Keep Me Sane: Death Wobble Has Me Considering Selling

[jackgraves7]

Someone please talk me out of this.
I have an 18 JLUS with 39,500 miles with a rubicon suspension swap and .5” spacers. I also have 255/75/17 tires. In the past 3 weeks I have developed death wobble. Full on shaking until slamming on the breaks and reducing speed.

I took it to Firestone where they inspected the entire suspension, did an alignment (toe was out of spec) and balanced my tires.

The next day I got it on the road thinking it was fixed, and death wobble was even worse (almost had to pull over). I called the Jeep dealership to have them look at it and they are booked solid through November.

So currently my Jeep is sitting in my driveway, immovable as I’m too terrified to drive it. All this waiting has me contemplating selling it for an IFS vehicle (truck).

Can someone please talk me out of this and give me hope. I don’t want to dump weeks and thousands of dollars into troubleshooting this.

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[devnull]

IFS is silly talk. Fix and enjoy the Jeep or let me have it and I will drive it like it was a Corvette!

This is probably a worn ball joint, steering stabilizer, or sector shaft and should be easily fixed. Fear not, this is not a life sentence of terrible events.

Also, find another dealer or off road shop.

 

[Jeepn’]

Contact any and every dealership nearby. Someone has to have availability.

 

[Jamrock]

Death wobble is usually the result of worn suspension components. It does take some effort to identify the source.

You have a 2018 Jeep. Have you replaced the aluminum steering box already?

I would start by getting someone to move around the steering wheel. Watch under the front of the Jeep to see which components are loose. Start by replacing them.

Watch the first 35 seconds of this video



This will also provide you with some information.




There have been some good threads on this topic. The search feature will provide some good suggestions on how to proceed.

 

[Electrified]

I got the death wobble on my 2015 F250 a couple of years ago. Scared the crap out of me when it would happen but no way I was selling a very nice truck that was paid off. Got it fixed and haven't had a problem since. Fix your jeep and enjoy.

 

[mwilk012]

Put a good steering stabilizer on it.

Don't listen to the people who disagree.

 

[GrayWolf.Overland]

Go find a reputable off-road shop that can help you identify the problem. It's likely a stock suspension component that is causing it..

 

[No IFS]

If you’re ready to give up that easy you’re not a Jeep person. Maybe jump to an IFS car type suspension. There’s millions of SA jeeps on the road we’re all managing to drive them without killing ourselves with death wobble.
It’s just a matter of diagnosing and fixing. And being a Jeep person.

 

[AZJeepGuy]

At 50k you would be due for ball joints on many cars. On a Jeep it would make sense that it came sooner. It's not hard for a shop to tell you what needs to be replaced.

 

[Chugiakguy]

At 50k you would be due for ball joints on many cars. On a Jeep it would make sense that it came sooner. It's not hard for a shop to tell you what needs to be replaced.

The thing that I find curious about the whole death wobble phenomenon is that there are apparently MANY Jeep owners who have driven their Jeeps for many years, presumably having worn out the ball joints, steering stablizer, steering box, or some other related components (or all of them!) at some point, yet have never experienced death wobble.

DOES it happen to all Jeeps, eventually? Or only some? And if it happens to only some, why those, and not others, or all of them?

 

[jaymz]

Someone please talk me out of this.
I have an 18 JLUS with 39,500 miles with a rubicon suspension swap and .5” spacers. I also have 255/75/17 tires. In the past 3 weeks I have developed death wobble. Full on shaking until slamming on the breaks and reducing speed.

I took it to Firestone where they inspected the entire suspension, did an alignment (toe was out of spec) and balanced my tires.

The next day I got it on the road thinking it was fixed, and death wobble was even worse (almost had to pull over). I called the Jeep dealership to have them look at it and they are booked solid through November.

So currently my Jeep is sitting in my driveway, immovable as I’m too terrified to drive it. All this waiting has me contemplating selling it for an IFS vehicle (truck).

Can someone please talk me out of this and give me hope. I don’t want to dump weeks and thousands of dollars into troubleshooting this.

Toe doesn’t change unless something gets bent or worn out. I bet if you have checked it will be out of spec again.

Put a good steering stabilizer on it.

Don't listen to the people who disagree.

No steering stabilizer will fix the root cause of death wobble. Period.

A good one can however, mask the root cause until it wears out even more. Possibly until it’s at the point of catastrophic failure.

Don’t listen to the people who disagree.

 

[beachbumm78]

What Jamrock said! Go over the components. Usually something worn, loose, or broken. If you’re not comfortable doing that then Find a good off road shop (Don’t go to the dealership.) and have them check out the components for you. Usually it’s a fairly easy fix and you’re on your way.

 

[Opus]

DOES it happen to all Jeeps, eventually? Or only some? And if it happens to only some, why those, and not others, or all of them?

I've wondered this too. If it's a question of worn parts, then are we all destined for the death wobble at some point???

 

[Caliguy]

Start with your tie rod. It’s the bar that goes across the axle connecting the two front tires. It’s probably the most common that needs replacement.

You want to check where the bolts are on each side. Is the rubber worn out? Is there play if you shake it?

 

[Kahunadave]

Here is a thread from earlier this year.. with a lot of good info.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/death-wobble.85587/

may be worth checking out.

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