Death Wobble Suddenly, First Time, No Warning!!! Is this Normal?

[Dauntless 7]

I have read many stories about the dreaded Death Wobble. But until today I never experienced it. And it occured suddenly and without any indication that anything was worn out or getting there. Is this normal?

I Have a 2018 JL Sahara that is stock. It had the Steering Damper replaced under an early recall. It is just over 50K miles on it now.

Coincidentally, it occurred when I took it to the dealership this morning regarding a U-Connect update recall.

Up until today, and oddly enough, on the drive to the dealership, she drove as steady and smooth as ever, at speeds up to 65 MPH.

Upon leaving the dealership, (after their failed attempt to do the U-Connect update because their wi-fi was busted) I got on the highway headed home and at about 55-60 MPH, upon crossing a seam in an overpass, she started shaking insanely, and would not stop until I got her down under maybe 25 MPH.

Sped back up to around 50-55, hit another seam, and started shaking again. At this point I returned to the dealership never exceeding 45 MPH.

Asked them what they did to my front end while they were trying to do a "U-Connect Update". explained what happened. They looked at me like I was nuts.

Told me "Death Wobble" can come on suddenly. Seems fishy to me.

Interestingly enough, they found another recall, regarding an extension to the Steering Damper warranty, that they said nothing about until I went back and reported this issue! Again, fishy.

So does "Death Wobble" just come out of nowhere, with no indication beforehand that something is failing? Or is this them blowing smoke?

Maybe somebody upstairs is looking out for me, since we are/were supposed to take the Jeep on a long road trip this weekend.

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[SaintNick]

My first death wobble was sudden and unexpected. Got rid of the Jeep for a 4 Runner a week later.

 

[Riotfunk]

The issue is people don’t retorque things or replace worn parts.

Retorque your steering components. Especially upper track bar mount.

 

[oldcjguy]

Yes, it can come on all of a sudden and without prior warning. At 50k check the usual suspects, trackbar, ball joints, steering stabilizer. The factory ball joints wear relatively quickly. After market heavier duty ball joints will last much longer.
I started getting DW at under 30K miles on a stock Rubicon. Trackbar improved it, then replacing the steering stabilizer seemed to make it go away. I know there are those that will say the steering stabilizer doesn't "fix it" it's more of a band-aid and hides it. And while I 100% agree with that, after putting a Rancho steering stabilizer on I never got DW again. I did later change out the front control arms anyway, but the Rubi sits a little higher than a Sahara and that makes the geometry for DW worse (less caster). I adjusted the new lowers so they're a little longer than stock. I plan on lifting eventually anyway, so it was just added piece of mind. Since the control arms it drives even better and there is not even a hint of a shimmy no matter what, how, or how fast I hit bumps that used to consistently induce DW.

My ball joints are fine so far.

 

[emilboya]

My first death wobble was sudden and unexpected. Got rid of the Jeep for a 4 Runner a week later.

 

[Dauntless 7]

Dealership is going to replace the Steering Damper again under warranty.

Based on the comments.Will tell them to retorque everything else while they are at it. But my guess is they are going to be telling me I also need ball joints and perhaps some other stuff.

Needing to replace suspension parts after only 50K, and a steering damper twice in that time, is pretty ridiculous though when 99% of your driving is on road. Fiat/Jeep/Chrysler needs to do better.

Maybe I should have gotten the 4 Runner or Bronco instead.

 

[Steveo]

There's a first time for everything. Start with some quality ball joints.

 

[HK1s]

awesome, its not hard fix by any means, start with checking all components and alignment, tire wear too.

its usually not the steering damper... in fact a stock sahara should run fine without even installing one. Something is loose, worn, the longer you wait the more damage it does.

This wobble is inherent with solid front axle, it will happen given enough time or neglect.

 

[bjm00se]

Somebody in the back who was in a hurry read "U-Connect update" as "U-Joint" update, and the rest is history. ?

But seriously, probably coincidence triggered by driving over some slightly different shaped bumps than you usually drive over day-after-day.

 

[COJeeper]

Interestingly enough, I am having a mild to moderate shimmy that is most prevalent when the vehicle has been sitting overnight. In the morning, I hit two curves immediately out of my subdivision at 45-50mph and it's really bad there. I can come back and drive it after driving for 15 minutes and it's not as bad or non-existent.

I've had 3 wheel balances, 3 alignments, two "shake down" services and everyone says, "everything looks good" except for this last time. The shop in Fort Collins CO, Bullhide 4x4, said I needed to replace the steering stabilizer, that's what's wrong. So, when everyone says the steering stabilizer is just covering up for the real problem, I say poppycock!

I firmly believe that anyone who says, "after my lift, it drives better than stock!" is either lying or smoking too much crack. This Jeep drove amazingly when it was stock, night and day difference over the JKUR. After a lift it drives like a 1732 Jeep with 2 wheels and no steering wheel. I'm convinced I'm going to die in this thing and have almost crashed once already due to a pothole/rough road.

I definitely do not enjoy driving my Jeep anymore, it's more of a white knuckle stress fest where previously it was fun, laid back, relaxing, enjoyable. fun times.

 

[txj2go]

It came on suddenly for me- 2018 JLU Sport with 40k miles. It requires just the right conditions to cause it- about 45mph speed and road with the right roughness to excite the wheels at resonant frequency.

 

[J.Ferreira]

Asked them what they did to my front end while they were trying to do a "U-Connect Update". explained what happened. They looked at me like I was nuts.

Why do you think they'd be under the front end when doing a U-connect update?
Nobody wants to do extra work lmao

Also re-torque your suspension and steering components. I just went through and re-torqued everything (a just in case for an upcoming Moab meetup) and found my front and rear lower shock nuts were a bit loose. Two solid axles and everything shakes and gets shocked a lot more than IFS vehicles.
Off roading exacerbates everything and speeds the process along.

 

[J.Ferreira]

This wobble is inherent with solid front axle, it will happen given enough time or neglect.

 

[aldo98229]

FWIW, my 2018 Sahara with a Mopar lift, beefy YETI track bar and stout Fox 2.0 damper, experienced a severe case of “da wobbles” one time crossing a set of train tracks. The steering started shaking violently side to side. Thankfully, I wasn’t going very fast and was able to bring the vehicle to a full stop without incident. The Jeep must have had only 10,000 miles at that point.

It‘s rather odd, as it never happened again, at least until I sold the Jeep with close to 20,000 miles. But it’s enough to startle you and make you feel uneasy...

 

[Speed331]

My '20, 2 door SS has had two cases of death wobble. The first was easy to diagnose: my track bar bolts had come untorqued -along with an upper front shock bolt- and quickly worn the bushings. Replaced it with a heavy duty track bar and had no issues for almost a year when:

I began to have a weird DW that would only occur during very specific circumstances. Full tank, top off, 70+ mph and two spots on the freeway - going over a double seam on an overpass and a transition bump on an off ramp going from concrete to asphalt. With the top on, or less than 3/4 a tank, I could hit them at 80 and never notice a wobble.

I pulled the stock stabilizer and noticed it had almost no resistance in it. Went with the AEV stabilizer about a year ago and have had no reoccurrence. Have gone up to 285/70's since then and still zero issues.

Sometimes just putting a damper on any resonance in the system is enough..

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