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

[OldGuyNewJeep]

TL;DR

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[offcamber]

As someone said above, the steering stabilizer isn't "fixing" anything. It's masking the issue. The problem is still there and while you may not feel it, the stabilizer is making it from you, but it's still there and it's doing damage to other components until one day it will be bigger than what the stabilizer can handle and it's going to cost you a LOT more to fix it then. I've been there and have that t-shirt. It's like if your engine is making a noise, just putting ear protection on so you can't hear it any more.

 

[smartbalance]

I've test driven 5 JLU's and they all had the "loose" drifting wandering steering issue. When I drove the first one I barely noticed it and thought it was a minor normal thing for a Jeep. I changed my mind after driving 2 or 3 and decided that I would not buy one with this issue. I was all set to buy a JLU that had just arrived at a dealership and was built 9/18 as I was hoping that the steering issue would be fixed by then. It was not.

So, I realize that this is probably not exactly the correct thread for this, but can anyone out there, or someone at Jeep Cares, verify that this issue is being worked on, or will be fixed on 2019's, or will be fixed at some later date?

I for one will not purchase a Jeep JLU with this issue.

 

[JeepCares]

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.

Hey RPerson,

As stated in our prior comment, anyone still having concerns can send us a private message so we can take a closer look. If you're waiting on parts, I can also connect with our parts support team for more information. Please include your VIN and dealer name/location when you PM us so I can locate your part order.

Jennifer
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

[#HERJL18]

My JLUR goes in to Jeep today for the death wobble issue. I had minor play in the steering when I bought the Jeep back in May but nothing concerning. We installed the Mopar 2" lift and 37" KO2s with only 500 miles on it. It drove better than stock without any problems for 7,000 miles. And then the death wobble started and got bad very quickly. My death wobble may not be as bad as some JK videos on youtube but it gets so bad on certain bumps that I have to pull over and come to a complete stop to get it to stop and it's scary as shit. I try to avoid any potholes but now it wobbles consistently on any minor bump. And this is definitely not bump steer that is expected on any lifted vehicle. We have had the tires rotated and balanced twice, had the suspension checked and tightened twice to torque specs and had the front end aligned twice. Its Jeeps turn to figure it out.

 

[WIJLU]

I hope I'm not headed down that road with death wobble in my future!!

The dealer messed with mine several times while it was still stock and finally gave up. They did the computer update. No change. Replaced the steering box. No change. The regional rep said they wouldn't work on it any more because "Everything was in spec". The dealer agreed with the rep and told me if everything was in spec, there was nothing else they could do. JeepCares was involved, but to no avail. Actually, I believe the dealer was in a tough spot. I decided I could do things to try to fix this that the dealer simply couldn't do...like aftermarket components. Should I have to? Absolutely not! But I do love jeeps and I wanted mine set up the way I wanted it...and I wanted to enjoy driving it.

From reading everything on here and other places, I decided to take a chance. I installed the Mopar lift (horribly incomplete, but I wanted the shocks) with RK spring pads, Metalcloak control arms and track bars. Dialed everything on the suspension in (added about a degree of caster), then messed with the steering box a little. I almost screwed that up, so...be VERY careful if you undertake this fix, but I was able to make a small adjustment that helped. Running 37" BFG KO's and it actually drives better than it did stock. I love the shocks / spring rate...they feel really good together.

It's only been about 1k miles, so the jury is still out, but so far...so good. It still doesn't steer as well as I think it could...but it's far better than it was and very tolerable, IMO. I may try other things in the future to "tweak" a little more out of it, but it mostly feels like I would expect a lifted Jeep on 37's to feel.

Anyone that had their problems cured by a dealer...congratulations!!! I'm very happy for you!

For the rest of us...I'm not sure the dealer can fix these, because at the end of the day...they have to have the vehicle within factory spec. My opinion is that some of these things don't drive well in factory specs. They need more caster (which is not adjustable with factory parts) and the steering boxes are not set up right from the factory.

Until FCA issues a "fix" for the dealers to follow, we'll all (most of us anyway) keep fighting the steering issues ourselves.

Just my $.02

 

[Chewbacca2264]

BTW, in the book I wrote on the last page I forgot to mention that during the diagnostic phase of trying to figure this out I torque checked all of the front suspension components, bottom ball joint nut was finger tight plus maybe 1/8 turn. Not even 10 ft/lbs. To say that that I am unhappy would be an understatement, even ran numbers to trade this off on a JK. The dealership was happy to make the trade once I took a 6k hit........to think I turned in a perfectly good, reliable, slightly upgraded 2014 Sahara 4d for this POS, makes me very angry.

Chewi

 

[Bswen]

My stock Sahara has been experiencing this when hitting a bump on the interstate. I have not read through the whole thread yet, but has anyone else experienced the wobble without any suspension mods/lifts etc...?

 

[jeremyjeep]

My stock Sahara has been experiencing this when hitting a bump on the interstate. I have not read through the whole thread yet, but has anyone else experienced the wobble without any suspension mods/lifts etc...?

Yes, several people on this and similar threads said there was no modification, no lifts. 100% stock.

 

[Jason]

So what lower control arms is everyone going with? I was looking at EVO and metalcloak.

 

[Mike21163]

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

Hey Chewi,
Thanks for taking the time to read this thread in full, and sharing your steering issues. I've chatted with a good amount of JL owners recently on this topic. I haven't spoken to one JL owner yet that has regrets on upgrading to the Steer Smarts YETI Track Bar & Falcon Nexus EF 2.2 Stabilizer. This combo is one of the best options at this time, to correct JL steering issues. For all of those that have sent me pm's, I'm glad to see that this has also resolved your issues and significantly improved your driving experience.

 

[Command Line RC]

So what lower control arms is everyone going with? I was looking at EVO and metalcloak.

I installed Evo upper and lower control arms.

 

[Chewbacca2264]

Hey Chewi,
Thanks for taking the time to read this thread in full, and sharing your steering issues. I've chatted with a good amount of JL owners recently on this topic. I haven't spoken to one JL owner yet that has regrets on upgrading to the Steer Smarts YETI Track Bar & Falcon Nexus EF 2.2 Stabilizer. This combo is one of the best options at this time, to correct JL steering issues. For all of those that have sent me pm's, I'm glad to see that this has also resolved your issues and significantly improved your driving experience.

Mike,

Thanks for all of your input on this issue. I have both the track bar and stabilizer in route....just going to copy the success that you had with Joe. Hopefully I will have both parts in by tuesdayn or wednesday next week.

 

[wbee]

Here is my experience. Maybe it will help someone who is dealing with DW. I installed my Mopar lift in August (JLUR) and a couple weeks later I installed an adjustable front track bar. Drove great for a month but my wife started commenting on the front shaking sometimes. I though it may be a result of the rear axel being out of alignment so I added a track bar relocation bracket. The DW started getting worse.

I ordered a new steering stabilizer and some adjustable lower control arms. I thought they needed to be a little longer than the mopar control arms so I lengthen them about and inch and tried to use a digital angle gauge to get my caster. The Jeep was practically undriveable and every bump cause bad DW.

The next day I took it to get the alignment checked and everything was in spec but the caster was at about 8 degrees. I wasn’t expecting 8 degrees. I shortened the control arms and had it checked again and it was 7 degrees and DW improved. I finally went to 6 Degrees of caster and it went away completely. The funny thing, I think the adjustable control arms are now shorter than the control arms that came with the Mopar lift.

Hopefully this will help someone because I was getting frustrated trying to get 6.5 degrees of caster and it wasn’t working. I was thinking I needed longer control arms. Obviously I’m not an alignment expert, but I would have thought I needed to increase my caster from the Mopar Lift and not decrease it.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Here is my experience. Maybe it will help someone who is dealing with DW. I installed my Mopar lift in August (JLUR) and a couple weeks later I installed an adjustable front track bar. Drove great for a month but my wife started commenting on the front shaking sometimes. I though it may be a result of the rear axel being out of alignment so I added a track bar relocation bracket. The DW started getting worse.

I ordered a new steering stabilizer and some adjustable lower control arms. I thought they needed to be a little longer than the mopar control arms so I lengthen them about and inch and tried to use a digital angle gauge to get my caster. The Jeep was practically undriveable and every bump cause bad DW.

The next day I took it to get the alignment checked and everything was in spec but the caster was at about 8 degrees. I wasn’t expecting 8 degrees. I shortened the control arms and had it checked again and it was 7 degrees and DW improved. I finally went to 6 Degrees of caster and it went away completely. The funny thing, I think the adjustable control arms are now shorter than the control arms that came with the Mopar lift.

Hopefully this will help someone because I was getting frustrated trying to get 6.5 degrees of caster and it wasn’t working. I was thinking I needed longer control arms. Obviously I’m not an alignment expert, but I would have thought I needed to increase my caster from the Mopar Lift and not decrease it.

Seems many on the JL forum have reported needing longer LCAs after a lift. Seems like a lot of inconsistent front end geometry (not a surprise - if they are missing welds, they probably aren't consistently welding in the same spots). Many had success with this - https://teraflex.com/shop_items/jl-jlu-2-5-4-lift-front-lower-control-arm-drop-bracket-kit-pair changing the angle of the control arms.

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