up installing the Teraflex adjustable SS. I also moved some tires (originals) around so the tread on both front tires was the same. No death wobble since.

Not saying this is the fix or not. I can say it gave me piece of mind for when my kids are driving the Jeep.

When I took off the old SS I was amazed at how easy it was to cycle. Jeep has 31000 on it with mostly highway driving.

 

[pnut]

B

Factory warranty is 3 years or 36k miles he was at 38k.

But then the OP commented " Not really worried about the money and since I have 5 years and 80,000ish miles left on the warranty " so that was a bit confusing.

 

[Buckzona]

About a week ago while on the interstate at 70ish I experienced that first ever wobble. Happened sporadically on uneven bridge connections and only over 60 mph and resolved when slowly below 50 mph.

Took the 2021 Jeep altitude sport to the dealership at 38,000 miles and they replaced the steering damper (and a variety of fasteners). Total bill was $169.94 (below the Mopar extended warranty deductible threshold of $200); total time in the shop was 1.5 hours. I’m not thrilled about paying but it is what it is. If this fixes it I will feel like I got off lucky compared to threads I’ve read on here from others.

I know many of you would say upgrade and/or do the fix yourself but I wanted a track record of the work with the dealer (who we have a good relationship with) in case this isn’t a ‘simple’ fix; parts were $87.09 and labor was $64.88. Not really worried about the money and since I have 5 years and 80,000ish miles left on the warranty I’m good with it. Hopefully this isn’t the rabbit hole I see many others going down.

My Jeep has a Rough Country 2” spacer lift- no new shocks- (couldn’t have gotten a better value- as of now). Tire upgrade to 33x11 on original rims and everything else involved is stock.

Thoughts?

I had a similar issue in Sep. 2023 on my '21 JLUR and the dealership put on the same stabilizer as in your pic and then retorqued the suspension. The Mopar product is pretty worthless ($30-40 item) as rough road shimmy has already returned. After alot of online research and reading user reviews, I'm now awaiting a Teraflex Falcon Nexus EF 2.1 to install. Hoping this helps take care of the problem. Good luck with yours!

 

[Beachcomber72]

B

But then the OP commented " Not really worried about the money and since I have 5 years and 80,000ish miles left on the warranty " so that was a bit confusing.

Ahh, I failed to see that part. Yeah now I’m confused.

 

[Whaler27]

Geez, again!? The dw threads never end.

Stabilizer=bandaid. Might last quite awhile, though.

**Upgrade track bar!**
Tighten everything up
Check drag link, tierod ends and ball joints
Check for tires that won't balance, check your alignment (ps you can do this with a tape measure)

Yup!!

 

[bgsujeeper]

Ahh, I failed to see that part. Yeah now I’m confused.

Sorry- to be clear, I made the mistake of assuming I was under some warranty that would cover it (original Mopar, extended Mopar, or dealer extra-which has paid for the extra keys my daughter already lost, twice). I am under one (not the original) of those warranties but unfortunately below the deductible. $200 isn’t insignificant but not life-changing…

 

[bgsujeeper]

I had a similar issue in Sep. 2023 on my '21 JLUR and the dealership put on the same stabilizer as in your pic and then retorqued the suspension. The Mopar product is pretty worthless ($30-40 item) as rough road shimmy has already returned. After alot of online research and reading user reviews, I'm now awaiting a Teraflex Falcon Nexus EF 2.1 to install. Hoping this helps take care of the problem. Good luck with yours!

So that’s a not fun future….

it seems the consensus here is that this may or (most likely) may not fix the issue and regardless, in the future, I will need to do other steering/suspension component replacement.

thank you to all for the “checklist” to run through for fixing the problem- much more clear than I found in searching old forum articles.

 

[Jamrock]

Yup!!

LOL!!!

To be fair, DW can be a difficult issue to resolve. It sometimes takes a while to go through and identify which worn components are at fault. I understand why the issue keeps coming up on the forum.

 

[m3reno]

My Jeep had a mild case of DW more of an oscillating shimmy at 7500 miles when going over bumps on the highway. I put on a Nexus Falcon 2.1 stabilizer and had the tires rebalanced and haven't had the issue return. The mechanic said that the most likely culprit was the tires off balance.

 

[Cindjw]

About a week ago while on the interstate at 70ish I experienced that first ever wobble. Happened sporadically on uneven bridge connections and only over 60 mph and resolved when slowly below 50 mph.

Took the 2021 Jeep altitude sport to the dealership at 38,000 miles and they replaced the steering damper (and a variety of fasteners). Total bill was $169.94 (below the Mopar extended warranty deductible threshold of $200); total time in the shop was 1.5 hours. I’m not thrilled about paying but it is what it is. If this fixes it I will feel like I got off lucky compared to threads I’ve read on here from others.

I know many of you would say upgrade and/or do the fix yourself but I wanted a track record of the work with the dealer (who we have a good relationship with) in case this isn’t a ‘simple’ fix; parts were $87.09 and labor was $64.88. Not really worried about the money and since I have 5 years and 80,000ish miles left on the warranty I’m good with it. Hopefully this isn’t the rabbit hole I see many others going down.

My Jeep has a Rough Country 2” spacer lift- no new shocks- (couldn’t have gotten a better value- as of now). Tire upgrade to 33x11 on original rims and everything else involved is stock.

Thoughts?

About a week ago while on the interstate at 70ish I experienced that first ever wobble. Happened sporadically on uneven bridge connections and only over 60 mph and resolved when slowly below 50 mph.

Took the 2021 Jeep altitude sport to the dealership at 38,000 miles and they replaced the steering damper (and a variety of fasteners). Total bill was $169.94 (below the Mopar extended warranty deductible threshold of $200); total time in the shop was 1.5 hours. I’m not thrilled about paying but it is what it is. If this fixes it I will feel like I got off lucky compared to threads I’ve read on here from others.

I know many of you would say upgrade and/or do the fix yourself but I wanted a track record of the work with the dealer (who we have a good relationship with) in case this isn’t a ‘simple’ fix; parts were $87.09 and labor was $64.88. Not really worried about the money and since I have 5 years and 80,000ish miles left on the warranty I’m good with it. Hopefully this isn’t the rabbit hole I see many others going down.

My Jeep has a Rough Country 2” spacer lift- no new shocks- (couldn’t have gotten a better value- as of now). Tire upgrade to 33x11 on original rims and everything else involved is stock.

Thoughts?

A year ago I had experienced Death Wobble. I took it to the dealer and they replaced my steering damper/stabilizer and I have had no problem since. It cost $246 to fix as my warranty was no longer valid. After further research I found that there is actually a recall, V41. I contacted [email protected] and they told me to send them my receipt from the dealer and they reimbursed me the total cost. The mechanic at the dealer also informed me that the damper has to be primed before installation and that some dealers didn't know that and that is why it wasn't fixing the problem, so make sure they prime it before installation.

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