Officially done.

[Jeep&dogs]

Well after 2 years of fighting with this thing, 1/2 a dozen gear boxes, track bars, stabilizers, tires,wheels, control arms. I’m done fighting it. Yesterday doing 70 on the expressway I hit a small bump, Jeep literally went across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic, over the curb and into the grass shoulder. Couldn’t get the death wobble to stop. Im shocked I didn’t hit anyone or cause a major accident,I’m done. I’m going to see what I can get for it the way it sits, if I can’t get any decent offers there will be a ton of parts listed in the for sale area. I have never fought a Jeep this much in my life.
I hate to say it but there will be a new Bronco sitting in my garage before long.

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[failsafe306]

Sorry to hear that man. That would be a last straw for me as well.

 

[Mudduck]

Enjoy your bronco. Drive what makes you happy

 

[19 JLUR Bright Whit3]

I'll give you a $1.00 for your Jeep since its "broken" and all. LOL

Seriously though, sorry to read your decision to leave Jeep World.

Did you have bump steer or death wobble? I had death wobble because of a loose track bar. I slowed down and pulled to the side? It shook violently like there was only one lug nut on the tire. Most people confuse DW with shimmies from an unbalanced tire, driveline vibrations or bump steer (where the vehicle jerks to one side after hitting a bump) Anyways, I diagnosed and tighten the track bar. I aint giving up my Jeep. My $.02

 

[rohdawg]

You must have meant to post this here.

 

[lowmpg]

Adios......enjoy the Bronco, they certainly have no reported issues.

 

[Howardlv22]

Sad when bad technicians, or lazy shops and dealerships ruin a vehicles reputation. These Jeeps aren’t for everybody. I just jumped on the Bronco forum, most of the new threads are bad bearings or transmission issues ??‍ I guess we pick our issues.

 

[aldo98229]

Sad when bad technicians, or lazy shops and dealerships ruin a vehicles reputation. These Jeeps aren’t for everybody. I just jumped on the Bronco forum, most of the new threads are bad bearings or transmission issues ??‍ I guess we pick our issues.

...or blown engine issues...or broken tie rod issues...or leaky hardtops and soft tops...

Whenever I get into a tiff with my Jeep dealer, I go on Bronco6G. After lurking there for ten minutes I am reminded we don’t have it that bad... ?

OP: sorry to hear about your experience. I had something similar happen to me once crossing a heavily rutted set of train tracks. Fortunately I was on a two-lane road doing only 35 MPH. Had it been as serious as what you describe, I too might be driving something else now.

Good luck ?

 

[Flatties 4ever]

Have a 72 Bronco, I fought death wobble for years. Always thought I had it fixed until I went over railroad tracks, hit a small bump or the magic speed at the right barometric pressure on a full moon. Finally found the fix - changed the caster by swapping out rubber shims with neoprene.

I know Jeeps are different, the point is not to give up, YOU have to be profoundly methodical if you’re going to find out what exactly is causing it - because *something is, it’s your job to find out what it is.

As for your new future Bronco; running the tires you are, expect to snap the tie rods where they thread in. V6, engines are dropping valves and I won’t even mention electronic gremlins.

 

[longfiredragon]

Well after 2 years of fighting with this thing, 1/2 a dozen gear boxes, track bars, stabilizers, tires,wheels, control arms. I’m done fighting it. Yesterday doing 70 on the expressway I hit a small bump, Jeep literally went across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic, over the curb and into the grass shoulder. Couldn’t get the death wobble to stop. Im shocked I didn’t hit anyone or cause a major accident,I’m done. I’m going to see what I can get for it the way it sits, if I can’t get any decent offers there will be a ton of parts listed in the for sale area. I have never fought a Jeep this much in my life.
I hate to say it but there will be a new Bronco sitting in my garage before long.

Sorry to hear your getting rid of the jeep. Glad your ok and no one got hurt.

That said, something does strike me as not right. 6 gearboxes! What have you been doing 6K neutral drops. I have yet to see people coming on here going through gearboxes like that. Occasionally maybe.

And then you have broke track bars, stabilizers, control arms, what the? Tires wheels, what do you mean, what the hell kinda driving do you do.

Or did you do a bunch of mods yourself and for whatever reason it didn't work out. Hmmm. Maybe you should have just left it stock and drove it normal.

You have any idea how many JLs people are driving daily with zero issues. Maybe you should get a Ford.

Good luck with it.

 

[Smoke Showing]

I don’t blame you for getting rid of it, but don’t leave the Jeep community. I’m mechanically handicapped (the plastic engine cover was designed to keep someone like me out) so I won’t tell you how to fix it. I would sell it because my wife or kids would be riding in it and it’s obviously dangerous. I would think of a Jeep as a dog: some are perfect that you want to last forever, some have constant vet bills, some get hit by cars and are taken away too early, some just have to be put down. None of them would make me a cat person. New Jeep different mods.

 

[Mudduck]

And then you have broke track bars, stabilizers, control arms, what the? Tires wheels, what do you mean, what the hell kinda driving do you do.

^ This had me dead asF

 

[Xspurt]

I've been meaning to ask this question but I didn't want to start a whole thread on it but I'm seeing a lot of "death wobble" posts and have a question: Is this happening to any stock Wranglers or only ones who have installed any type of lift kit? I honestly don't know but I'm definitley curious because mine will be on the highway for 1000 miles for every 1 mile off road.

 

[old mike]

I'm sorry, Jeep&dogs, to hear about your plight. DW is a serious malady with many hard to diagnose contributing factors and, from the many stories that I've heard on DW that either was or wasn't fixed, I have come to believe that, sometimes, it's better to go for a serious comprehensive fix rather than keep fighting it with one partial solution after another.

So, I recently posted, in response to another thread about DW, that, to reliably fix it for the long run, you might need to spend the cash and 1) upgrade to these ball joints (https://www.dynatrac.com/rebuildable-ball-joints/jeep-wrangler-jl-and-gladiator-jt.html); 2) instead of trying to get a steering stabilizer to do the trick, upgrade to the correct one of these hydro-assist steering units for your Jeep (https://www.pscmotorsports.com); 3) have the shop advise you on this (https://steersmarts.com/collections/featured-products/products/yeti-xd-jl-jt-sector-shaft-brace) and the right nut to fit the larger PSC sector shaft and on any heavier track bar, drag link, or tie rod they might recommend; and 4) re-align and re-torque everything up front.

I got a lot of criticism for that advice, one post saying that it was overkill and another advising to just find whatever bolt or nut was loose and replace or retighten it, and perhaps you've already done everything I suggested and more. But, I honestly think that many jeepers struggling with DW may be trying to target a single problem component when it's actually caused by multiple contributing factors and a comprehensive solution is required. ...just a thought.

 

[JP29]

I've been meaning to ask this question but I didn't want to start a whole thread on it but I'm seeing a lot of "death wobble" posts and have a question: Is this happening to any stock Wranglers or only ones who have installed any type of lift kit? I honestly don't know but I'm definitley curious because mine will be on the highway for 1000 miles for every 1 mile off road.

From my experience, it depends. Mine was rock solid on stock Sport suspension for a year. Then I get hit low speed in an intersection, whole front end was replaced with a scrapyard pull when the dealership service department couldn't get a brand new replacement - half as many miles as my original front end though, so I thought it would be alright. Now for the last year I get death wobble on certain patches of highway (always a bumpy section, holding a left turn). Dealership said the steering stabilizer, but it's on backorder, so I'm stuck with some play unless I sub in my EC stabilizer unit or wait for them. Going nuclear and chasing down all the little things it COULD BE is frankly out of the question in my mind when the ride has just crossed 20k and is still stock suspension wise.

Sorry to hear about your issues though, @Jeep&dogs . Can't blame you, if I'd gone through all of that I'd be hard pressed to keep at it.

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