Death Wobble?

[alparmer]

Last night I came home with a brand new 22 Willys 2-Door. I think it has somewhat of a death wobble. Now, I know what real death wobble is coming from a CJ5 that could barely do 40mph. It was only used for off-road so never bothered to fix it. I then had a CJ7 that had zero problems. I then got a brand new 14 Rubicon Unlimited that also has zero problems. When I took off from the dealer and got on the highway, I instantly noticed it. It was a challenge keeping it on the lane at highway speeds. It seems to have excessive steering play as well as tracking problems. The tires were over inflated so deflated to 35psi to see how it does.

I understand that there are lots of complaints about this and some are okay with it while others are stuck with it. It isn't right. It seems mopar came out with a new steering box fix that didn't fix anything. I looked and have the all black box. I also looked underneath and every thing is tight. It appears that Caster is not setup properly and the steering box could be tightened a bit, but after reading numerous complaints nothing seems to fix it.

I love Wranglers, but very disappointed with this one. I know I should take it back to the dealer but from experience they brush everything off.

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[garyji]

FWIW, My 21 Willys 4 door is rock solid. Nearly 30K now. I'd take it back to have it checked out.

G.

 

[Old Dogger]

Welcome to the Forum, from Cave Creek AZ.
Take it back to your Dealer…

 

[alparmer]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I’ll have to take it back. Setting a lower tire pressure helped a bit as far as bouncing but nothing for steering play or not staying in lane.

 

[alparmer]

Well, didn’t have time to take it to the dealer. They are over an hour away from me. To be honest, I bet they say it drives just fine.

So decided to adjust the steering box lash and turned it a little over 1/8 and the steering slack is gone. Now I can precisely drive it but it still wonders. I checked toe in and it’s at 1/8. I believe that more caster will correct the rest.
So the question is adjustable upper control arms or geometry brackets. I’m sure there are many discussions about which one is better but I’m keeping mine stock and will not be lifting it.

 

[Erock482]

Have you double checked that all bolts on the steering end of things are tight? Also you'd need adjustable lowers not uppers, to increase caster your upper arms get shorter, Adjustable usually are intended for lifted applications where the upper control arms get longer along with the lowers and move the axle forward.

I would recommend purchasing the MOPAR Longer Arms that come with the MOPAR Lift kit, lot's of people have reported favorable results and better caster numbers with them, and they are a very cost effective solution

 

[roaniecowpony]

If it wanders, something's not tight. Could be any steering component fastener or it could be the trackbar is allowing the axle to move slightly laterally. If you were on the west side of the country I could give you my new-old "good" OEM trackbar. But it seems like a nice lady member here, from Florida, offered me her's when I was asking around for one to get my JLUR serviced for the TSB steering box under warranty. Maybe she'll jump in or I'll think of her handle.

 

[alparmer]

Have you double checked that all bolts on the steering end of things are tight? Also you'd need adjustable lowers not uppers, to increase caster your upper arms get shorter, Adjustable usually are intended for lifted applications where the upper control arms get longer along with the lowers and move the axle forward.

I would recommend purchasing the MOPAR Longer Arms that come with the MOPAR Lift kit, lot's of people have reported favorable results and better caster numbers with them, and they are a very cost effective solution

I checked the balljoints and are properly torqued. Checked all components but couldn't find anything loose. I was really hopping for loose ball joints and an easy fix but no. This jeep has a hard time returning the wheels straight. I pretty much have to manually turned the steering wheel. I don't remember my Rubicon having those issues. Some more camber should make it track better and help return to center. I know is a Jeep but something just isn't right and being a 2 door makes it more noticeable.

Thanks, I'll look into the Mopar Longer arms. Do you happen to know part number or where to find them. Thanks.

 

[alparmer]

I think these are it. Good price.

https://www.allmoparparts.com/sku/68322798aa.html

 

[Erock482]

68322798AA

 

[Old Dogger]

You should not be having this issue, with a just delivered new Wrangler. Have your dealer check the alignment, because something isn’t dialed in right. Worse case, have them install adjustable lower control arms. With the electronic assist steering, it seems to like caster at about 6 degrees.

 

[alparmer]

Maybe other Jeep JL owners can benefit from how I handled the terrible wrangler steering.

My wrangler had a lot of left right play and even though I didn't measure it I'm guessing it was about ~3 inches. I adjusted the steering box to decrease the lash and got rid of the play. Now the steering wheel has minimal play but it would still wander. I put the lash back how it was and finally took it to the dealer. They let me drive a twin Jl (exactly like mine). To my surprised it was just as bad to drive. The dealer said that it was a Jeep and with time I will get used to it. I told them this was my 4th Wrangler and none of them had that much steering play. So I couldn't get anywhere with them and left.

So far this JL Willys has been my favorite Jeep and like all the improvements. This steering play just isn't right and I believe it's not me. I understand there was a tsb to replace the steering box with a new one. Mine has the new black box. So what I can't figure out is why they are setting the lash so loose. That's one problem and was easy to fix, but the Jeep still isn't tracking well. By now I've put ~300 miles on it and have gotten used to it to the point I don't think about it. But, in the back of my head I know it could be better.

Thanks to another member I ordered the LCA from the Mopar lift kit. These arms appear to be about 1/4" longer giving the front a bit more positive caster. I'm willing to bet this will fix the tracking issue. Once I have time I'll replace them and post.

The other somewhat of a problem was tire pressure. Pretty sure everyone knows about it. It came with 41 from the dealer and the decal says it should be 37 cold. I took down to 37 cold but nothing changed. I'm guessing it would have been 38 or 39 hot which is pretty close to the dealers 41. I then set it at 30 cold and it felt better. I'm still experimenting with it but next I need to do a chalk test.

I would really like to know why the steering boxes are set so loose. Is it on purpose or a missed adjustment during the build?

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