JL Death Wobble Tips

[photowiz]

New Stabilizer took away my DW night and day difference!

F
Got mine back today. Amazing difference. Got the upgraded stabilizer.

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[DanW]

F
Got mine back today. Amazing difference. Got the upgraded stabilizer.

I may cancel my order for the Fox stabilizer and then wait on the new one. I was told to expect the new one in April.

 

[photowiz]

I may cancel my order for the Fox stabilizer and then wait on the new one. I was told to expect the new one in April.

Double check in a couple days. I think toy will get one way before April

 

[vtech243]

Going to throw my hat in the ring since I’ve already diagnosed the problem once & now it’s back and slightly different. I have 37 KO2s and Mopar lift with 5k miles on my set-up. When I first put on the lift/wheels/tires. I was getting CONSISTENT shimmy in the wheel at 40+ MPH which I diagnosed as a balancing issue. Road force balanced my set-up and the shimmy went away COMPLETELY for 5k miles. Flash forward to last week —> getting shimmy in the wheel going over bumps to the point where I need to slow down for it to go away (avoiding saying “death wobble” to keep the hardcore guys off my back). This was not happening to me before. At the same time, the steering wheel feels a lot more “loose” in day-to-day driving. IMO my issue has to do with shot stabilizer (mine is below the 257 date code) or loosened torque in my lift suspension components. The fact that everything was fine and the problem seemed to come out of the blue makes me think it is a concentrated hardware (stabilizer) issue. I’m ordering the Teraflex NF 2.2 Fast Adj now and can report back. Funny to see forum guys/girls that got their jeeps around the same time have the same issue as me.

 

[ALRUI]

Anyone have a link to the Star case or what date codes are affected?

 

[jeremyjeep]

Anyone have a link to the Star case or what date codes are affected?

It is in the Recall, TSB, Issues thread at https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...r-jl-wrangler-check-your-jl-for-recalls.9784/

 

[ALRUI]

It is in the Recall, TSB, Issues thread at https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...r-jl-wrangler-check-your-jl-for-recalls.9784/

Thanks for the link! I'll be sure to look at that thread first next time

 

[Yoyo27983]

Mine is stock, 1500 miles, steering is perfectly tight not a hint of looseness, only been on light offroad trails (zero rock crawling, or hard use hard grade stuff)

It jsut started doing it last week. my steering stablizer is in the replace range for FCA star case

What are the serial number ranges for the defective ones?

 

[TheJoyceIsYours]

1. According to some JL owners in other wobble related threads, some said they got the new OEM steering stabilizer (-AD) version within a few days, other times their dealers are saying April 2018. Some dealers are making an effort to get them quicker, some are not, some have good timing, some have bad timing based on available inventory, etc.

2. Some JL owners in other wobble related threads, the JL owners said the wobble (not death wobble, more of a a shimmy) is gone after it the OEM steering stabilizer was replaced with the -AD version. Since they changed the OEM steering stabilizer part number to -AD, then that might have fixed the minor shimmy, only time will tell if it comes back or not. Some reported the shimmy occurred after 7K miles, some said only 500 miles. If it was actual death wobble or even a bad wobble (above the level of a shimmy), then the steering stabilizer might go bad again, but not because any original "defect" that the date code of 257 or less had (per the star case in the Recall, TSB, Issues thread).

3. Some people in the other wobble related threads said they ordered aftermarket steering stabilizers and the shimmy went away and overall steering improved a lot. Same thing... time will tell if it comes back or not if it was something else causing steering stabilizers to go bad.

4. Several people in the other wobble related thread said after the bad (date code pre 257) OEM steering stabilizer was replaced, not only is the shimmy gone, but it "drives much better". This bad batch of steering stabilizers might be contributing to some of the "bad steering" symptoms in the loose steering, drifting threads. Of course pre -AD steering box, loose ball joints, loose nuts/bolts on the track bar, alignment, caster, and other loose components all contributes to the "bad steering" in JLs as well.

5. Looks like there is a new -AD for the steering pump as well. That might fix other steering symptoms.

Here's the link to a video of my wobble after the replacement FCA stabilizer. It is better, but you can hear how long it shook. Not sure what was actually rattling.

 

[jeremyjeep]

Here's the link to a video of my wobble after the replacement FCA stabilizer. It is better, but you can hear how long it shook. Not sure what was actually rattling.

Did they check all of the steering and suspension related torque per this list? https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...rangler-jl-steering-related-components.18510/

 

[TheJoyceIsYours]

Did they check all of the steering and suspension related torque per this list? https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...rangler-jl-steering-related-components.18510/

Yes they did. Returned to me after two weeks as 'unresolved'

 

[jamesj242003]

Has FCA ever considered beefing up "all the critical joints" where noticeable wear is being observed that's causing the death wobble? Examples would be, beefing up the track bar size (and its bushings), track bar attachment points especially with heavier guage metal along with metal sleeves to further reinforce the holes to minimize ovaling (hole enlargement), beefed up bushings and their respective attachment points at all critical joints that are failing quicker than expected, etc. Would this help prolong a safer driving Wrangler before the death wobble is ever observed?

 

[PavementWarrior]

Has FCA ever considered beefing up "all the critical joints" where noticeable wear is being observed that's causing the death wobble? Examples would be, beefing up the track bar size (and its bushings), track bar attachment points especially with heavier guage metal along with metal sleeves to further reinforce the holes to minimize ovaling (hole enlargement), beefed up bushings and their respective attachment points at all critical joints that are failing quicker than expected, etc. Would this help prolong a safer driving Wrangler before the death wobble is ever observed?

What are the serial number ranges for the defective ones?

star case shows the bad numebrs:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/steering-wheel-wobble.16577/page-8#post-436030

 

[PavementWarrior]

Has FCA ever considered beefing up "all the critical joints" where noticeable wear is being observed that's causing the death wobble? Examples would be, beefing up the track bar size (and its bushings), track bar attachment points especially with heavier guage metal along with metal sleeves to further reinforce the holes to minimize ovaling (hole enlargement), beefed up bushings and their respective attachment points at all critical joints that are failing quicker than expected, etc. Would this help prolong a safer driving Wrangler before the death wobble is ever observed?

JL did beef up alot of spots. Solid axle with coil springs (and in some cases extra stress due to lift, wheel offset), requires everything to be near perfect or you get shimmy and maybe wobble. One lose bolt on front, misaligned front tire, bad alignment, worn bushings, people report the last thing they did "fixed it", often if they had done the fixes in opposite order they might be saying the new last item was the fix.

The JL seems to require a certain amount of steering dampening from stabilizer as well, the defective ones are proving that. Guys with lifts will have more to figure out, but go through it all, it will clear up.

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