2022 Rubicon DEATH WOBBLE need help please

[Howardlv22]

Hello, as I am asking for help, I will try to be specific and provide facts only. I truly appreciate any assistance, I am not new to jeeps but I have yes, I exhausted my own methods to trying to diagnose this.

my wife’s 2022 wrangler unlimited rubicon 2.0 sarge green with a small mopar lift and 37” nitto recon grappler tires. I have non adjustable get teraflex lower control arms and a fox thru shaft stab.
This was all done at zero miles. (Besides the tires which have 4k miles on them. )

the jeep now has 19k miles.
Weeks ago, I noticed a shimmy. I then took it in for an alignment locally. They aligned it and the shimmy was less however still there. They said my new tires were wearing bad but so new it shouldn’t be that. They checked torque on everything and I went home.
two weeks later the shimmy was back. Swapped the tires around, checked alignment again and didn’t go away. Checked for loose components like I have on my many other wranglers I’ve had and it felt okay.
today the jeep at 40mph drove my wife off the road.
I limped it home one mile without wobble and checked everything. Took it out and the only way to avoid actually bad death wobble pulling you off the road is to get above 45mhp quickly before it grabs you.
I am selling it in may and I am asking for the help of a trusted shop or mechanic to diagnose and help me fix this this week. I don’t want to spend a huge amount, but I want it fixed for summer and can obviously pay what’s needed. Again, thank you . Please only helpful responses, I’m not going to just start buying parts or ripping it all apart myself. Thank you.

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[EbyCreek]

My friend has a 2020 Rubicon with the Mopar 2 inch lift (under 20,000 miles) an has had the same problem twice. Took it to the dealer and the first time it was bad trackbar bushings. The second time it was the draglink. There seems to be a problem with those 2 components as the dealer said it was a common problem.

 

[Howardlv22]

My friend has a 2020 Rubicon with the Mopar 2 inch lift (under 20,000 miles) an has had the same problem twice. Took it to the dealer and the first time it was bad trackbar bushings. The second time it was the draglink. There seems to be a problem with those 2 components as the dealer said it was a common problem.

Thank you sir

 

[Ratbert]

Find a reputable shop in your area and let them figure it out. There are diagnostic guides here, but there's a crapload of potential causes that you'd need to analyze one by one.

 

[EbyCreek]

I would get a friend and with the jeep running.
Have him turn the steering wheel back and forth while you lay on a creeper in front of the jeep and look for play in any of the components.

 

[Jamrock]

I would get a friend and with the jeep running.
Have him turn the steering wheel back and forth while you lay on a creeper in front of the jeep and look for play in any of the components.

Death wobble is usually a sign of worn suspension components. @EbyCreek has given you some good advice. Look for movement and change the worn components.

 

[alphawolff]

Double check trackbar torque and replace the steering damper. Very, very common.

 

[Wbino]

Just going on a guess I'd say it's the 37 " tires, gripping like they are supposed to but your driving on a highway with them.

 

[Buckzona]

I had a similar problem with my '21...Mopar lift with 35" tires but no other mods. Long story short, Jeep replaced the original steering stabilizer with a new factory one ($30 part) and the problem returned in 2 weeks. I put on a Fox stabilizer and have had no re-occurance in nearly 2 years. Good luck sorting it out!

 

[Nvdardx28]

37s will wear away at those ball joints. The stock ball joins are complete crap. It's easy to check trackbar bushings, but shouldn't your lift have an upgraded track bar? After the track bar, then it's very likely to be the ball joints. Unless your ball joints are extremely loose you're not going to find any play in the ball joints. I had this problem for almost a year and wish I just simply changed the ball joints first. It's really only a matter or time, especially with 37s.

 

[andy29847]

Are your aftermarket wheels hub centric or lug nut centric. Most after-market wheels center with center with a hub adapter or with the lug nuts. If yours is centered with lug nuts, it matters how the wheel is installed.

1. Jack car up and secure it with a jack stand (Safety First )
2. Loosen all lug nuts and either put on rim, rotate or whatever the hell you need to do.
3. Thread on all the lug nuts, but DO NOT tighten to where you can not move them.
4. Rotate the tire/rim until one of the 5 lugs is at the 12 o clock position.
5. Tighten lug nut with thumb and forefinger to the point that you can not do it anymore.
6. Rotate the tire clockwise, skipping one lug nut.
7. After skipping the one nut, put the 3rd nut in the 12 o clock position. Tighten this one the same as Step 5
8. Skip one more nut, and repeat Step 5. This last nut will be right next to the first one.
9. Let the truck down to where the tires barely touch the ground. Use a wrench and tighten all bolts with about 25% of your strength. Just enough to grab.
10. I then let the truck down all the way and torqued the bolts to 90.
11. Repeat all steps above for the rest of the truck and throw a couple of beers in there


discussion here: (1) Hub or lug centric? | Jeep Gladiator (JT) News, Forum, Community - JeepGladiatorForum.com

 

[MegaZoso]

Mine got the death wobble at 8000 miles
I replaced everything with 2.5 ton TMR bars and a fox adjustable . Drives great now . The stock everything is junk. Cheapest possible . They know people are going to upgrade that stuff anyways . The pieces you are not likely to upgrade are of higher quality though.
old vehicles didnt even have stabilizers and never had this issue. I want to say geometry has more to do with it than anything.

 

[Bikemobile]

I had to get slightly longer lower control arms, a yeti HD front track bar and I added a HD steering stabiliyzer. 37's are kinda big on "stock" steering parts and geometries. Might need to add some bigger pieces

 

[EbyCreek]

You shouldn't have death wobble without a steering stabilizer. If putting a new steering stabilizer on gets rid of your death wobble you have done nothing more than cover up the problem. Death wobble is caused by loose or worn components (bushings, ball joints, out of balance tires & etc).

 

[Bikemobile]

You shouldn't have death wobble without a steering stabilizer. If putting a new steering stabilizer on gets rid of your death wobble you have done nothing more than cover up the problem. Death wobble is caused by loose or worn components (bushings, ball joints, out of balance tires & etc).

This is true. The stabilizer helps in a few ways but it can be a coverup for other issues.

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