Fixing the "death wobble"

[Phrank]

Do you mean that replacing the steering stabilizer does not actually fix the issue?

I have not dealt with DW personally, but the general consensus here is that a new stabilizer will merely mask the problem temporarily - until the true cause (which can vary) eventually gets worse and the DW rears its ugly head once again.

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[gek]

Do you mean that replacing the steering stabilizer does not actually fix the issue?

If you think about it, the stabilizer is just a shock for the steering. It is there to absorb and dampen forces put onto it. A new one could absorb the forces causing your death wobble(dw), until it wears out. A better solution is to find the actual cause of the dw.

[Edit] The two things I have heard most that cause it on new-ish wranglers is the factory track bar bushings and/or the crappy factory ball joints.

I replaced my front track bar at around 6k miles and my ball joints with Teraflex ones at 15k. While my track bar bushing were still in good shape, my BJs did not have as much life left in them as I would expect at 15k miles.

 

[Desertchic]

My current 2022 Wrangler Sport S is my fourth Jeep, but the first one where I have experienced the "death wobble". It caught my wife while driving on the highway and half scared her to death, so I need to get it fixed before she will be comfortable driving the Jeep again. Fortunately the Jeep dealer told me it should be covered under warranty (we only have 12,000 miles on it, and it just passed it's 2nd anniversary).

My question is directed to anyone who has had this fixed at a dealer. Hold long does the work take? I have asked the dealer but never got a really good answer so I am wondering if this is a one day job or one week. Or more? The dealer tells me that they will provide me with a rental (at their expense), but the last time they did that for some other work they gave me some huge pickup truck that cost me an arm and leg for gas alone and was so tall it almost did not fit in my garage. I suppose I should be glad that they say they will pay for the rental, but I still would like some idea of how long I should expect to have to wait.

I had the same issue two weeks ago on my way to Moab. It happened multiple times in an hour. Need a stabilizer bar like everyone has mentioned, but Mopar can’t keep up with the production. The dealer said Jeep is working on a recall. The 2022 stabilizer is crap and they are sending out the upgraded one that they have been putting on 23 & 24’s. My Jeep is still at the dealer an hour and half away still waiting. Supposedly getting one this week. If they don’t, I am picking it up and putting a better one on. The tech at the dealer likes Falcon. Anyone have one they like better? 2022 Jeep Rubicon

 

[4xFUN]

I had the same issue two weeks ago on my way to Moab. It happened multiple times in an hour. Need a stabilizer bar like everyone has mentioned, but Mopar can’t keep up with the production. The dealer said Jeep is working on a recall. The 2022 stabilizer is crap and they are sending out the upgraded one that they have been putting on 23 & 24’s. My Jeep is still at the dealer an hour and half away still waiting. Supposedly getting one this week. If they don’t, I am picking it up and putting a better one on. The tech at the dealer likes Falcon. Anyone have one they like better? 2022 Jeep Rubicon

I personally like the Fox through-shaft stabilizer along with a high-clearance axle side relocation bracket. That said, the stabilizer is NOT the main issue!

Worn / maligned front track bar bushings or track bar not being sufficiently tightened are probably the number one cause of DW and the first thing to check.
However anything in the front suspension from loose / worn parts to tires and alignment can contribute.

 

[SonofaSeabee]

I had the same issue two weeks ago on my way to Moab. It happened multiple times in an hour. Need a stabilizer bar like everyone has mentioned, but Mopar can’t keep up with the production. The dealer said Jeep is working on a recall. The 2022 stabilizer is crap and they are sending out the upgraded one that they have been putting on 23 & 24’s. My Jeep is still at the dealer an hour and half away still waiting. Supposedly getting one this week. If they don’t, I am picking it up and putting a better one on. The tech at the dealer likes Falcon. Anyone have one they like better? 2022 Jeep Rubicon

Do you know if ALL 2023's had the upgraded one installed on the production line, or did they start doing this sometime after initial production began? Thanks!

 

[jack bauer]

I had the same issue two weeks ago on my way to Moab. It happened multiple times in an hour. Need a stabilizer bar like everyone has mentioned, but Mopar can’t keep up with the production. The dealer said Jeep is working on a recall. The 2022 stabilizer is crap and they are sending out the upgraded one that they have been putting on 23 & 24’s. My Jeep is still at the dealer an hour and half away still waiting. Supposedly getting one this week. If they don’t, I am picking it up and putting a better one on. The tech at the dealer likes Falcon. Anyone have one they like better? 2022 Jeep Rubicon

AEV SS has done me well.

 

[Faded glory]

When I researched death wobble, I would see recommendations to replace the track bar, steering stabilizer, tie rod, drag link or ball joints. It could be any of these. Dealer insisted steering stabilizer on my dime.

Rather than wasting time, I replaced everything, but the ball joints, with HD parts through a local 4x4 shop. No more DW and less parts to replace when time to lift. Granted you have warranty and I was almost 4 years and 34k miles, fully stock. My 2 cents

 

[Desertchic]

I personally like the Fox through-shaft stabilizer along with a high-clearance axle side relocation bracket. That said, the stabilizer is NOT the main issue!

Worn / maligned front track bar bushings or track bar not being sufficiently tightened are probably the number one cause of DW and the first thing to check.
However anything in the front suspension from loose / worn parts to tires and alignment can contribute.

If you think about it, the stabilizer is just a shock for the steering. It is there to absorb and dampen forces put onto it. A new one could absorb the forces causing your death wobble(dw), until it wears out. A better solution is to find the actual cause of the dw.

[Edit] The two things I have heard most that cause it on new-ish wranglers is the factory track bar bushings and/or the crappy factory ball joints.

I replaced my front track bar at around 6k miles and my ball joints with Teraflex ones at 15k. While my track bar bushing were still in good shape, my BJs did not have as much life left in them as I would expect at 15k miles.

I am going to ask about the track bar brushings.

 

[azjl#3]

Do you know if ALL 2023's had the upgraded one installed on the production line, or did they start doing this sometime after initial production began? Thanks!

If they are, my 23 with 3000 miles has baby death wobble, steering wheel bobble going over bumps at hiway speed. 4th jk/jl, never had death wobble before, except a bad lifted 55000 mile jk, and it wasn’t as bad as the 3000 mile new jeep

 

[dragoneggs]

A reputable shop can lift your vehicle, wiggle the bars and wheels and find the worn bushings, joints, etc. In my case, my lift seemed to have stressed the OEM drag link. OEM ball joints fine after 15K, but I understand they are not stout enough so I am replacing them as well.

 

[alphawolff]

My current 2022 Wrangler Sport S is my fourth Jeep, but the first one where I have experienced the "death wobble". It caught my wife while driving on the highway and half scared her to death, so I need to get it fixed before she will be comfortable driving the Jeep again. Fortunately the Jeep dealer told me it should be covered under warranty (we only have 12,000 miles on it, and it just passed it's 2nd anniversary).

My question is directed to anyone who has had this fixed at a dealer. Hold long does the work take? I have asked the dealer but never got a really good answer so I am wondering if this is a one day job or one week. Or more? The dealer tells me that they will provide me with a rental (at their expense), but the last time they did that for some other work they gave me some huge pickup truck that cost me an arm and leg for gas alone and was so tall it almost did not fit in my garage. I suppose I should be glad that they say they will pay for the rental, but I still would like some idea of how long I should expect to have to wait.

The dealer is going to replace the steering stabilizer with another factory unit that will also fail. Strongly suggest upgrading to the Mopar offered fox steering stabilizer to prevent this issue from ever occurring again. The factory dampener has been recalled like thrice for this damn concern. It has some crazy extended warranty on it as well because of how often they fail, so you are certainly covered. If you pay for the upgraded part they'll toss it in for free (and toss the new factory one in the trash where it belongs)

I would be far less concerned with the duration of the fix than with the quality of the fix. It is well documented here that dealers tend to just toss a stabilizer on in an effort to kick the can down the road - hopefully far enough down the road to get you past the point of warranty protection.

To be fair replacing the stabilizer IS the fix. We're just replacing it with another dogwater part. The damn thing has a dealer cost of like $27. It's cheap as hell. The engineer's were blaming the technicians for "improper installation" for years to shift the blame away from their defective part. First it needed to be installed in a certain orientation, then it needed to be bled, then it needed to be SUPER bled. Total horse cock, it's a flippin' shock. Here we are 4 recalls and an extended warranty later. Strongly suggest upgrading to the fox one to never deal with this form of DW again. Any factory replacement WILL fail again.

 

[gek]

To be fair replacing the stabilizer IS the fix.

No, but it will most likely mask the real issue.

It's like putting a band aid on when you need stitches. The band aid might work for now, but it isn't the right fix.

If everything is tight and in good shape with the front end you should be able to drive without the stabilizer, it is literally there to dampen shock and bumps in the steering system. Bumps are what can usually trigger death wobble when components are not in ideal condition. Yes, absorbing the bump that triggers it can stop it from occurring, but it will not fix the real reason it was occurring in the first place.

 

[Cindjw]

Over a year ago I had experienced Death Wobble. I took it to the dealer and they replaced my steering damper/stabilizer and I have had no problem since. It cost $246 to fix as my warranty was no longer valid. After further research I found that there is actually a recall, V41. I contacted [email protected] and they told me to send them my receipt from the dealer and they reimbursed me the total cost.

 

[Jamrock]

Do you mean that replacing the steering stabilizer does not actually fix the issue?

Death wobble is usually caused by worn suspension parts. The steering stabilizer will provide you with some relief because it will lessen the effects caused by the worn parts.

Identifying which parts are worn and changing them will stop death wobble. Installing a steering stabilizer will significantly reduce the vibrations caused by death wobble. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as steering dampers.

If you do a search on the forums you will find detailed discussions on this topic.

 

[alphawolff]

No, but it will most likely mask the real issue.

It's like putting a band aid on when you need stitches. The band aid might work for now, but it isn't the right fix.

If everything is tight and in good shape with the front end you should be able to drive without the stabilizer, it is literally there to dampen shock and bumps in the steering system. Bumps are what can usually trigger death wobble when components are not in ideal condition. Yes, absorbing the bump that triggers it can stop it from occurring, but it will not fix the real reason it was occurring in the first place.

Yeah, all the JLs rolling off the production line with under 15k miles just have serious suspension geometry issues. It definitely isn't a faulty steering dampener. There definitely isn't three revised recalls, multiple TSBs, and an extended warranty for the issue.


The issue only happens traveling at speed while hitting a bump. It's very reproducible. Perhaps it's because of the aluminum steering knuckles, maybe it's because of the hyrdo-electric power steering design, or maybe the ball joints aren't tight. Maybe all new Jeep owners are just hitting massive pot holes and blowing the stock shock out.

I'm not the engineer, but replacing the dampener fixes the problem. Masking it or not it's the correct fix for our current stock suspension design

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