FCA being sued for Death Wobble

[MORTON]

I got my Jeep JL Sahara bought back after I put 10,000 miles on it, and they gave me a new 2019 JL Sahara...MSRP for MSRP and an extra 3% towards it because some of the features were a little more.

Lucky you haha!

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[GrandCherokeeCustom]

First off, isn't it common knowledge to do research before buying a vehicle, used or BRAND NEW?
Second off, this is not a brand new issue, nor is it an issue at all, it is a common occurrence and there is no serious danger from it. It is very well documented and you would've known if you had the common knowledge to do your research.
Third, Death Wobble has been around longer than Jeep has, it happens with ALL solid axel vehicles that are not setup with steering stabilizers, not just "new" Jeep Wranglers.
Fourth, Jeep doesn't have to specifically say that Death Wobble is a possibility, because it's been around for so long that if you don't know about it, then it's your own fault for not doing your research before buying the vehicle. You don't see or hear about motorcycle owners sueing their companies over tank slappers, witch is death Wobble on a motorcycle. The reason why is because everyone who owns a motorcycle did their research before buying it and know that it can happen, not because the dealership told them. Harley definitely didn't warn me about tank slappers.

 

[zgn]

First off, isn't it common knowledge to do research before buying a vehicle, used or BRAND NEW?
Second off, this is not a brand new issue, nor is it an issue at all, it is a common occurrence and there is no serious danger from it. It is very well documented and you would've known if you had the common knowledge to do your research.
Third, Death Wobble has been around longer than Jeep has, it happens with ALL solid axel vehicles that are not setup with steering stabilizers, not just "new" Jeep Wranglers.
Fourth, Jeep doesn't have to specifically say that Death Wobble is a possibility, because it's been around for so long that if you don't know about it, then it's your own fault for not doing your research before buying the vehicle. You don't see or hear about motorcycle owners sueing their companies over tank slappers, witch is death Wobble on a motorcycle. The reason why is because everyone who owns a motorcycle did their research before buying it and know that it can happen, not because the dealership told them. Harley definitely didn't warn me about tank slappers.

Death wobble is not just your standard thing that happens with ALL solid axle vehicles. There should not be any death wobble or any wobble if the vehicle is properly spec'ed, tolerances on parts, design, etc. The vehicles in question are experience wobble because of a manufacturing defect. Mine doesn't even get to the point of death wobble, the tire just flaps side to side for about a .5-1 secs. But it is enough to feel like the vehicle could lose control. My visits to the dealer and working with FCA has replaced the steering damper with "improved" parts to accommodate, and it has had some effect on damping the system, but it is not completely gone. If I hit the right bump/dip in the right conditions it still occurs. My case manager has even stated that should not happen on a new vehicle.

This happens on older Jeeps once certain parts start to wear, it should not be happening on new parts, but it is.

 

[Bswen]

Thanks to this forum and threads like this I’ve educated myself and I’m blessed to have the financial means to have the issue addressed/fixed on my own dime. My dealership is crap and are extremely deceitful. Therefore, I’ve had a local shop order my parts and will have them installed as you mentioned above.

Yes, I will loose my warranty for the Jeep installed Mopar lift kit. But honestly, according to my dealership, that warranty is only good at the dealership that installed the lift. Go figure, I paid for a Mopar lift kit and it was installed improperly at a dealership while out of my local area. Well guess what the dealership said, we didn’t install it at “our dealership” so the fact that the other Jeep dealership used your factory isolator pads instead of the ones provided in the kit makes it an improper install.

Get this, the kicker is the service advisor lied and told me that the isolator pads “were missing”! Mind you, this dealership didn’t install the lift. I drove to the dealership and checked the isolator pads myself and sure enough, the isolator pads were present! They were the factory installed pads yet they were present. There’s a big difference between “missing isolator pads” and the incorrect part number installed! Rant over!

Back to the issue; It’s a shame for FCA to turn a blind eye when they have line of sight and a presence on this forum that recognizes there is an issue. FCA should address the issue and if necessary place a “stop to fix” on production to address the issue.

I’m New to the Jeep family and honestly even with the wandering after 45 -55 mph on my 3 week old JL; I enjoy owning my Jeep. This is why I chose an attempt to fix the issue with OEM parts. The warranty appears to be crap anyway.

It would be a lot better if FCA stepped up to the plate and fixed the issue before continuing to sell a product with known issues. SMH

Curious which dealer you go to in GA. Palmer Jeep in Roswell treated me great!!

 

[rommel102]

It is impossible for me to determine if it is a “wide spread” problem or not as I have no statistics on how many people (on a percentage basis) with a problem actually log onto the Gov website and log a problem. Do you have that percentage?

It's not my job to prove that there isn't a widespread problem.

It's the people that are claiming that there is.

Web forums and official complaint systems suffer from the same negativity bias that local news, Yelp reviews, etc suffer from.

People don't go online to talk about how great their front axle steering is on the highway. They go to complain about it when it doesn't work correctly.

It's easy to see 500 other people with the same issue and say "wow this must affect every single Jeep because look at how many people have this same problem that I do". What you don't factor in is that a million other Jeep Wrangler owners never complained or filed a NHTSA issue about them.

Plus, FCA is a corporation and they would manage the risk of lawsuits and such strictly based on the actual statistics (which only they know). Usually, they have a threshold for a certain % of vehicles they see an issue in before they will issue a recall. That they haven't done so with the death wobble (and have in fact defended the line rather than issue "no statements") is a pretty good indication that the problem is not a widespread one.

Again, for those people that HAVE the problem...it is a very big one, and they may not be getting the best outcomes from FCA that they deserve. But it is an individual problem, and not necessarily a systemic one.

 

[Rubidozer]

Engineering, Research, and Design.....
.... basics in manufacturing. Without them is carelessness.

 

[DAA]

Putting a locker in an IFS is no different. Tons of Toyota and Chevy IFS with lockers.

- DAA

 

[HajPaj]

How do I join the class action suit?

I have said numerous amount of times that this is not safe. The death wobble, the play on the steering wheel and the lack of the car staying in the lane without swerving on a brand new car. Honestly, this suit is well deserved for Jeep.

I’m ready to join and sign on the dotted line of this suit.

 

[mlange]

Following...

 

[Jeep1978]

Some lawyers will get rich and we'll all get a coupon for $50 off our next Jeep*
Red Bull never gave me wings, but all the Class Action did was get me 2 free cans of nuclear horse piss.


*expires in 90 days.

This! Exactly this. The main reason Jeep should have left the Wrangler a niche vehicle, and not try and mass market them to soccer moms and beta males. The pussification of Jeep will continue.

I have owned a YJ and a TJ both bought new. I ran a 4 inch lift on both with 33 inch tires and only had death wobble on the TJ one time at 120,000 miles. I barely managed to get to 1000 miles on a stock 2018 JL before having death wobble, steering auto correcting hard left, radio not working properly, side panels on hard top falling off, track bar recall, and Chrysler doing everything they can to not fix the vehicle. So yeah I hope they sue Chrysler into bankruptcy. Any company that treats their customers the way I have been treated especially being a 3 time customer deserves everything coming to them.

 

[Shakey Graves]

It’s a class action suit so they will send all Jeep owners a free oil change. Done deal. Only the worst cases of DW will get buy backs if that even happens..

2 free oil changes of 6 qts for all JL owners!!

 

[Rudolph Hart]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=land+rover+death+wobble&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

Just to widen the discussion a bit!

 

[GrandCherokeeCustom]

Death wobble is not just your standard thing that happens with ALL solid axle vehicles. There should not be any death wobble or any wobble if the vehicle is properly spec'ed, tolerances on parts, design, etc. The vehicles in question are experience wobble because of a manufacturing defect. Mine doesn't even get to the point of death wobble, the tire just flaps side to side for about a .5-1 secs. But it is enough to feel like the vehicle could lose control. My visits to the dealer and working with FCA has replaced the steering damper with "improved" parts to accommodate, and it has had some effect on damping the system, but it is not completely gone. If I hit the right bump/dip in the right conditions it still occurs. My case manager has even stated that should not happen on a new vehicle.

This happens on older Jeeps once certain parts start to wear, it should not be happening on new parts, but it is.

How can you sit there and say that it is not because of the solid axel when it has been researched for years and people have proven that is the cause, it is impossible to completely get rid of, only mitigate for it. Granted Jeep isn't doing the correct repairs, they should be adding steering stabilizers and not replacing bushings, which also proves you don't know much about the issue or how to fix it(if you think it can be "fixed" you don't know much about solid axels), it isn't their fault that you did not do your research before buying the vehicle. The problem is known and has been well known for a long time. One way manufacturers can mitigate it from factory is making one side of the axels shorter than the other, or just buy simply bolting a shock to the knuckle and diff housing(steering stabilizer)

 

[GrandCherokeeCustom]

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/5-reasons-why-your-solid-axle-rig-is-obsolete/
For anyone who is too lazy to actually do research(anyone who thinks Jeep should be sued for DW) this article tells you a lot about solid axels and how they affect the drivability of your vehicle. Stop trying to ruin a perfectly good vehicle and vehicle manufacturer and do your f***king research!!

 

[TJ2018]

Remember, 20 or 30 people are why there's warning stickers in hot tubs and stuff

And 1 person is responsible for McDonald's coffee cups stating: Warning: Hot Coffee Is HOT!

And who's the brain trust that led tot he warning on car batteries: Warning: Do Not Drink Battery Acid! I can't recall EVER being so dehydrated that I'd look at a car batter and go "Hmmmmmm..."