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Steering damper recall and death wobble

JeepCares

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I'm in the same boat as alot of you. Bone stock 4door ruby, jeep drove great no issues and no death wobble or shimmy. Took it in for some warranty work and decided to do the V41 recall, drove home that day hit a bump and bam death wobble. I live 3 hours from a jeep dealer and had to take time off again today to have them replace the stabilizer a second time. No fix same thing happened at the same bump. Thats 2 V41 steering dampeners that seem to be failing, my old stock one was great I'm kicking myself in the ass for doing this recall. Now I have to figure out how to get to a dealer again since nobody does Saturday work by me, beyond frustrated.
I regret to hear this, 4x4Tyrant! So that I can discuss this further with you, please send a private message.

Kate
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Avar928

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Same boat here. Took it in today, no issues at over 38,000mi and when I drove home I hit death wobble twice just driving over a bridge section where the pavement and bridge section meet and is slightly elevated. I turned around, hit the other bridge and almost lost control of my vehicle. Speeding up or slowing down didn't work but made it worse. Luckily no one was behind me because I carefully got to the narrow shoulder and braked with increasing pressure to get to a stop. Came within a foot of the median.

I have a loaner now and very frustrated. My sales rep said they probably didn't do an alignment and wheel balancing as well. Luckily they had my old one and I requested they put the old one back or give it to me and I'll do it myself.

I was hesitant on getting the V41 but figured it couldn't hurt. If you have no issues, I advise from experience DO NOT GET IT. Don't fix what works. If you do get it, mark your old one or request they give you the old part just in case. You get issues, swap back yourself or tell them to swap it.

Also mine was installed correctly. I checked twice. Still screwed my baby up.
 

JeepCares

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Same boat here. Took it in today, no issues at over 38,000mi and when I drove home I hit death wobble twice just driving over a bridge section where the pavement and bridge section meet and is slightly elevated. I turned around, hit the other bridge and almost lost control of my vehicle. Speeding up or slowing down didn't work but made it worse. Luckily no one was behind me because I carefully got to the narrow shoulder and braked with increasing pressure to get to a stop. Came within a foot of the median.

I have a loaner now and very frustrated. My sales rep said they probably didn't do an alignment and wheel balancing as well. Luckily they had my old one and I requested they put the old one back or give it to me and I'll do it myself.

I was hesitant on getting the V41 but figured it couldn't hurt. If you have no issues, I advise from experience DO NOT GET IT. Don't fix what works. If you do get it, mark your old one or request they give you the old part just in case. You get issues, swap back yourself or tell them to swap it.

Also mine was installed correctly. I checked twice. Still screwed my baby up.
This is not the experience we want for our owners, Avar928. If you need an additional layer of assistance while working with the dealer, please reach out.

Kate
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Avar928

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This is not the experience we want for our owners, Avar928. If you need an additional layer of assistance while working with the dealer, please reach out.

Kate
JeepCares
Thank you Kate. They confirmed the death wobble and replaced the unit. I laid my concerns out and extensively drove it up and down on the way home. For now this seems to be resolved. It doesn't feel as good as before, and they wouldn't even give me the old part so I'm stuck with what I have now. If I need to go back in a third time I'll bring in JeepCares. I wish I had a video of the situation when I left the first time. I've dealt with wobble on a JK before but this was next level, every bridge section I hit caused it when I have been fine for over a year prior.

I advise owners, follow old tried and true wisdom. If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. If your Jeep runs fine and you're nitpicking just slightly, leave her alone. It could end up being worse.
 

sourdough

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Sad and hard for me to believe FCA is still blowing smoke up peoples ass with a shock absorber (steering stabilizer) replacement. It does not fix the cause of DW. Steering components that are weak or loose are not fixed by a suspression of there movements with a steering stabilizer. FCA is bandaging the issue at best. Why some have DW and I never have is a mystery to me. When I severely dented (smashed)my S.S. and literally removed it until a replacment was installed, I still had no DW. I feel for those that do and support their complaints. It's fixable on a case by case basis. FCA apparently just dosen't want to deal with it individually, case by case. Throw a S.S. on it (F.I.A.)Tony.
 

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JeepCares

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Thank you Kate. They confirmed the death wobble and replaced the unit. I laid my concerns out and extensively drove it up and down on the way home. For now this seems to be resolved. It doesn't feel as good as before, and they wouldn't even give me the old part so I'm stuck with what I have now. If I need to go back in a third time I'll bring in JeepCares. I wish I had a video of the situation when I left the first time. I've dealt with wobble on a JK before but this was next level, every bridge section I hit caused it when I have been fine for over a year prior.

I advise owners, follow old tried and true wisdom. If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. If your Jeep runs fine and you're nitpicking just slightly, leave her alone. It could end up being worse.
Thank you for this update, Avar928. Should you visit the dealer again, we are happy to help. Just send us a private message.

Kate
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phil66

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Over 15k miles, I got the death wobble twice with my JLU Sport (stock suspension and wheels). I had the recall done during a scheduled service, and had the death wobble 6 or 7 times in 20 miles.

After a whole morning at the dealership trying another new damper (same), going back to my old one (better but still a bit), tightening bolts etc, the mechanic figured it out:
A steering damper needs to be primed before and right after installation.
This involves 5 cycles of full extension - full compression before mounting it, and then full right - full left when on the car.
I assume it's to move oil and bubbles where they belong.

Everything was fine after he did that with a NEW DAMPER.

The official procedure for this recall mentions the priming, but mechanics probably don't read it because it looks so simple (just 2 bolts).

If you are getting the recall, make it clear you want the priming to be done.
If you do get some wobble after installation, a series of lock to lock left-right might do the trick.
 

Overlan Solo

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This thread is depressing. I have the same track bar issue, and the death wobble really makes it unsafe to drive on bumpy highways, and itā€™s slow going everywhere else. I took it in for a fix three months ago but the replacement part is still on back order, and the dealership told me that thereā€™s a long list of people with the same issue. If only there was some way FCA could have anticipated the demand for this part, and responded like a responsible company...
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