Does replacing steering damper on 2021 Rubicon actually fix death wobble

[martoaj]

My 8 month old '22 has 21K and it started doing it when the temp drops below freezing. There is no way any parts can be worn out. It's a brand new vehicle with only highway driving.

This is what happened with mine ('22 Sahara 4xe) and I saw the same echoed by others on this forum. Without being prompted, my service adviser said the same; the steering stabilizer seems fine, but when the temps get low it reveals bad stabilizers that aren't actually doing their jobs -- presumably something in the valving, fluid, or tolerances of the stabilizer when affected by the cold.

As others have said here, if you have a relatively new truck and it's under warranty, you kinda have to follow what the dealership says. If they're only willing to replace the stabilizer at first, you have to let them make that mistake (if you believe it's a mistake) in order to move on to other components.

I don't know why the advice of "go on a wild goose chase at another shop 100% out of pocket" makes any sense on a new in-warranty truck. I often love the wisdom of these forums, but I also have to give at least some weight to a Jeep tech that's seen hundreds or thousands of Wranglers in their career.

I also don't really care if replacing it is a "band-aid" fix; I just want it to be fixed. Truck drove perfectly until we hit below-freezing temps, I find it hard to believe one of my ball joints or trackbar just magically got worn out overnight. It's clear there are a good 5-10 components that all have to be working properly in order to prevent DW; I don't see why folks here can be so positively negative (ha!) about one not making a difference.

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[acomputernerd]

the stabilizer/damper has been the bane of my Jeep. I am on the third and hopefully it will last. With Ohio's lovely roads its a much needed damper. Either way if you decide to go aftermarket check your bolt as it may have a longer square. They changed that in 21 and is probably part of why there is such a delay. I ended up using the prior bolt with the upgraded fox stabilizer.

 

[LuvHydro]

This is what happened with mine ('22 Sahara 4xe) and I saw the same echoed by others on this forum. Without being prompted, my service adviser said the same; the steering stabilizer seems fine, but when the temps get low it reveals bad stabilizers that aren't actually doing their jobs -- presumably something in the valving, fluid, or tolerances of the stabilizer when affected by the cold.

As others have said here, if you have a relatively new truck and it's under warranty, you kinda have to follow what the dealership says. If they're only willing to replace the stabilizer at first, you have to let them make that mistake (if you believe it's a mistake) in order to move on to other components.

I don't know why the advice of "go on a wild goose chase at another shop 100% out of pocket" makes any sense on a new in-warranty truck.

Yeah, I fully expect they will change that out when I take it in except I hear they are on backorder.

I'm not used to owning vehicles that need work at 20K. I need to research more to understand the underlying issue.

As I had noted, I just can't understand why the issue is ongoing and there isn't more of a safety uproar over it.

 

[martoaj]

I'm not used to owning vehicles that need work at 20K. I need to research more to understand the underlying issue.

Funny thing about this is the routine maintenance schedule for the Wrangler is rather lazy; outside of the industry-standard 10k/12mo oil change interval, many of the other checks and change intervals are dramatically less frequent than my German cars. Meanwhile you have steering components failing within the first year of ownership and folks are like "yeah that's normal." No it's not!

 

[beast40]

The stock SS doesn’t like cold weather. We see these threads every winter. The obvious answer is the ball joints they seem to solve the issue for most people.

A good aftermarket SS will be less prone to temp changes and do a better job of masking the issues.

A dialed in solid axle steering doesn’t need a SS but the JL factory set up is far from dialed in especially as you lift and add larger tires.

 

[Tncdrew]

Seems a lot of these steering parts, ball joints, tie rod ends etc., would last a lot longer if they were greaseable, like days of old...
But I digress

 

[Xorak]

And, as you can imagine, putting on a new stabilizer made it drive perfectly again. So, from *MY* experience and what a shop told me, yes, replacing your steering stabilizer CAN FIX and not just mask a death wobble problem, if it was the problem.

To be fair, in your case removing your stabilizer would also have solved your problem since it was the damaged stabilizer itself causing the problem. So it stands that a steering stabilizer can't fix death wobble when other worn out parts are causing said death wobble. They will mask the problem until the parts are so worn out that they break or the wear is obvious.

 

[AcesandEights]

So if this is the case any suggestions for someone who is told this by the dealer, am not really equipped or inclined to work on my own vehicle especially when it’s still under warranty for now. Am I just screwed?

I didn't read all of the responses, but a steering stabilizer is a damper, a shock absorber. It absorbs the "shock", or dampens it. What that means is the shock (wobble) is present through something else.

If what you are experiencing is death wobble, you need an alignment to make sure your steering and suspension components are within spec. The damper is not one of those pieces; it dampens load/shock/whatever you want to call it, caused by steering or suspension components that are out of spec or causing that shock.

After you have an alignment completed, post the specs, post a pic and then it will be easier to give you input. If someone says they have death wobble, there's not much anyone can do, accurately, to help. Everything is a WAG; although, I expect your caster is off.

 

[AcesandEights]

and then you have people like this, who will try to prevent you from repairing your vehicle.

Ah! You caught me tying their hands behind their back. I would rather a person repair their vehicle right the first time as opposed to throwing (the wrong) parts at something that doesn't repair the vehicle. The OP could replace all of the steering and suspension components, one part a month, and maybe that would help?

 

[RubiSc0tt]

No. That's not what causes, or fixes, death wobble.

THIS. Replace the steering stabilizer, but I'd be willing to put money on it that it will only mask the Deathwobble, not fix it. Death wobble is caused by worn parts or out of spec steering geometry. It's not exclusive to Jeeps, nor solid axle vehicles, just more common.

Death wobble is almost always caused by at least one bad ball joint. It doesn’t necessarily mean the ball joints at the steering knuckle/axle “c”. It could be a drag link, pitman arm or track bar as well. Or a combination of all of them. If any of those ball joints are only marginally worn, and not ready to fall apart, it can be terribly difficult to determine exactly which one (or more) is the culprit. A new stabilizer will effectively mask the wobble until one of two things happens -
1) the marginal ball joint(s) become extremely worn and the stabilizer can no longer mask the problem.
2) the new stabilizer wears out to the point it can no longer mask the problem.

If you’re brave enough you can easily prove the theory by removing the stabilizer and see if the death wobble is still there. If it is (and it will be), the stabilizer is obviously not the root cause. The DW should actually be worse unless your ss is completely blown out.

Replacing the stabilizer to fix death wobble is like draining the radiator to fix a coolant leak. The leak will stop, but you haven’t fixed anything.

This is a common cause in the JL platform, along with loose track bar bolts, and out of spec caster, which can happen from the factory. One of the guys I know at Rock Krawler said they had a brand new Gladiator with less than 1k mi on the clock roll in with death wobble. I believe it was a customer or employee vehicle coming to pick up parts.
Technically, you do not NEED a steering stabilizer- it's just there to help smooth things out. I ran no stabilizer on my 98TJ for years, with no issues and no death wobble. Likewise, I'm pretty sure the stabilizer on my JLUR has trail damage and I have no issues.

Dealers are not likely to have the time or talent to diagnose DW, and slapping on a new SS is a great way to mask it. It’s usually a loose track bar.

Highly depends on the dealer, but based on my own experience (with other complex issues) I have found this to be true. They're mostly oil change monkeys unless they're actually into building vehicles.

There is a thread around here with a process to diagnose the cause of your death wobble. I'll see if i can find it. and link it. The beauty of Wranglers is they're relatively easy to learn to work on. I would recommend giving it a shot, so you at least have an idea of what you're dealing with when your dealer tells you some BS like "we can't replicate it", or "we can't figure it out", or "a steering stabilizer will fix death wobble"

Good luck.

EDIT: Here is the thread: How to diagnose death wobble

 

[Sublime]

I have a '21 Rubicon. I installed an XR suspension/Mopar LCAs along with the XR wheels/tires. It ran straight and true until the temps dropped. I had put my stock 285s on for winter and was shocked at 24k to be getting a little twitch in the wheel that gets worse the colder it gets.

 

[OrneryBear]

Just buy this off quadratec and install it yourself.

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/s...MIgIqRv8a9_AIVj4nICh3qiQCtEAQYASABEgJSQPD_BwE

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