2020 JL semi death wobble

[dante2]

Ok so the problem with my wife's JL (23K miles) is that it will start shaking when she transitions from the road to a bridge or bridge to the road. It doesn't happen everytime but this last time (today) she said was the worst experience so far. I hesitate on calling it death wobble because she hasn't had to stop completely to get the shaking to stop, usually slowing to under 45 will get it to stop. The Jeep is stock and other Oklahoma roads has never been off road. I have taken it to the dealer to try to replace the aluminum steering box which is actually pretty good compared to some in the steering box thread (I read the whole thing). They of course could not replicate the shaking and the steering is in spec, very little play. I have check steering components after each incident and everything is still tight. The only thing that really changes is the tire pressure due to seasonal changes but I try to stay ahead of it. Tires have been rotated several times since new. The only thing I haven't done so far is check the balance on the tires. I could see if she were beating on it every weekend on trails but other than a gravel drive or 2 it has never left the pavement.
Anyone have some advice or suggestions? Frustrated in OK.
Pic from they day it was delivered. Bumpers, side steps, and stickers are the only things added.

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[YBABRAT]

I have had a shimmy when hitting a poorly patched pot hole. slight mind you... original 2019 steering stabilizer with 90k milage. Some stabilizers from pre 2024 are a mixed bag. Since steering components are tight, it may be the stabilizer.

I attribute the condition to electronic steering. it over compensates big bumps that are not dampened properly. creating it's own pressure oscillation that is effecting steering and making the steering controller try to compensate for steering wheel postion and pressure sensed from steering gear output, from lack of dampening. it's like audio feedback with a mic. The amplified signal is picked up by the mic and the delay between speaker feeding mic and mic feeding amp creates a harmonic signal that gets amplified. Amplifier pushes while mic pulls to the point of turning down amplitude to stop the oscillation. Thus the need to slow down to stop the steering wobble.

 

[dante2]

I have had a shimmy when hitting a poorly patched pot hole. slight mind you... original 2019 steering stabilizer with 90k milage. Some stabilizers from pre 2024 are a mixed bag. Since steering components are tight, it may be the stabilizer.

I attribute the condition to electronic steering. it over compensates big bumps that are not dampened properly. creating it's own pressure oscillation that is effecting steering and making the steering controller try to compensate for steering wheel postion and pressure sensed from steering gear output, from lack of dampening. it's like audio feedback with a mic. The amplified signal is picked up by the mic and the delay between speaker feeding mic and mic feeding amp creates a harmonic signal that gets amplified. Amplifier pushes while mic pulls to the point of turning down amplitude to stop the oscillation. Thus the need to slow down to stop the steering wobble.

That's a good analogy for what it's doing. What recommendation do you have for a stabilizer?

 

[YBABRAT]

I thought about that myself. Usually a factory replacement is good enough, but some prefer a bit more flexibility with tire and lift mods. A Fox 2.0 Pro ATS is over kill for street only driving. I like Sky Jacker, with its dust boot... mainly for salt road and mud conditions. Rough Country would be a wee better than OEM.

 

[west tex]

My '21 developed a similar wobble after only 16K miles. Got a rotation/balance and that seemed to take care of it - for a little while, then it reappeared. Took it to the dealer and they replaced the steering stabilizer and that solved it.

 

[tk1700]

That's a good analogy for what it's doing. What recommendation do you have for a stabilizer?

I put Rancho RS7MT stabilizer on both of my JLs. Fits without any modifications and has worked well. Also, cost was less than most others.

 

[treyes1125]

Ok so the problem with my wife's JL (23K miles) is that it will start shaking when she transitions from the road to a bridge or bridge to the road. It doesn't happen everytime but this last time (today) she said was the worst experience so far. I hesitate on calling it death wobble because she hasn't had to stop completely to get the shaking to stop, usually slowing to under 45 will get it to stop. The Jeep is stock and other Oklahoma roads has never been off road. I have taken it to the dealer to try to replace the aluminum steering box which is actually pretty good compared to some in the steering box thread (I read the whole thing). They of course could not replicate the shaking and the steering is in spec, very little play. I have check steering components after each incident and everything is still tight. The only thing that really changes is the tire pressure due to seasonal changes but I try to stay ahead of it. Tires have been rotated several times since new. The only thing I haven't done so far is check the balance on the tires. I could see if she were beating on it every weekend on trails but other than a gravel drive or 2 it has never left the pavement.
Anyone have some advice or suggestions? Frustrated in OK.
Pic from they day it was delivered. Bumpers, side steps, and stickers are the only things added.

I experienced the Death Wobble while driving on the freeway. It scared the hell out of me, so I took it the dealer to get checked and they told me it needed the tires to be balanced and also said that being a 4 wheel drive that the front and back axles operate independently which causes the wobble. I haven’t experienced the wobble since then (4 months) but looked into maybe putting in a stabilizer bar.

 

[dante2]

We're going to do a tire balance first and see what results come from that. I am thinking about pulling the stabilizer just to see if it's bad. Thank you for the help and suggestions everyone.

 

[Ratbert]

We're going to do a tire balance first and see what results come from that. I am thinking about pulling the stabilizer just to see if it's bad. Thank you for the help and suggestions everyone.

I'm pretty sure your tires would have to be insanely out of balance for them to cause death wobble.

I'm also not sure that there's any evidence of a steering stabilizer causing death wobble. Replacing a faulty one, however, might mask the fundamental issue elsewhere in your suspension. For a while at least.

 

[dante2]

I'm pretty sure your tires would have to be insanely out of balance for them to cause death wobble.

I'm also not sure that there's any evidence of a steering stabilizer causing death wobble. Replacing a faulty one, however, might mask the fundamental issue elsewhere in your suspension. For a while at least.

As I stated I am hesitant to call it death wobble because it really isn't. You can drive out of it by slowing down. My wife works from home and the Jeep only gets driven on the interstate on the weekends. If it were happening every time she drove it then it would be a bigger concern. Sadly it's so random that it's extremely hard to replicate.

 

[GoatBoy]

dante2
save your money on the balancing, won't change a thing. that's what our dealer had us do at almost 50$ too no avail. happened only on certain transitions and of course dealer never experienced on test drive. new damper (stock, under warranty) solved issue - apparantly.
bought 2022 4xe used with 4,200 miles all stock, no lift whatsoever. original purchaser had vehicle serviced showing tires balanced/rotated and steering damper at 3,800 miles after 9 months then traded in 2 months later. We then experienced problem 10 months into ownership and 10,000 additional miles. This is when i paid for balance/rotate since they found no problem but this was their suggestion. A month later and 1,000 miles could stand it no longer and brought it back demanding new damper. Now 13 months and 13,000 miles on damper (28,000 total) and all is well.
I checked suspension numerous times all is tight. Is the stock damper the weak link in antiquated design with 20" wheels. Or a bad batch from wherever or just cheap crap requisitioned by Stellantis!
Pull it and see that it's toast then either go stock and hope you get a good one as I am sure some people never experience the problem or spend a bit more for aftermarket with the money saved an balancing.

 

[dante2]

Pulled the stabilizer and it's of course completely dead. I have a RS7MT ordered. Thank you for the suggestions and help everyone. I did find a Reddit that referenced the OEM stabilizer and a poster claiming to be a dealer tech said that the sidewalls on the Sport and Sahara could be a contributing factor due to being softer tires. Take it for what you will.

 

[dgoodhue]

Mine started shaking on hitting some bumps/bridges on the highways when it had 10k miles. I just assumed it was solid front axle thing. About 10k miles later I had the death wobble where violently shook and it didn't stop until I slowed down. Mine was stabilizer as well.

 

[Slick2021]

Mine started shaking on hitting some bumps/bridges on the highways when it had 10k miles. I just assumed it was solid front axle thing. About 10k miles later I had the death wobble where violently shook and it didn't stop until I slowed down. Mine was stabilizer as well.

Have recently experienced this on the highway with my stock 2021, 12k miles. If you took it to the dealer was it fixed under warranty?

 

[west tex]

Have recently experienced this on the highway with my stock 2021, 12k miles. If you took it to the dealer was it fixed under warranty?

I have the MOPAR extended warranty and got the stabilizer replaced. Only charge was the usual $100 deductible.

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