Death Wobble / Bump Steer / Steering Issues / Drifting - RESOLVED

[Skipswift]

Hey Skipswift,

Thanks for looping us into this. It looks like most of the individuals mentioning this issue have had it resolved, but if any one else is still having concerns, feel free to DM us!

Jennifer
Jeep Social Care Specialist

While I appreciate the response, @JeepCares , it's not the correct response. The correct response is "Jeep acknowledges the issue and has resolved or is working to resolve the issue". The correct response is not "We have a problem. But we're not concerned as long as people are able to find a way to resolve it on their own, at their own expense, and before someone dies as a result of this problem".

There is clearly an issue in the units Jeep is shipping/has been shipping. What is Jeep doing about it?

Not trying to be harsh, but it's extremely discouraging that so many people have been/are reporting steering issues for many, many months and, to my knowledge, Jeep has yet to even acknowledge these issues let alone correct these issues.

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[RubiRob]

While I appreciate the response, @JeepCares , it's not the correct response. The correct response is "Jeep acknowledges the issue and has resolved or is working to resolve the issue". The correct response is not "We have a problem. But we're not concerned as long as people are able to find a way to resolve it on their own, at their own expense, and before someone dies as a result of this problem".

There is clearly an issue in the units Jeep is shipping/has been shipping. What is Jeep doing about it?

Not trying to be harsh, but it's extremely discouraging that so many people have been/are reporting steering issues for many, many months and, to my knowledge, Jeep has yet to even acknowledge these issues let alone correct these issues.

Jeep needs to acknowledge that the Mopar lift is incomplete and redesign / fix it. I shouldn't have had to buy a Jeep lift from Jeep (who you would expect would have the most solid lift when made for THEIR OWN product) and then spend another $650ish from metalcloak for adjustable LCAs and track bars.

I truly believe part of this has to do with them selling a "2" lift" that in actuality is a 3" lift. Thats the difference between needing geometry fixing components and not.

 

[FrankieFJL]

I truly believe part of this has to do with them selling a "2" lift" that in actuality is a 3" lift. Thats the difference between needing geometry fixing components and not.

This is a good point.

 

[JoshCMH]

Hey Skipswift,

Thanks for looping us into this. It looks like most of the individuals mentioning this issue have had it resolved, but if any one else is still having concerns, feel free to DM us!

Jennifer
Jeep Social Care Specialist

No it is not resolved. Mine has been taken off the road and is awaiting a fix at the dealership.

 

[Skipswift]

No it is not resolved. Mine has been taken off the road and is awaiting a fix at the dealership.

Unfortunately it seems there are many people in a similar place and Jeep hasn't provided dealerships with appropriate diagnostic steps and repair proceedures, either because they don't care or they're in denial about the issue.

Again, not trying to be harsh but it is amazing to me that people have been reporting and posting videos of this issue since last winter and Jeep has yet to respond.

Maybe Jeep has been advised by their lawyers not to respond because of the high level of liability involved if someone were to be injured or killed. Having said that @JeepCares is aware, therefore Jeep is aware and no less legally responsible than if they were to acknowledge the issue.

 

[JeepCares]

No it is not resolved. Mine has been taken off the road and is awaiting a fix at the dealership.

Hey JoshCMH,

I can see there is already a case open for you, and someone should be touching base wit you soon. Please follow up on our most recent DM if you have questions in the meantime.

Jennifer
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

[Martindfletcher]

Jeep needs to acknowledge that the Mopar lift is incomplete and redesign / fix it. I shouldn't have had to buy a Jeep lift from Jeep (who you would expect would have the most solid lift when made for THEIR OWN product) and then spend another $650ish from metalcloak for adjustable LCAs and track bars.

I truly believe part of this has to do with them selling a "2" lift" that in actuality is a 3" lift. Thats the difference between needing geometry fixing components and not.

I agree with your second point, but at the price point compared to the cost of a kit without shocks and adjustable control arms, and an adjustable front track bar, you did not do too bad.

 

[RubiRob]

I agree with your second point, but at the price point compared to the cost of a kit without shocks and adjustable control arms, and an adjustable front track bar, you did not do too bad.

As a customer, I shouldn't have to expect to buy aftermarket parts when buying Jeep branded lift kits. Plenty of buyers are getting the Mopar lift with the expectation that its a complete lift that retains factory warranty.

 

[RPerson]

Hey Skipswift,

Thanks for looping us into this. It looks like most of the individuals mentioning this issue have had it resolved, but if any one else is still having concerns, feel free to DM us!

Jennifer
Jeep Social Care Specialist

Also not resolved. Been off the road for nearly a month waiting for a steering damper (which I'm starting to suspect won't even fix the problem) and all I keep getting from Jeep is updates on when the part might arrive. Yesterday it got pulled in from December to "sometime the week of 11/12" which probably still means December.

 

[Jessgut12]

I watched this thread and with the recommendation I went ahead and bought the yeti track bar. I currently have the skyjacker dual steering stablizer and will come back and give you guys me feedback once I get the track bar on the jeep. I also have my stock one still and will give some feedback too.

 

[Command Line RC]

Got back from the dealership, they did adjust my caster...and checked my suspension just to see if anything was loose. They checked the track bar and everything else while under there. I was watching him the whole time, yes the dealership mechanic and myself have a Jeep bond lol. About home and bam the death wobble showed it's ugly face. The mechanic is going to open up a case with Chrysler at this point.

 

[Jessgut12]

Got back from the dealership, they did adjust my caster...and checked my suspension just to see if anything was loose. They checked the track bar and everything else while under there. I was watching him the whole time, yes the dealership mechanic and myself have a Jeep bond lol. About home and bam the death wobble showed it's ugly face. The mechanic is going to open up a case with Chrysler at this point.

I'm hoping the track bar upgrade will fix my issue. Ive heard that the track bar and steering stabilizer are crap so crossing my fingers. I can't open a claim because I have a 3 inch fabtech lift and 37's on my rig so I probably will get denied the claim anyway.

 

[ChrispyJL]

That $200+ steering stabilizer didn't fix DW, it masked it.
I will give it a few months before it trashes that thing and your DW is back.
Add adjustable arms to fix caster.

I went through this in my old Cherokee, replaced stabilizer and all was well for a bit, until DW came back and trashed the whole front end, put in adjustable beefy arms, track, tie rod, HD ball joints, new hub bearings, steering box brace, track bar brace, basically the whole front end and didn't even need a steering stabilizer after.

DW will destroy everything in your front end.

Moral of the story...MOPAR lift is garbage, if you actually off road, get a real front end upgrade

 

[wbee]

Replacing the track bar and centering the axels is good practice, but the only thing that appears to correct DW or shaking is adjusting the caster with adjustable control arms. Everyone that claims they have fixed their DW problems has done it by adjusting caster to about 6 degrees. The caster on the JL is fixed around 4.0 to 4.5 degrees and can’t be adjusted without adding adjustable control arms. So if someone tells you they adjusted the caster without replacing the control arms or adding a caster adjusting bolts they probably just checked the caster.
I received my adjustable control arms yesterday and plan on installing them tonight. I’ll let you know what happens. RubiRob has some great posts about his DW experience and his fix by changing his caster.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

As a long term lurker in this forum I thought I would add my experience to this thread as I feel it makes a good case study to backup what the OP found with the help of Joe. I purchased a 2018 JLU Sport S in September. Drove it 1k miles or so stock before I decided to make the small upgrades that I had planned all along. While driving it in stock form I found the handling to be "off", vehicle seemed to be flighty and the best description I could come up with was that it seemed to "shimmy". I believed that the side to side action I felt in the suspension was due to compression of the too soft stock suspension. Around 1k miles I added shocks and springs from a JLUR with hard top and tow package and 32" 255/75/17 tires. The idea was to get a small lift and to run the tire size that I have found works best for my purposes on my last two wranglers both JK's. It worked perfectly as I got 1.5" in the front and 2" in the rear of body lift. At first I had a placebo effect and thought the handling was better, didn't last long as quickly I realized that the small changes made this thing far worse. The shimmy was especially noticeable when hitting bumps or uneven pavement as the vehicle seemed to want to go sideways causing a large correction on the steering wheel to keep it straight. I took it back to my dealer for an alignment and diagnostic of the steering. Told them to take in on the highway less than one mile from the dealership and drive it at 65MPH, the handling issues would be obvious. Well they aligned it after they kept the vehicle for two full days to get the specs which apparently they did not have, then charged me $129.00. Drove the vehicle through Town to my house and dropped it off, drives as designed they said. Bull, the thing moves side to side in a manner that I honestly had never experienced in my prior Jeeps. I read every post on this site regarding the steering, handling etc., nothing seemed to make sense until I read what Joe posted about his findings. Now I will not begin to tell you guys I experienced anything close to a death wobble, though with the very small changes I made I would not expect it, though now after reading this thread a couple of times and test driving this thing on different surfaces the results have suddenly made sense to me. First I have a shudder under certain conditions, it is faint but definitely there, I believe that this is the start of the death wobble and if I had gone to a more aggressive lift and or larger tires I would be in the same boat as the OP. Second the handling characteristic that I described as a "shimmy" is most definitely deflection. Joe nailed this one on the head, on uneven pavement it is very noticeable as the vehicle deflects opposite the lower pavement side. This causes the Jeep to suddenly dart sideways and requires a large correction, not exactly the type of thing I want headed into winter where we tend to get large snowfalls. If Joe is correct that the stock track bar/bushing combo has a full inch of deflection just think what that would do to our handling at 55MPH or greater. To test this I drove on a freshly paved, level, straight road that was just paved last week. Sure enough the Jeep handled great as the pavement was like glass, I traveled it up to 60MPH, the Jeep was straight as an arrow. I then drove it at 40 MPH and worked the wheel as you would to avoid a deer or other collision intentionally to see the results, sure enough as soon as I had to move the wheel enough to case the weight to shift the "deflection" was clear as day. Best way I can describe it is that the Jeep flexes hard in the opposite direction of the steer, this then causes the small shudder that I feel and of course causes the direction of the vehicle to change. Sorry to be long winded about this but it was like a light bulb went on in my head as I digested this post. I have ordered the Yeti track bar that Joe recommended and will install it as soon as it arrives. Will then test to see if my steering stabilizer is acceptable or if that will also need to be changed., BTW I already spoke to Rusty about the caster, I am at 4.8, 4.7 which with only a 1.5 inch lift should be acceptable. I understand that the control arms may be in order but I really want to play with the stabilizer/track bar first to see what changes can be made. Bottom line when I spend 45K on this vehicle I never imagined that it would be incapable of handling a small lift and 32" tires without causing me to purchase far more after market parts than I expected. I am hoping that I can correct my issues with track bar alone as that may go a long ways to showing that the stock track bar on this thing is a big miss by FCA. Sorry about the book all.

Chewi

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