Alignment and pitman arm Questions

[Anchored626]

Have a 2019 Sahara that I just got. The dealership did a alignment on it when preparing it to sell it. When I purchased it, it drove straight but within a week I had multiple warning lights on my dash. My steering was way off. The vehicle was saying service electronic stability control system. Later it started telling me screen setup not available while in motion. I never tried to setup the screen. The dealership said the pitman arm was bad and they replaced it. On my way home about 13 miles away from the dealership my whole front end started shaking aggressively after going over a overpass. I took it back. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if by them doing the alignment it would have hidden those issues temporarily? This was supposed to be a guaranteed reconditioned vehicle. They are fixing it but refusing to buy it back. Thanks for any help

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[Reinen]

That is going to be nearly impossible to diagnose online without pictures of the front end suspension, even with that it will be difficult. But bottom line, something in your front end suspension is worn and/or loose. Don't worry about the electronic stability control warning. That's caused by your out of alignment steering wheel and it's an easy fix.

The aggressive shaking is called Death Wobble. Don't be too alarmed by the name, it rarely results in actual death. It just feels like it and is very disconcerting. It means without a doubt there is something wrong, worn or loose in your front end suspension. It's the same thing as a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel. When it happens you should get off the accelerator, don't hit the brake and slow until it stops.

Here's the thing with Death Wobble. It is NOT caused by a bad steering stabilizer or pitman arm. DW can break these things but they're not the root cause of the DW. It's something else. Don't let them replace these things and send you on your way without doing anything else.

They need to go over the entire suspension and steering system and look for any components with play in them, confirm that every bolt in the front end is torqued to spec. Once they find something loose or a bad bushing, only then should they look at replacing things like steering stabilizer and pitman arms.

Bottom line, you got a JL with a problem. Stay on them like white on rice until this is resolved one way or another.

One thing to add, it's quite possible the dealership had no idea there was a problem. A dealership almost never drives their Jeeps fast enough to induce DW. But now that you've quickly reported it they may be in denial that there's a difficult to diagnose problem that they need to fix.

 

[melendez69]

Hi, Amanda, & Welcome to the forum. Out of curiosity, how many miles, is it lifted, any reported accident(s)?

 

[Anchored626]

It has 30,000 miles it's not lifted completely stock. No accidents have been reported. My thing is they went from they would buy it back to we didn't do anything wrong. I feel they hid the problem temporarily. It wasn't a jeep dealership that I got it at. It's at jeep now though.

 

[GATORB8]

Several things it could be. I think the 19s still have the aluminum steering box, and a stronger steel unit has superseded it. Death Wobble tends to take a specific hit, so if they didn't test drive it with a relatively high speed bump they may not have known it.

 

[Anchored626]

From the paperwork of them preparing it for sale from the time they got it only 1 mile. I asked for a list of the things that they checked to make it a guaranteed reconditioned vehicle and they couldn't give me that.

 

[GATORB8]

From the paperwork of them preparing it for sale from the time they got it only 1 mile. I asked for a list of the things that they checked to make it a guaranteed reconditioned vehicle and they couldn't give me that.

What dealership did you buy it from?

 

[Trunty]

One thing to add, the error messages and the death wobble are likely unrelated. If your steering wheel is too far off center when going straight, the jeep does not like this. Good news is that this is an easy fix by adjusting the drag link, which should have been part of the dealerships alignment. Regarding death wobble, I always start with a retorquing of all of the control arm and track bar bolts, while inspecting for excessive play.

 

[mwilk012]

The pitman arm is not a wear item. Was this some sort of fly by night buy here pay here theft lot?

what the hell is a “reconditioned vehicle”? It sounds like a shady sales tactic that really just means they cleaned it.

 

[GATORB8]

The pitman arm is not a wear item. Was this some sort of fly by night buy here pay here theft lot?

what the hell is a “reconditioned vehicle”? It sounds like a shady sales tactic that really just means they cleaned it.

Oddly, she's not the only one who referenced a pitman arm replacement in the last day or two.

@Anchored626 Looks like you haven't had a chance to respond to my previous question about what dealership. I'm in the Charlotte area and can connect you with some local resources to get it running right if necessary.

 

[Anchored626]

Gotcha, but my question is if they aligned it. Then my steering wheel went sideways a week later. When I took it back they said it was the pitman arm and replaced it then. If adjusting the drag link will fix the steering when like that and is part of the alignment could the pitman arm issue be hidden by doing the alignment?

 

[Anchored626]

Oddly, she's not the only one who referenced a pitman arm replacement in the last day or two.

@Anchored626 Looks like you haven't had a chance to respond to my previous question about what dealership. I'm in the Charlotte area and can connect you with some local resources to get it running right if necessary.

It was a Infinity dealership. Jeep has looked at it but now they are telling me that they can't reproduce the issue. Bs

 

[ym0bc1]

The only alignment you can do on a stock Jeep Wrangler is the front toe. You can check if your tie rod adjuster nut is loosen or not, but I don't think it would.

second is to check your drag link adjuster nut - if that's loose which I don't think it would either.

When the steering wheel is off, ESC will be turned off by the computer. it's normal. All you need to do is to correct the steering.

Showing "screen setup not available while in motion" is also normal, it's what the setup screen does when you drive. You probably touched the button unknowingly given you're new to the vehicle.

Your description of "shaking agressively" seems to be death wobble. Plus you say the steering wheel is off. I'm guessing the track bar fastener is loose. Check that and re-torque it to 125 lbs.ft.

After that, adjust your draglink to correct your steering wheel. Then everything would be good.

 

[jadmt]

my guess is they did not tighten down the drag link clamp when the adjusted the steering wheel and it rotated..they are probably calling that the pitman arm because they are not used to working on solid axles

 

[Anchored626]

The only alignment you can do on a stock Jeep Wrangler is the front toe. You can check if your tie rod adjuster nut is loosen or not, but I don't think it would.

second is to check your drag link adjuster nut - if that's loose which I don't think it would either.

When the steering wheel is off, ESC will be turned off by the computer. it's normal. All you need to do is to correct the steering.

Showing "screen setup not available while in motion" is also normal, it's what the setup screen does when you drive. You probably touched the button unknowingly given you're new to the vehicle.

Your description of "shaking agressively" seems to be death wobble. Plus you say the steering wheel is off. I'm guessing the track bar fastener is loose. Check that and re-torque it to 125 lbs.ft.

After that, adjust your draglink to correct your steering wheel. Then everything would be good.

No I didn't touch the button By mistake. I traded a jeep that I was leasing for this one. So I know what all the buttons do and you can't set up the screens while in motion. That message came up after I put it in drive and stayed up.

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