Death Wobble

[jellis4148]

DW is an unfortunate side affect of having a solid axle front end. Brand new HD Fords get it as well. Sometimes it's not anyones fault. If a bracket or mount was put on a little off a vehicle could be plagued with DW no matter how much you spend on upgraded parts. That happening is few and far between. Everyone is an armchair mechanic on the internet. We have a few on here that know what they are talking about. I have been very fortunate and never had it on my Jeep. All my steering has been upgraded, and I know that helps. I have a customer that has a 21 High Altitude Wrangler. They only have 8,500 miles of only highway driving. There Jeep has DW bad. Pretty much any pot hole, bump or expansion joint on the road will cause it. Then, I take mine off road, have 41,000 miles, and never had it. It's pretty weird how some Jeeps get it at low miles for no reason.

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[VJT]

$40,000.00 later "unfortunate side affect".

 

[TCogs1]

Can you provide details on the (several) lawsuits with awards, because I don't believe you.

I am one of those awardies… dw is easily solved with quality parts and alignment. Fca is choosing not to solve root cause after more tha 3 years of going back and forth.

then I went with ally warranty on my new 2024 and teraflex steering stabilizer, evo adjustable lower control arms ( 5 degrees)… problem solved.

 

[Jeep Wick]

After my 22 JLU was diagnose for DW, the dealership ordered steering stabilizer; four weeks later, still waiting for part. WTF. If there has been a problem for years and continuers to be, where's the Jeep recall?

I recently installed the Fox 2.0 stabilizer, came from Amazon in 2 days, minutes to install. Wouldn't waste my time at the dealership.

 

[WaldorfJL]

I recently installed the Fox 2.0 stabilizer, came from Amazon in 2 days, minutes to install. Wouldn't waste my time at the dealership.

I see stabilizers from 50$ to $300...I have zero non stock parts and no desire to lift or alter it. Any rationale to why one is better? The stock simple one has lasted 40k miles...

 

[Jeep Wick]

I see stabilizers from 50$ to $300...I have zero non stock parts and no desire to lift or alter it. Any rationale to why one is better? The stock simple one has lasted 40k miles...

Not sure how long it will last but the Fox has good reviews. Stock lasted 45k for me. Mine is not lifted but I do enjoy upgraded parts. I also did the JKS track bar for peace of mind.

 

[jellis4148]

$40,000.00 later "unfortunate side affect".

What about the people who spent $100,000 on an F-350 that have it? Doesn't matter if it's $5,000 or $500,000. You buy a solid front axle vehicle, you have a chance of getting it.

 

[UTME]

I saw a gladiator experiencing death wobble while driving on the highway. The driver didn’t even slow down? It was really pronounced. Front tires looked like they were going to come off. Hard to believe driver couldn’t feel that happening.

 

[VJT]

With all the reports of DW and its acceptance, apparently it doesn't result in many crashes.

 

[rivercrossing]

For me DW has always been from a damaged track bar.

 

[WaldorfJL]

Got it back yesterday. New dampener, two cpu updates. It was nice to get back on the gas on the freeway and not clench up at every bump. Scheduled for a clutch recall next week. I had the sleeve done on the last iteration....service rep said they are replacing parts and it will take a full day....I thought I was done with the clutch "fixes.". Oh well, it's only time, as it is covered. I did get another three months of Sirius, but it's connected to the original radio, that was replaced a few years ago under warranty too. Pretty soon I will have a safe Wrangler to drive?

 

[AirplaneWrangler]

I had DW start in my 2018 at just under 40k miles. My 2018 Sport has Rubicon springs/shocks/tires added, otherwise stock. I've checked ball joints and trackbar and everything seems good. DW starts from certain road conditions- a certain road roughness at around 45mph that puts the suspension in resonance. I've gotten hints of DW from certain bumps at about the same speed but this is less of a problem. If it's resonating at 45mph I can speed up beyond 55 and it will stop.

I agree with this but I don’t have the cahoones to stomp on the gas when the steering wheel is going bizerk!

 

[Air Uncle P]

Got it yesterday. Past two days, same exact spot on the freeway. Had to pull off to a complete stop. 31k miles and about ten days short of three years. Going to try and video it tomorrow and then take it to the dealership under warranty.

 

[txj2go]

My daughter has a friend with a 4XE and she has had some death wobble incidents recently. I was talking to my daughter and she was relaying the story. She said the friend took her Jeep to the dealer, I told her that wouldn't do any good, all they might do is replace the stabilizer. So she goes to pick up her Jeep and the dealer says they have a recall on the stabilizer so they look and she has the new version of the stabilizer but they have a recall on it too and they will replace it but they can't get one for a month.

 

[Air Uncle P]

Took my Jeep to the dealership and it was 5 days past the three year warranty. Dealership told me they would work with me and I “might” have to pay for the new stabilizer or pay for the labor. Oh and they could get me taken care of in about 2-3 weeks. I just walked out.

I ended up installing the Teraflex adjustable SS. I also moved some tires around so the tread on both front tires was the same. No death wobble since.

When I took off the old SS I was amazed at how easy it was to cycle. Jeep has 31000 on it with mostly highway driving.

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